"Dumas, Alexandre - The Man In The Iron Mask" - читать интересную книгу автора (Dumas Alexandre)

Etext of The Man In The Iron Mask
by Alexandre Dumas
1846

Chapter I: Two Old Friends

WHILE EVERY ONE AT court was busy with his own affairs, a man
mysteriously took up his post behind the Place de Greve, in the
house which we once saw besieged by d'Artagnan on the occasion of a
riot. The principal entrance of this house was in the Place
Baudoyer. The house was tolerably large, surrounded by gardens,
enclosed in the Rue St. Jean by the shops of tool-makers, which
protected it from prying looks; and was walled in by a triple
rampart of stone, noise, and verdure, like an embalmed mummy in its
triple coffin.
The man to whom we have just alluded walked along with a firm
step, although he was no longer in his early prime. His dark cloak and
long sword outlined beneath the cloak plainly revealed a man seeking
adventures; and judging from his curling mustaches, his fine and
smooth skin, as seen under his sombrero, the gallantry of his
adventures was unquestionable. In fact, hardly had the cavalier
entered the house, when the clock of St. Gervais struck eight; and ten
minutes afterwards a lady, followed by an armed servant, approached
and knocked at the same door, which an old woman immediately opened
for her. The lady raised her veil as she entered; though no longer a
beauty, she was still a woman; she was no longer young, yet she was
sprightly and of an imposing carriage. She concealed, beneath a rich
toilet of exquisite taste, an age which Ninon de l'Enclos alone
could have smiled at with impunity. Hardly had she reached the
vestibule, when the cavalier, whose features we have only roughly
sketched, advanced towards her, holding out his hand.
"Good-day, my dear Duchess," he said.
"How do you do, my dear Aramis?" replied the duchess.
He led her to an elegantly furnished apartment, on whose high
windows were reflected the expiring rays of the setting sun, which
filtered through the dark crests of some adjoining firs. They sat down
side by side. Neither of them thought of asking for additional light
in the room, and they buried themselves thus in the shadow, as if they
had wished to bury themselves in forgetfulness.
"Chevalier," said the duchess, "you have never given me a single
sign of life since our interview at Fontainebleau; and I confess
that your presence there on the day of the Franciscan's death, and
your initiation in certain secrets, caused me the liveliest
astonishment I ever experienced in my whole life."
"I can explain my presence there to you, as well as my
initiation," said Aramis.
"But let us, first of all," replied the duchess, quickly, "talk a
little of ourselves, for our friendship is by no means of recent
date."
"Yes, Madame; and if Heaven wills it, we shall continue to be