THE INVENTORY OF M. DE BEAUFORT.
To have talked of D'Artagnan with Planchet, to have seen Planchet quit
Paris to bury himself in his county retreat, had been for Athos and his
son like a last farewell to the noise of the capital--to their life of
former days. What, in fact, did these men leave behind them--one of whom
had exhausted the past age in glory, and the other the present age in
misfortune? Evidently, neither of them had anything to ask of his
contemporaries. They had only to pay a visit to M. de Beaufort, and
arrange with him the particulars of the departure. The duc was lodged
magnificently in Paris. He had one of those superb establishments
pertaining to great fortunes, which certain old men remembered to have
seen flourish in the times of wasteful liberality in Henry III.'s reign.
Then, really, several great nobles were richer than the king. They knew
it, used it, and never deprived themselves of the pleasure of
humiliating his royal majesty when they had an opportunity. It was this
egotistical aristocracy which Richelieu had constrained to contribute,
with its blood, its purse, and its duties, to what was from his time
styled the king's service. From Louis XI.--that terrible mower down of
the great--to Richelieu, how many families had raised their heads! How
many from Richelieu to Louis XIV. had bowed their heads never to raise
them again. But M. de Beaufort was born a prince, and of a blood which
is not shed upon scaffolds, unless by the decree of peoples. This prince
had kept up a grand style of living. How did he maintain his horses, his
people, and his table? Nobody knew; himself less than others. Only there
were then privileges for the sons of kings, to whom nobody refused to
become a creditor, whether from respect, devotedness, or a persuasion
that they would some day be paid.
Athos and Raoul found the mansion of the duc in as much confusion as
that of Planchet. The duc, likewise, was making his inventory; that is
to say, he was distributing to his friends everything of value he had in
his house. Owing nearly two millions--an enormous amount in those
days--M. de Beaufort had calculated that he could not set out for Africa
without a good round sum; and, in order to find that sum, he was
distributing to his old creditors plate, arms, jewels and furniture,
which was more magnificent than selling it, and brought him back double.
In fact, how could a man to whom ten thousand livres were owing, refuse
to carry away a present of six thousand, enhanced in merit from having
belonged to a descendant of Henry IV.? And how, after having carried
away that present, could he refuse ten thousand livres more to this
generous noble? This, then, was what had happened. The duc had no longer
a dwelling-house--that had become useless to an admiral, whose place of
residence is his ship; he had no longer need of superfluous arms, when
he was placed amid his cannons; no more jewels, which the sea might rob
him of; but he had three or four hundred thousand crowns fresh in his
coffers. And throughout the house there was a joyous movement of people
who believed they were plundering monseigneur. The prince had, in a
supreme degree, the art of making happy the creditors the most to be
pitied. Every distressed man, every empty purse, found with him patience
and intelligence of his position. To some he said, "I wish I had what
you have, I would give it you." And to others, "I have but this silver
ewer, it is worth at least five hundred livres--take it."
The effect of which was--so truly is courtesy a current payment--that
the prince constantly found means to renew his creditors. This time he
used no ceremony; it might be called a general pillage. He gave up
everything. The oriental fable of the poor Arab, who carried away from
the pillage of a palace a kettle at the bottom of which was concealed a
bag of gold, and whom everybody allowed to pass without jealousy--this
fable had become a truth in the prince's mansion. Many contractors paid
themselves upon the offices of the duc. Thus, the provision department,
who plundered the clothes-presses and the harness-rooms, attached very
little value to things which tailors and saddlers set great store by.
Anxious to carry home to their wives preserves given them by
monseigneur, many were seen bounding joyously along, under the weight of
earthen jars and bottles, gloriously stamped with the arms of the
prince. M. de Beaufort finished by giving away his horses and the hay
from his lofts. He made more than thirty happy with kitchen utensils;
and thirty more, with the contents of his cellar. Still further; all
these people went away with the conviction that M. de Beaufort only
acted in this manner to prepare for a new fortune concealed beneath the
Arab tents. They repeated to each other, while devastating his hotel,
that he was sent to Gigelli by the king, to reconstruct his lost
fortunes; that the treasures of Africa would be equally divided between
the admiral and the king of France; that these treasures consisted in
mines of diamonds, or other fabulous stones; the gold and silver mines
of Mount Atlas did not even obtain the honor of being named. In addition
to the mines to be worked--which could not be begun till after the
campaign--there would be the booty made by the army. M. de Beaufort
would lay his hands upon all the riches pirates had robbed Christendom
of since the battle of Lepanto. The number of millions from these
sources defied calculation. Why, then, should he who was going in quest
of such treasures set any store by the poor utensils of his past life?
And, reciprocally, why should they spare the property of him who spared
it so little himself?
Such was the position of affairs. Athos, with his investigating glance,
saw what was going on at once. He found the admiral of France a little
exalted, for he was rising from a table of fifty covers, at which the
guests had drunk long and deeply to the prosperity of the expedition; at
which, with the dessert, the remains of the meal had been given to the
servants, and the empty dishes and plates to the curious. The prince was
intoxicated with his ruin and his popularity at the same time. He had
drunk his old wine to the health of his future wine. When he saw Athos
and Raoul--
"There is my aid-de-camp being brought to me!" he cried. "Come hither,
comte; come hither, vicomte." Athos tried to find a passage through the
heaps of linen and plate.
