Chapter 37 Chapter 35 Imposter

The night that Porthosse and d'Artagnan had so anxiously awaited came at last. DArtagnan, as usual, appeared at Milady's house about nine o'clock.He found Milady charming, and received him more hospitablely than ever.Our Gascon saw at a glance that his letter had been delivered, and that it had had an effect. Katie came in with a sorbet.Her mistress was kind to her, and smiled at her most kindly; but alas!The poor girl was so sentimental that she was not aware of Milady's kindness. D'Artagnan looked over at the two women one by one, and he had to admit to himself that nature made a big mistake when creating them. It gave the noble lady the soul of greed and vileness, and the heart of a noble concubine. the maid.

At ten o'clock, Milady began to appear disturbed, and d'Artagnan understood the meaning of this expression; she looked at the clock, rose and sat down again, smiling at d'Artagnan with a gesture of expression, That's saying: You're definitely cute, but you'd be even cuter if you walked away now. D'Artagnan got up and took up his hat; Milady held out her hand to kiss him; the young man felt her hand close to his, and he knew that it was not coquettish, but Just out of gratitude for his leaving. She loves him so passionately, murmured d'Artagnan; and he went out the door.

This time, Katie wasn't waiting for him at all, she wasn't in the hall, nor in the corridor, nor in the doorway.D'Artagnan had to find the little staircase and the little room by himself. Katie was sitting in the room crying with her head in her hands. She heard d'Artagnan enter the room, but she did not get up; the young man approached her and took her hand, while the girl began to sob. Milady, as d'Artagnan expected, was overjoyed at receiving the letter, and told the maid everything; then, in return for her performance this time, Milady gave her a bag of money.When Kitty returned to the room, she threw the purse into a corner, and left it gaping open, three or four gold coins slid on the carpet.

Hearing d'Artagnan's voice, the poor girl raised her head, and d'Artagnan was terrified by her frightened countenance; she folded her hands in an entreaty, but dared not say a word. Though d'Artagnan was not easily moved, he still felt that he was moved by this silent pain; and because he insisted too much on his calculations, especially this time, he did not change what he had established beforehand. arrange.So he did not leave Katie any hope of giving in, but only showed her that his behavior was purely a revenge. Moreover, this revenge was facilitated by the fact that Milady, perhaps to conceal her shame from her lover, had instructed Katie in advance to put out all the lights in the house, even in Katie's own cabin.Mr. Walder had to go out in the dark all the time until daybreak.

A moment later they heard Milady return to the bedroom.D'Artagnan immediately jumped into the wardrobe in which he had hidden himself.He had just bent down and hid himself when the bell rang. Kitty went into the mistress's room without leaving the middle door open; but the partition wall was so thin that almost all of the two women's voices were audible. Milady was so ecstatic that she made Katie recount the tiniest details of her supposed meeting with Walder, how he had received her letter, how he answered it, what his facial expression was, Does he appear to be in love, and so on.Faced with this series of questions, poor Kitty had to pretend to be calm, and answered each one with a calm tone, and her mistress did not even notice her painful tone, because happiness is selfish.

As it was finally time to meet the count, Milady asked someone to extinguish all the lights in her room, and ordered Katie to go back to her room, preparing to introduce Walder who was about to come. Katie didn't have long to wait.As soon as D'Artagnan saw the darkness of the room through the keyhole of the wardrobe, he jumped out of the hiding place at the same moment that Kitty closed the connecting door. What is the sound?asked Milady. It is I, whispered d'Artagnan, I, the Comte de Valdes.ah!God, God!Katie muttered, he couldn't even wait for the time he had set. how!said Milady in a trembling voice, why didn't he come in?She went on, count, count, you know, I am waiting for you!

