CHAPTER 27
The Next Day
It was seven o'clock in the morning, the first rays of day
lightened the pools of the marsh, in which the sun was
reflected like a red ball, when Athos, awaking and opening
the window of his bed-chamber, which looked out upon the
banks of the river, perceived, at fifteen paces' distance
from him, the sergeant and the men who had accompanied him
the evening before, and who, after having deposited the
casks at his house, had returned to the camp by the causeway
on the right.
Why had these men come back after having returned to the
camp? That was the question which first presented itself to
Athos. The sergeant, with his head raised, appeared to be
watching the moment when the gentleman should appear, to
address him. Athos, surprised to see these men, whom he had
seen depart the night before, could not refrain from
expressing his astonishment to them.
"There is nothing surprising in that, monsieur," said the
sergeant; "for yesterday the general commanded me to watch
over your safety, and I thought it right to obey that
order."
"Is the general at the camp?" asked Athos.
"No doubt he is, monsieur; as when he left you he was going
back."
"Well, wait for me a moment; I am going thither to render an
account of the fidelity with which you fulfilled your duty,
and to get my sword, which I left upon the table in the
tent."
"That happens very well," said the sergeant, "for we were
about to request you to do so."
Athos fancied he could detect an air of equivocal bonhomie
upon the countenance of the sergeant; but the adventure of
the vault might have excited the curiosity of the man, and
it was not surprising that he allowed some of the feelings
which agitated his mind to appear in his face. Athos closed
the doors carefully, confiding the keys to Grimaud, who had
chosen his domicile beneath the shed itself, which led to
the cellar where the casks had been deposited. The sergeant
escorted the Comte de la Fere to the camp. There a fresh
guard awaited him, and relieved the four men who had
conducted Athos.
This fresh guard was commanded by the aid-de-camp Digby,
who, on their way, fixed upon Athos looks so little
encouraging, that the Frenchman asked himself whence arose,
with regard to him, this vigilance and this severity, when
the evening before he had been left perfectly free. He
nevertheless continued his way to the headquarters, keeping
to himself the observations which men and things forced him
to make. He found in the general's tent, to which he had
been introduced the evening before, three superior officers:
these were Monk's lieutenant and two colonels. Athos
perceived his sword; it was still on the table where he left
it. Neither of the officers had seen Athos, consequently
neither of them knew him. Monk's lieutenant asked, at the
appearance of Athos, if that were the same gentleman with
whom the General had left the tent.
"Yes, your honor," said the sergeant; "it is the same."
"But," said Athos haughtily, "I do not deny it, I think; and
now, gentlemen, in turn, permit me to ask you to what
purpose these questions are asked, and particularly some
explanation upon the tone in which you ask them?"
"Monsieur," said the lieutenant, "if we address these
questions to you, it is because we have a right to do so,
and if we make them in a particular tone, it is because that
tone, believe me, agrees with the circumstances."
"Gentlemen," said Athos, "you do not know who I am; but I
must tell you I acknowledge no one here but General Monk as
my equal. Where is he? Let me be conducted to him, and if he
has any questions to put to me, I will answer him and to his
satisfaction, I hope. I repeat, gentlemen, where is the
general?"
"Eh! good God! you know better than we do where he is," said
the lieutenant.
"I?"
"Yes, you."
"Monsieur," said Athos, "I do not understand you."
"You will understand me -- and, in the first place, do not
speak so loud."
Athos smiled disdainfully.
"We don't ask you to smile," said one of the colonels
warmly; "we require you to answer."
"And I, gentlemen, declare to you that I will not reply
until I am in the presence of the general."
"But," replied the same colonel who had already spoken, "you
know very well that is impossible."
"This is the second time I have received this strange reply
to the wish I express," said Athos. "Is the general absent?"
This question was made with such apparent good faith, and
the gentleman wore an air of such natural surprise, that the
three officers exchanged a meaning look. The lieutenant, by
a tacit convention with the other two, was spokesman."
"Monsieur, the general left you last night on the borders of
the monastery."
"Yes, monsieur."
"And you went ---- "
"It is not for me to answer you, but for those who have
accompanied me. They were your soldiers, ask them."
"But if we please to question you?"
"Then it will please me to reply, monsieur, that I do not
recognize any one here, that I know no one here but the
general, and that it is to him alone I will reply."
"So be it, monsieur; but as we are the masters, we
constitute ourselves a council of war, and when you are
before judges you must reply."
The countenance of Athos expressed nothing but astonishment
and disdain, instead of the terror the officers expected to
read in it at this threat.
"Scotch or English judges upon me, a subject of the king of
France; upon me, placed under the safeguard of British
honor! You are mad, gentlemen!" said Athos, shrugging his
shoulders.
The officers looked at each other. "Then, monsieur," said
one of them, "do you pretend not to know where the general
is?"
"To that, monsieur, I have already replied."
"Yes, but you have already replied an incredible thing."
"It is true, nevertheless, gentlemen. Men of my rank are not
generally liars. I am a gentleman, I have told you, and when
I have at my side the sword which, by an excess of delicacy,
I left last night upon the table whereon it still lies,
believe me, no man says that to me which I am unwilling to
hear. I am at this moment disarmed; if you pretend to be my
judges, try me; if you are but my executioners, kill me."
"But, monsieur ---- " asked the lieutenant, in a more
courteous voice, struck with the lofty coolness of Athos.
"Sir, I came to speak confidentially with your general about
affairs of importance. It was not an ordinary welcome that
he gave me. The accounts your soldiers can give you may
convince you of that. If, then, the general received me in
that manner, he knew my titles to his esteem. Now, you do
not suspect, I should think that I should reveal my secrets
to you, and still less his."