"Ah! step over, step over!" said the duc, offering a full glass to
Athos. The latter took it; Raoul scarcely moistened his lips.
"Here is your commission," said the prince to Raoul. "I had prepared it,
reckoning upon you. You will go on before me as far as Antibes."
"Yes, monseigneur."
"Here is the order." And De Beaufort gave Raoul the order. "Do you know
anything of the sea?"
"Yes, monseigneur; I have traveled with M. le Prince."
"That is well. All these barges and lighters must be in attendance to
form an escort, and carry my provisions. The army must be prepared to
embark in a fortnight at the latest."
"That shall be done, monseigneur."
"The present order gives you the right to visit and search all the isles
along the coast; you will there make the enrollments and levies you may
want for me."
"Yes, Monsieur le Duc."
"And as you are an active man, and will work freely, you will spend much
money."
"I hope not, monseigneur."
"But I reckon you will. My intendant has prepared orders of a thousand
livres, drawn upon the cities of the south; he will give you a hundred
of them. Now, dear vicomte, begone."
Athos interrupted the prince. "Keep your money, monseigneur; war is to
be made among the Arabs with gold as well as lead."
"I wish to try the contrary," replied the duc; "and then, you are
acquainted with my ideas upon the expedition--plenty of noise, plenty of
fire, and, if so it must be, I shall disappear in the smoke." Having
spoken thus, M. de Beaufort began to laugh; but his mirth was not
reciprocated by Athos and Raoul. He perceived this at once. "Ah," said
he, with the courteous egotism of his rank and his age, "you are such
people as a man should not see after dinner; you are cold, stiff, and
dry, when I am all fire, all suppleness, and all wine. No, devil take
me! I should always see you fasting, vicomte, and you, comte, if you
wear such a face as that, you will see me no more."
He said this, pressing the hand of Athos, who replied with a
smile--"Monseigneur, do not talk so grandly because you happen to have
plenty of money. I predict that within a month you will be dry, stiff,
and cold, in presence of your strong box, and that then, having Raoul at
your elbow, quite fasting, you will be surprised to see him gay,
animated, and generous, because he will have some new crowns to offer
you."
"God grant it may be so!" cried the delighted duc. "Comte, stay with
me."
"No, I shall go with Raoul; the mission with which you charge him is a
troublesome and a difficult one. Alone, it would be too much for him to
execute. You do not observe, monseigneur, you have given him a command
of the first order."
"Bah!"
"And in the marine."
"That may be true. But when people resemble him, do they not do all that
is required of them?"
"Monseigneur, I believe you will find nowhere so much zeal and
intelligence, so much real bravery, as in Raoul; but if he failed in
your embarkation, you would only meet with what you deserve."
"Humph! you are scolding me, then."
"Monseigneur, to provision a fleet, to assemble a flotilla, to enroll
your maritime force, would take an admiral a year. Raoul is a cavalry
officer, and you allow him a fortnight!"
"I tell you he will get through."
"He may; but I will help him."
"To be sure you will; I reckoned upon you, and still further believe
that when we are once at Toulon you will not let him depart alone."
"Oh!" said Athos, shaking his head.
"Patience! patience!"
"Monseigneur, permit us to take our leave."
"Begone, then, and my good fortune attend you."
"Adieu! monseigneur; and may your good fortune attend you likewise."
"Here is an expedition admirably commenced!" said Athos to his son. "No
provisions--no store flotilla! What can be done, thus?"
"Humph!" murmured Raoul; "if all are going to do as I am, provisions
will not be wanted."
"Monsieur," replied Athos, sternly, "do not be unjust and senseless in
your egotism, or your grief, whichever you please to call it. If you set
out for this war solely with the intention of getting killed in it, you
stand in need of nobody, and it was scarcely worth while to recommend
you to M. de Beaufort. But when you have been introduced to the prince
commandant--when you have accepted the responsibility of a post in his
army, the question is no longer about you, but about all those poor
soldiers, who, as well as you, have hearts and bodies, who will weep for
their country and endure all the necessities of their human condition.
Remember, Raoul, that an officer is a minister as useful as a priest and
that he ought to have more charity than a priest."
"Monsieur, I know it, and have practiced it; I would have continued to
do so still, but--"
"You forget also that you are of a country which is proud of its
military glory; go and die if you like, but do not die without honor and
without advantage to France. Cheer up, Raoul! do not let my words grieve
you; I love you, and wish to see you perfect."
"I love your reproaches, monsieur," said the young man, mildly; "they
alone may cure me, because they prove to me that some one loves me
still."
"And now, Raoul, let us be off; the weather is so fine, the heavens are
so pure, those heavens which we shall always find above our heads, which
you will see more pure still at Gigelli, and which will speak to you of
me there, as they speak to me here of God."
The two gentlemen, after having agreed on this point, talked over the
wild freaks of the duke, convinced that France would be served in a very
incomplete manner, as regarded both spirit and practice, in the ensuing
expedition; and having summed up his policy under the word vanity, they
set forward, in obedience to their will rather than to their destiny.
The sacrifice was accomplished.