Hearing this greeting, D'Artagnan left Kitty on tiptoe, and went into Milady's room. If madness and pain should torment a heart, then this is the heart in which a lover pretends to accept the infatuation belonging to another, and that person is the rival of his happiness! D'Artagnan was in an unforeseen misery, jealousy was gnawing at his heart, and he was suffering almost as much as Kitty, who was weeping in the next room. Yes, count, said Milady in a sweet voice; she took his hand tenderly in hers: yes, your eyes and your words speak to me whenever we meet , at this time, how happy I am!Me too, I'm in love with you.oh!Tomorrow, tomorrow, I want you to give me a token to prove that you miss me, but you may forget me, so please take it first.

As she spoke, she took a ring from her finger and put it on d'Artagnan's. D'Artagnan recalled that he had seen this ring on Milady's finger: it was a beautiful sapphire surrounded by diamonds. DArtagnan's first act was to give her back the sapphire, but Milady spoke again: No, no; leave this ring as a token of my love.Besides, by taking it, she said again in an excited voice, you have done me a great favor, a greater favor than you can imagine. This woman is full of ghosts.D'Artagnan thought to himself. At this moment, he felt ready to tell the whole story.He opened his mouth to tell Milady who he was, and what revenge he had come for; but she spoke again:

Poor angel, that Gascon devil nearly killed you! The devil she spoke of was him. oh!Milady continued, Do your wounds still hurt? Yes, it hurts, said d'Artagnan; he did not know how to reply. Don't worry, said Milady in a low voice, I will avenge you, I will avenge you! Yo!dArtagnan thought, the time to speak out had not yet come. It took some time for d'Artagnan to recover from this amusing conversation, for his vengeance was completely stifled.This woman is exerting an unbelievable energy on him. He hates her and adores her. He has never believed that two such contrasting emotions can reside in the same heart, and when they intersect, they can create a strange feeling. love, a kind of love that can be called vicious.

At that time, an hour had just struck; it was time to part.D'Artagnan left Milady with nothing but an intense regret of parting; and in a passionate farewell a new meeting was arranged for the following week.Poor Kitty hoped that d'Artagnan would be able to speak to him on his return to her room; but Milady herself led him in the dark, and did not leave him until he was led up the stairs. The next morning, D'Artagnan hurried to Athos' house.He had undertaken such a strange adventure that he longed to consult Athos.He told him all: Athos frowned. Your Milady, said Athos to him, is a slut to me, but don't make the mistake of deceiving her: at any rate, you've got a formidable foe.