"But these casks, what do they contain?"
"Have you not put that question to your soldiers? What was
their reply?"
"That they contained powder and ball."
"From whom had they that information? They must have told
you that."
"From the general; but we are not dupes."
"Beware, gentlemen, it is not to me you are now giving the
lie, it is to your leader."
The officers again looked at each other. Athos continued:
"Before your soldiers the general told me to wait a week,
and at the expiration of that week he would give me the
answer he had to make me. Have I fled away? No, I wait."
"He told you to wait a week!" cried the lieutenant.
"He told me that so clearly, sir, that I have a sloop at the
mouth of the river, which I could with ease have joined
yesterday, and embarked. Now, if I have remained, it was
only in compliance with the desire of your general, his
honor having requested me not to depart without a last
audience, which fixed at a week hence. I repeat to you,
then, I am waiting."
The lieutenant turned towards the other officers, and said,
in a low voice: "If this gentleman speaks truth, there may
still be some hope. The general may be carrying out some
negotiations so secret, that he thought it imprudent to
inform even us. Then the time limited for his absence would
be a week." Then, turning towards Athos: "Monsieur," said
he, "your declaration is of the most serious importance; are
you willing to repeat it under the seal of an oath?"
"Sir," replied Athos, "I have always lived in a world where
my simple word was regarded as the most sacred of oaths."
"This time, however, monsieur, the circumstance is more
grave than any you may have been placed in. The safety of
the whole army is at stake. Reflect, the general has
disappeared, and our search for him has been vain. Is this
disappearance natural? Has a crime been committed? Are we
not bound to carry our investigations to extremity? Have we
any right to wait with patience? At this moment, everything,
monsieur, depends upon the words you are about to
pronounce."
"Thus questioned, gentlemen, I no longer hesitate," said
Athos. "Yes, I came hither to converse confidentially with
General Monk, and ask him for an answer regarding certain
interests; yes, the general being, doubtless, unable to
pronounce before the expected battle, begged me to remain a
week in the house I inhabit, promising me that in a week I
should see him again. Yes, all this is true, and I swear it
by the God who is the absolute master of my life and yours."
Athos pronounced these words with so much grandeur and
solemnity, that the three officers were almost convinced.
Nevertheless, one of the colonels made a last attempt.
"Monsieur," said he, "although we may be now persuaded of
the truth of what you say, there is yet a strange mystery in
all this. The general is too prudent a man to have thus
abandoned his army on the eve of a battle without having at
least given notice of it to one of us. As for myself, I
cannot believe but that some strange event has been the
cause of this disappearance. Yesterday some foreign
fishermen came to sell their fish here; they were lodged
yonder among the Scots; that is to say, on the road the
general took with this gentleman, to go to the abbey, and to
return from it. It was one of those fishermen that
accompanied the general with a light. And this morning, bark
and fishermen have all disappeared, carried away by the
night's tide."
"For my part," said the lieutenant, "I see nothing in that
that is not quite natural, for these people were not
prisoners."
"No, but I repeat it was one of them who lighted the general
and this gentleman to the abbey, and Digby assures us that
the general had strong suspicions concerning those people.
Now, who can say whether these people were not connected
with this gentleman; and that, the blow being struck, the
gentleman, who is evidently brave, did not remain to
reassure us by his presence, and to prevent our researches
being made in a right direction?"
This speech made an impression upon the other two officers.
"Sir," said Athos, "permit me to tell you, that your
reasoning, though specious in appearance, nevertheless wants
consistency, as regards me. I have remained, you say, to
divert suspicion. Well! on the contrary, suspicions arise in
me as well as in you; and I say, it is impossible,
gentlemen, that the general, on the eve of a battle, should
leave his army without saying anything to at least one of
his officers. Yes, there is some strange event connected
with this; instead of being idle and waiting, you must
display all the activity and all the vigilance possible. I
am your prisoner, gentlemen, upon parole or otherwise. My
honor is concerned in ascertaining what has become of
General Monk, and to such a point, that if you were to say
to me, `Depart!' I should reply `No, I will remain!' And if
you were to ask my opinion, I should add: `Yes, the general
is the victim of some conspiracy, for, if he had intended to
leave the camp he would have told me so.' Seek then, search
the land, search the sea; the general has not gone of his
own good will."
The lieutenant made a sign to the other two officers.
"No, monsieur," said he, "no; in your turn you go too far.
The general has nothing to suffer from these events, and, no
doubt, has directed them. What Monk is now doing he has
often done before. We are wrong in alarming ourselves; his
absence will, doubtless, be of short duration; therefore,
let us beware, lest by a pusillanimity which the general
would consider a crime, of making his absence public, and by
that means demoralize the army. The general gives a striking
proof of his confidence in us; let us show ourselves worthy
of it. Gentlemen, let the most profound silence cover all
this with an impenetrable veil; we will detain this
gentleman, not from mistrust of him with regard to the
crime, but to assure more effectively the secret of the
general's absence by keeping among ourselves; therefore,
until fresh orders, the gentleman will remain at
headquarters."
"Gentlemen," said Athos, "you forget that last night the
general confided to me a deposit over which I am bound to
watch. Give me whatever guard you like, chain me if you
like, but leave me the house I inhabit for my prison. The
general, on his return, would reproach you, I swear on the
honor of a gentleman, for having displeased him in this."
"So be it, monsieur," said the lieutenant; "return to your
abode."
Then they placed over Athos a guard of fifty men, who
surrounded his house, without losing sight of him for a
minute.
The secret remained secure, but hours, days passed away
without the general's returning, or without anything being
heard of him.
