Buckingham, on being left alone, walked towards a mirror. His musketeer’s uniform became him wonderfully well.
At this instant a door concealed in the tapestry was opened, and a woman appeared. Buckingham saw this apparition in the glass. He uttered a cry. It was the queen!
Anne of Austria advanced two steps. Buckingham threw himself at her feet, and before the queen could prevent him, kissed the hem of her robe.
“Duke, you already know that it is not I who caused you to be written to.”
“Yes, yes, madame! yes, your Majesty!” cried the duke. “I know that I must have been mad, senseless, to believe that snow would become animated or marble warm. But what then? They who love easily believe in love; besides, this journey is not wholly lost, since I see you.”
“Yes,” replied Anne; “but you know why and how I see you, milord? Because, insensible to all my sufferings, you persist in remaining in a city where, by remaining, you run the risk of your own life, and make me run the risk of losing my honour. I see you to tell you that everything separates us—the depths of the sea, the enmity of kingdoms, the sancity of vows. It is sacrilege to struggle against so many things, milord. In short, I see you to tell you that we must never see each other again.”
“Speak on, madame, speak on, queen,” said Buckingham; “the sweetness of your voice covers the harshness of your words. You talk of sacrilege; but the sacrilege lies in the separation of two hearts formed by God for each other.”
“Milord,” cried the queen, “you forget that I have never told you I loved you.”
“Silence, silence!” cried the duke. “If I am happy in an error, do not have the cruelty to deprive me of it. You have told me yourself, madame, that I have been drawn into a snare; and I, perhaps, shall leave my life in it—for, strangely enough, I have for some time had a presentiment that I shall shortly die.” And the duke smiled, with a smile at once sad and charming.
“Oh, my God!” cried Anne of Austria, with an accent of terror which proved how much greater was the interest she took in the duke than she ventured to tell.
“I do not tell you this, madame, to terrify you; no, what I say to you is even ridiculous; and, believe me I do not heed such dreams. But the words you have just spoken, the hope you have almost given me, will have richly paid for all, were it even my life.”
“Oh, but I,” said Anne—“I, duke, have had presentiments likewise; I have had dreams. I dreamed that I saw you lying bleeding, wounded.”
“In the left side, was it not, and with a knife?” interrupted Buckingham.
“Yes, it was so, milord, it was so—in the left side, and with a knife. Who can possibly have told you I had had that dream? I have imparted it to no one but my God, and only then in my prayers.”
“I ask for no more. You love me, madame. It is enough.”
“I love you! I?”
“Yes, yes. Would God send the same dreams to you as to me if you did not love me? Should we have the same presentiments if our existencies did not meet in our hearts? You love me, my queen, and you will weep for me?”
“Oh, my God, my God!” cried Anne of Austria, “this is more than I can bear. In the name of Heaven, duke, leave me—go! I do not know whether I love you or do not love you, but what I know is, that I will not be a perjured woman. Take pity on me, then, and go. Oh, if you are struck in France, if you die in France, if I could imagine that your love for me was the cause of your death, nothing could ever console me; I should go mad. Depart, then; go, I implore you!”
“Oh, how beautiful you are so! Oh, how I love you!” said Buckingham.
“Oh, but go—go back, I implore you, and return later on! Come as ambassador, come as minister, come surrounded with guards who will defend you, with servants who will watch over you, and then—then I shall no longer fear for your life, and I shall be happy in seeing you again.”
“Oh, is this true, is what you say true?”
“Yes.”
“Then, some pledge of your indulgence, some object which, coming from you, may assure me that I have not dreamed; something you have worn, and that I may wear in my turn—a ring, a necklace, a chain!”
“Will you go then, will you go, if I give you what you ask for?”
“Yes.”
“This very instant?”
“Yes.”
“You will leave France, you will return to England?”
“I will, I swear to you I will.”
“Wait, then, wait.”
And Anne of Austria went into her apartment, and came out again almost immediately, holding a casket in her hand made of rosewood with her monogram incrusted in gold.
“Here, milord, here,” said she; “keep this in memory of me.”
Buckingham took the casket, and fell a second time on his knees.
“You promised me you would go back,” said the queen.
“And I keep my word. Your hand, madame, your hand, and I depart.”
Anne of Austria stretched forth her hand, closing her eyes, and leaned the other upon Estefana, for she felt her strength was about to fail her.
Buckingham pressed his lips passionately to that beautiful hand, and then rising, said,“Within six months, if I am not dead, I shall have seen you again, madame, even if I have upset the whole world for it.”
And, faithful to the promise he had made, he rushed out of the apartment.
In the corridor he met Madame Bonacieux, who was waiting for him, and who, with the same precautions and the same good fortune, led him out of the Louvre.