When Athos said this to him, he looked carefully at the sapphire with a ring of diamonds on d'Artagnan's finger. It turned out that the ring given by the queen had been carefully put into a box by him. . Are you looking at this ring?said the Gascon, proudly placing such a valuable gift before the eyes of his friend. Yes, said Athos, it reminds me of a family treasure. It's beautiful, isn't it?asked d'Artagnan. Extremely beautiful!Athos replied, in the past, I really did not believe that there were two sapphires with the same exquisite clarity.So, you traded your diamonds for it? No, said d'Artagnan, it was a present from my pretty Englishwoman, or rather from my pretty Frenchwoman: for, though I have not asked her, I am convinced that she is Born in France. Your ring is from Milady?exclaimed Athos; and from his voice it was easy to hear him with evident excitement. It was from her; she gave it to me last night. Please show me this ring.said Athos. This is.D'Artagnan took the sapphire from his finger as he spoke. Athos inspected the ring, and grew pale; then he tried it on the ring finger of his left hand; it fitted the finger so well that it seemed made for him.A cloud of rage and vengeance hung over the gentleman's usually serene brow. It couldn't be that one, he said, how did it end up in Milady Claric's hands?Moreover, it is difficult to have such a similarity between two treasures. Do you recognize this ring?asked d'Artagnan. I thought I knew it, said Athos, but I may be mistaken. He returned the ring to d'Artagnan, but kept looking at it. Well, he added after a moment, d'Artagnan, please take this ring off your finger, or turn the ring's chassis in; it reminds me of some cruel past, which makes me distract chatted with you.Didn't you come to ask me for advice?Didn't you say you were embarrassed about what you were supposed to do?But wait and give me back the sapphire, the one I was going to talk about had one side broken by an accident. D'Artagnan took the ring off his finger again, and gave it to Athos. Athos said tremblingly: Hey, see, isn't it weird? He pointed out to d'Artagnan the slight injury which he remembered to be there. But who gave you that sapphire ring, Athos? It was given to me by my mother, who passed it down from her mother.I have told you that it is a rare and rare item that should never have been lost from the family. So you have sold it?d'Artagnan asked hesitantly. No, said Athos, with a curious smile, I gave it to someone else in a love-night, just as someone gave it to you. D'Artagnan fell into deep thought at this moment, and he seemed to see dark and unfathomable abysses in Milady's soul. He didn't put the ring on his finger, but put it in his pocket. Listen, said Athos, shaking d'Artagnan's hand, you know whether I love you, d'Artagnan; and if I had a son, I would not love him more than you.So, trust me, give up on that woman, I don't know her, but an instinct tells me that it's a fallen woman, and there's something sinister about her. You are right, said d'Artagnan, and therefore I will break with her; and to tell you frankly, that woman frightens me. Do you have the courage?said Athos. I will, replied d'Artagnan, and immediately. Very well, my dear boy, you are quite right.When this gentleman spoke, he squeezed his hand almost with paternal affection. I hope that the woman who just broke into your life will not leave a trace of pain in your life. Athos bowed his head to d'Artagnan, and he wanted him to know not to be offended by his personal thoughts. D'Artagnan returns home to find Kitty waiting for him.A month's worth of fever was not worth the night of insomnia and pain that changed the poor girl's appearance. She had been sent by her mistress to find this fake Walder.Her mistress was so in love with her that she was intoxicated, and she wanted to know when the Count would have sex with her again. Poor Kitty, pale and trembling, awaited d'Artagnan's answer. Athos's talk had a great influence on the young.At this time, since d'Artagnan's pride had been saved and his revenge satisfied, the exhortations of his old friend and the cry of his own conscience made him determined not to meet Milady again.So he picked up the pen and wrote a letter to answer. Ma'am, please don't expect me to make an appointment next time.Since my recovery, I have been overwhelmed with such pleasure-seeking things, so I have to act in order.I will be honored to report when it is your turn. kiss your hand Earl Walder As for the sapphire, nothing was mentioned in the letter.Could it be that the Gasconian wanted to leave a trump card to deal with Milady?Or, frankly, shouldn't he keep the sapphire as a last resort for equipment? Furthermore, it is a big mistake to judge the behavior of another era from the perspective of one era.What would be humiliating to a noble and refined man today was a very simple and natural thing in those days, and the trousers of famous families were usually made by their mistresses. Back up. D'Artagnan gave Kitty his letter in full disclosure, which she read without understanding; when she read it again, she was almost ecstatic with joy. Kitty could not believe such luck: d'Artagnan had to repeat to her all the promises he had written in his letter; poor Milady, despite Milady's temper, and whatever dangers she might run, The girl was still about to deliver the letter to her mistress; and, recovering a little from the shock, she returned to the Place Royale with full speed on her legs. The kindest woman in the world is ruthless in order to make her rival suffer. Milady opened the letter with the same eagerness with which Katie had delivered her.But when she read the first sentence, her face turned ashes, and then she crumpled the letter up, and then turned around, and shot Katie with a bolt of lightning from her eyes. What is this letter about?she asked. This is an answer to Madame, said Kitty, trembling all over. impossible!Howled Milady, it was impossible for a gentleman to write such a letter to a woman! Then, suddenly, she trembled: Oh, God!She said he might have known she had stopped talking. Her teeth were chattering, her face was ashen: she tried to take a step towards the window to let in the air; but she could only stretch her arms, her legs were weak, and she sank at last into an armchair. Katie thought she was fainting, and hurried to undo her blouse.And Milady suddenly stood up again. What do you want to do to me?She asked, why put your hands on me? I thought you passed out, ma'am, so I wanted to save you.replied the maid; the hostess was horrified by the ferocious expression on her face. I passed out, me?I?You see me as a weak woman?When someone insults me, I will not faint, I want revenge, you understand! She waved to Katie to go away.