Athos and D'Artagnan meet once more at the Hostelry of the Corne du Cerf.
The king of England made his _entree_ into Dover with great pomp, as he afterwards did in London. He had sent for his brothers; he had brought over his mother and sister. England had been for so long a time given up to herself - that is to say, to tyranny, mediocrity and nonsense - that this return of Charles II., whom the English only knew as the son of the man whose head they had cut off, was a festival for three kingdoms.
Consequently, all the good wishes, all the acclamations which accompanied his return, struck the young king so forcibly that he stooped and whispered in the ear of James of York, his younger brother, "In truth, James, it seems to have been our own fault that we were so long absent from a country where we are so much beloved!" The pageant was magnificent. Beautiful weather favored the solemnity. Charles had regained all his youth, all his good humor; he appeared to be transfigured; hearts seemed to smile on him like the sun. Amongst this noisy crowd of courtiers and worshipers, who did not appear to remember they had conducted to the scaffold at Whitehall the father of the new king, a man, in the garb of a lieutenant of musketeers, looked, with a smile upon his thin, intellectual lips, sometimes at the people vociferating their blessings, and sometimes at the prince, who pretended emotion, and who bowed most particularly to the women, whose _bouquets_ fell beneath his horse's feet.
"What a fine trade is that of king!" said this man, so completely absorbed in contemplation that he stopped in the middle of the road, leaving the _cortege_ to file past. "Now, there is, in good truth, a prince all bespangled over with gold and diamonds, enamelled with flowers like a spring meadow; he is about to plunge his empty hands into the immense coffer in which his now faithful - but so lately unfaithful – subjects have amassed one or two cartloads of ingots of gold. They cast _bouquets_ enough upon him to smother him; and yet, if he had presented himself to them two months ago, they would have sent as many bullets and balls at him as they now throw flowers. Decidedly it is worth something to be born in a certain sphere, with due respect to the lowly, who pretend that it is of very little advantage to them to be born lowly."
The _cortege_ continued to file on, and, with the king, the acclamations began to die away in the direction of the palace, which, however, did not prevent our officer from being pushed about.
"_Mordioux!_" continued the reasoner, "these people tread upon my toes and look upon _me_ as of very little consequence, or rather of none at all, seeing that they are Englishmen and I am a Frenchman. If all these people were asked, - 'Who is M. d'Artagnan?' they would reply, '_Nescio vos_.' But let any one say to them, 'There is the king going by,' 'There is M. Monk going by,' they would run away, shouting, - '_Vive le roi!_''_Vive M. Monk!_' till their lungs were exhausted. And yet," continued he, surveying, with that look sometimes so keen and sometimes so proud, the diminishing crowd, - "and yet, reflect a little, my good people, on what your king has done, on what M. Monk has done, and then think what has been done by this poor unknown, who is called M. d'Artagnan! It is true you do not know him, since he is here unknown, and that prevents your thinking about the matter! But, bah! what matters it! All that does not prevent Charles II. from being a great king, although he has been exiled twelve years, or M. Monk from being a great captain, although he did make a voyage to Holland in a box. Well, then, since it is admitted that one is a great king and the other a great captain, -'_Hurrah for King Charles II.!_ - _Hurrah for General Monk!_'" And his voice mingled with the voices of the hundreds of spectators, over which it sounded for a moment. Then, the better to play the devoted man, he took off his hat and waved it in the air. Some one seized his arm in the very height of his expansive loyalism. (In 1660 that was so termed which we now call royalism.)
"Athos!" cried D'Artagnan, "you here!" And the two friends seized each other's hands.
"You here! - and being here," continued the musketeer, "you are not in the midst of all these courtiers, my dear comte! What! you, the hero of the _fete_, you are not prancing on the left hand of the king, as M. Monk is prancing on the right? In truth, I cannot comprehend your character, nor that of the prince who owes you so much!"
"Always scornful, my dear D'Artagnan!" said Athos. "Will you never correct yourself of that vile habit?"
"But you do not form part of the pageant?"
"I do not, because I was not willing to do so."
"And why were you not willing?"
"Because I am neither envoy nor ambassador, nor representative of the king of France; and it does not become me to exhibit myself thus near the person of another king than the one God has given me for a master."
"_Mordioux!_ you came very near to the person of the king, his father."
"That was another thing, my friend; he was about to die."
"And yet that which you did for him - "
"I did it because it was my duty to do it. But you know I hate all ostentation. Let King Charles II., then, who no longer stands in need of me, leave me to my rest, and the shadow; that is all I claim of him."
D'Artagnan sighed.
"What is the matter with you?" said Athos. "One would say that this happy return of the king to London saddens you, my friend; you who have done at least as much for his majesty as I have."
"Have I not," replied D'Artagnan, with his Gascon laugh, "have I not done much for his majesty, without any one suspecting it?"
"Yes, yes, but the king is well aware of it, my friend," cried Athos.
"He is aware of it!" said the musketeer bitterly. "By my faith! I did not suspect so, and I was even a moment ago trying to forget it myself."
"But he, my friend, will not forget it, I will answer for him."
"You tell me that to console me a little, Athos."
"For what?"