Chapter 51 Chapter 49: Misfortune

During this period, Milady was so angry that she roared on the deck like a loaded lioness. She wanted to plunge into the sea and return to land, because she thought of being insulted by d'Artagnan before and then again. Athos threatened her, and she had to leave France without taking revenge on them.The thought at once made her feel so intolerable that, willing to risk the dire consequences that might happen, she begged the captain to take her ashore; Eager to get out of this suspenseful situation, so he wanted to rush to England as soon as possible, so he categorically refused to obey this womanly willful request.But this is a female guest whom the cardinal took special care of, and he promised that if the sea conditions and the French side allow him to drop anchor in a certain port on the Brittany peninsula, or the port of Lorient, or the port of Brest, He'll take her ashore.But right now, the wind is in the opposite direction, and the waves are dangerous, so the hull can only sail against the wind and move forward in a roundabout way.Nine days passed from the Charente estuary, and Milady, pale with grief and anger, finally saw the blue coast of Finistère.

She calculated that it would take her at least three days to cross the corner of France to reach the cardinal, including the day of disembarkation, a total of four days; counting the nine days that had already passed, it was a loss of thirteen days. Oh, how many great events may take place in London during these thirteen days!She thought again that the cardinal would no doubt be angry if she went back, and that he would listen more to people complaining about her than to hear her blaming others.Thinking of this, she let the ship pass through the ports of Lorient and Brest, and did not go to the captain to force her words.As for the captain, he avoided mentioning it to her again.Milady thus continued on her ship, and on the same day that Planchet sailed back to France from Portsmouth, the envoy of His Excellency the Cardinal arrived in that port in gallantry.

On that day, the whole city of Portsmouth Harbor was full of excitement and excitement: four newly completed warships had just been undocked and launched.Buckingham stood on the jetty, dressed in gold thread and, as usual, dazzling with jewels; a white feather from his felt hat fell down to his shoulders.Around him, a group of staff officers huddled in front and back, looking almost as brilliant as him. This is one of the rare sunny days in the British winter, and all Britons will remember that there is still a sun hanging in the sky.Although this celestial body appears pale, its light is still brilliant. It reclines in the sky, dyeing the sky and the sea red with its fiery light band, and casting a last ray of golden light on the spiers and ancient houses of the city. , making the panes of glass shine as if reflected by a fire.Milady, breathing the fresher and richer sea air nearer to the land, gazed at the mighty whole of the military installations which it was up to her to destroy, at the whole military establishment which had to be left to her alone, a woman's family and several bag of gold coins to defeat that mighty whole army, and she secretly compares herself to Judit (Note: the fanciful heroine in "The Book of Judit"). Oloferna cut off his head while he was drunk.), when that powerful Jewish woman went deep into the Assyrian military camp, she saw countless chariots, horses, soldiers and weapons. Disappeared.

Her ship sailed into the mooring area; but when the ship was about to drop anchor in the berthing area, a heavily armed small speedboat sailed beside the merchant ship. The boat, and rowed towards the merchant ship's escalator.In the canoe there was an officer, a foreman, and eight oarsmen; the officer went on deck alone, and his uniform received him with great respect. The officer talked with the ship's owner for a while, and showed him the documents he carried with him; at the captain's order, all the crew, sailors and passengers were called to the deck. After this call of names, the officer asked aloud whence the ship had come, what course it had taken, and where it had landed; and to all these questions the captain gave satisfactory answers without hesitation or difficulty. .The officer then looked at each one of them; finding Milady, the officer stopped and looked at her carefully, but said nothing to her.

Afterwards, the officer walked up to the captain and said a few more words to him; it seemed that the ship must obey his dispatch in the future, and he commanded the operation password, and the crew immediately executed it.At this time, the merchant ship set sail again, with six guns on the side of the ship, always moving side by side under the supervision of the skiff; and the small boat was like a negligible black spot dancing in the gully compared with the huge monster. . When the officer inspected Milady, it must have been imagined that Milady, too, would stare greedily at the officer.However, no matter how this fiery-eyed woman is used to see through the hearts of those she needs to figure out the secrets, but this time, what she saw was an indifferent face, so that her exploration did not bring anything new. discovery.The officer stopped in front of her and considered her in silence and very carefully.The officer was probably about twenty-five or sixteen years old, with a fair complexion, light blue eyes, but slightly sunken; The sharply protruding chin suggests a willpower which, in the common type of Briton, is usually only obstinacy; Good fit; the short and thin hair that barely covers the swollen forehead, like the beard that covers the lower part of the face, is a beautiful dark brown.

The ship sailed into the port, and it was already the dead of night.The sea fog thickened the night, forming a circle around the breakwater marker lights and wind lanterns like a moon halo that heralds rainy weather.The air to breathe is gloomy, damp and cold. Milady, this woman, though so strong, could not help shivering. The officer had Milady's parcels counted, and her luggage loaded into the canoe; and when this was done, he held out his hand to Milady, and begged her to get down into the canoe herself. Milady looked at the man and hesitated. Who are you, sir, she asked the officer, why do you take such special care of me?

You can tell by my uniform, ma'am; I am an officer in the British Navy, replied the young man. Is it, then, the custom of the British Navy, when they meet their countrymen in English ports, to arrange them in this way, and to lead them to the wharves with the utmost care? Yes, Milady, it is the custom, but not out of courtesy, but out of prudence, because in times of war all foreigners are taken to designated hotels, so that they may be kept in peace until they are fully informed. under government supervision. The expression of these few words was extremely polite and the attitude was extremely calm, but these few words did not convince Milady in the slightest.

And I am not a foreigner, sir, she said, in the most authentic accent that might sound as good from Portsmouth as from Manchester, I am Mrs. Clarick, and this measure This measure applies to anyone, Milady, and it is impossible for you to avoid it. I'll follow you then, sir. So she took the military officer's hand, started to descend the escalator, and walked to the small boat waiting for her under the escalator.The officer followed her aboard; a large cloak was spread over the stern, and the officer asked her to sit on it, and he himself sat beside her. paddle!he said to the sailor.

The eight oars fell into the water, and there was only a sound, and the small boat flew away on the surface of the sea with only one stroke. Five minutes later, the boat docked. The officer jumped onto the pier and held out his hand for Milady. A carriage is waiting. Is this carriage for us?asked Milady. Yes, madam, the officer replied. Is the hotel far? On the other side of the city. Come on, said Milady. She got into the car decisively. The officer took care of carefully fastening the package and luggage behind the compartment. After the work was over, he sat down beside Milady and closed the car door again.

The driver didn't wait for any order, and he didn't need to specify the place to go, so he immediately galloped into the streets and alleys of the city. Such a strange reception should be a matter of full consideration for Milady; and she found that the young officer did not seem to be interested in talking, so she leaned into a corner of the carriage and examined the items that appeared in her mind one by one. All speculation. However, after a quarter of an hour, surprised by the long journey, she turned sideways to the car door, wanting to see where she was being pulled.She could no longer see the houses, but the rows of trees were running through the darkness like tall black ghosts scrambling to be the first.

Milady flinched. We're not in the city anymore, sir, she said. The young officer did not speak. I'll go no farther till you tell me where you take me; I'll tell you first, sir. There was no answer to this threat. oh!This is so arbitrary!Milady cried out, help!help! No voice answered her call, the carriage continued to roll rapidly; the officer was like a sculpture. Milady stared at the officer with that terrible expression which was characteristic of her face and which was rarely without its effect; anger made her eyes glisten in the darkness. The young man remained calm. Milady wanted to open the car door and jump out. Take care, madam, said the young man coldly, you will fall yourself and die. Milady sat down again in rage; the officer turned sideways to look at her this time.He seemed amazed that the face he had seen not so long ago, so beautiful, was distorted with rage, almost a ghoul.The treacherous woman realizes that she has failed herself when she is looked at so penetratingly; so she restores the lines of her face, and says in a voice of complaint: For heaven's sake, sir!Please tell me, should I blame you, your government, or some enemy for your rough treatment of me? I have not been rude to you, ma'am, the situation you have encountered is simple, and it is a measure we are forced to take against all those who disembark in England. So you don't know me, sir? It is my honor to meet you for the first time. Please guarantee your reputation, you don't have any reason to hate me, do you? Absolutely not, I swear to you. There was so much equanimity, calmness, and even gentleness in the young man's words that finally reassured Milady. Finally, after traveling for about an hour, the carriage stopped in front of an iron fence, and inside the iron fence, a concave passage led to a lonely, solid castle with a fortified appearance.Then, as the wheels whirled on a patch of fine sand, Milady heard a deep rumbling, which she recognized as the sound of the sea just hitting the cliff. The carriage passed two arched doors, and came to a halt in a gloomy square yard; the door was almost opened, when the young man sprang down lightly, and stretched out his hand to Milady, who took advantage of the situation to support his palm, and went down quite calmly. car. Although, Milady looked around and turned her eyes to the young man with a smile and kindly, I am a prisoner, but it will not be long, I believe this, she added, my conscience and your courtesy are I believe in a guarantee, sir. Despite the flattery and flattery, the officer did not reply, but drew from his belt the small silver whistle that officers use on warships, and blew it three times in three different tones. The sweaty horse pulled the carriage into a garage. Then, still with the same measured courtesy, the officer invited his female prisoner into the room.The female prisoner still had the same smiling face, took his arm, and walked with him into a low arched door. They stopped before a solid door; the young man took a key which he carried with him, inserted it into the lock, and turned it hard on the hinges, and the room reserved for Milady opened. up. With just one glance, the female prisoner scanned the entire room. It was a bedroom, furnished cleanly for a prison cell, and austere for a free man's dwelling; but the bars of the window and the bars outside the door were unceremoniously reserved for prisons. . In spite of the harshest circumstances, this woman's mental strength deserted her at once; she sank into an armchair, arms folded, head bowed, and waited any moment to see a judge come in and speak to her. interrogation. However, no one came in, only two or three marine soldiers brought luggage and boxes, put them in a corner of the wall, and then left without saying a word. The officer directed all these trifles with the calm that had been usual for Milady, without saying a word himself, but by waving or blowing his whistle to make the soldiers obey him. Suffice it to say, colloquial terms seemed absent, or superfluous, between the officer and his subordinates. At last Milady could bear it no longer, and broke the silence by saying: For God's sake, sir!She said loudly, what is the meaning of all this happening?Please dispel my cranky thoughts!I have anticipated any danger, I have considered any misfortune, and I have the courage to bear it.where am i nowwhy here?If I'm free, why are there these bars and bars?If I am a female prisoner, what crime have I committed? You are here in a house reserved for you, ma'am.I was ordered to meet you at sea and lead you to this castle.I now believe that I have carried out that order, and that I have, in doing so, maintained the seriousness of a soldier and the courtesy of a gentleman.The duty I should do by your side, at least until now, is coming to an end.The rest is left to another person. Another person, who is he?asked Milady, can't you tell me his name? Just then there was a loud clatter of spurs on the stairs; a few more voices were heard, but then died away again, and at last there was only the sound of a man's footsteps approaching the door. The man, here he comes, madam, said the officer, lighting the passage, while standing aside with respect and obedience. At this same moment, the door opened; a man appeared at the gate. The man was bareheaded, had a sword at one side, and held a handkerchief between his fingers. Milady seemed to know the figure in the figure, leaning her hand on the arm of the armchair, leaning her head forward, as if to make sure in advance that she knew him. Now the newcomer stepped forward slowly; as he advanced into the circle of light, Milady involuntarily backed away. Immediately afterwards, she no longer had any doubts. What!my brother!She exclaimed with incomparable horror, it's you! Yes, pretty lady!Lord Winter greeted half-courteously, "It's me." So, this castle? be mine. What about this room? is yours. Then I am your female prisoner? almost. This is abuse of power! Don't jump to conclusions; let's sit down and talk peacefully like uncles and sisters. Then, turning to the door, he saw the young officer awaiting his final order: Well, he said, I thank you, now, you go, Mr. Felton.