The Man in the Iron Mask

Temp

en thrown over our mind, in order to retain its expression. But to-night, in this darkness, in the reserve which you maintain, I can read nothing on your features, and something tells me that I shall have great difficulty in wresting from you a sincere declaration. I beseech you, then, not f

ou are about to say to me." And he buried himself still deeper in the thick cushions of the carriage,

arriage, covered in by this prodigious roof, would not have received a particle of light, not even

all these miseries, humiliations, and distresses, in full daylight, under the pitiless sun of royalty; on an elevation flooded with light, where every stain appears a blemish, every glory a stain. The king has suffered; it rankles in his mind; and he will avenge himself. He will be a bad king. I say not that he will pour out his people's blood, like Louis

, but it was to gather up his thoughts from the very bottom of his soul - to leave th

the motto of God, 'Patiens quia oeternus.'" The prince moved. "I divine, monseigneur, why you are raising your head, and are surprised at the people I have under my command. You did not know you were dealing with a king - oh! monseigneur, king of a people very humble, much disinherited; humble because they have no force save when creeping; disinherited, because never, almost never in this world, do my people reap the harvest they sow, nor eat the fruit they cultivate.

you are. For me, the result of your words is, that the day you desire to hurl down the man you shall have

ss, if I had not a double interest in gaining it. The day you are elevated, you are elevated forever; you will overturn the footstool,

monsi

e than gratitude! I am convinced that, when arrived at the summit, you will judge me still more worthy to be you

without disguise - what I am today, a

ould be persecuted; this persecution today consecrates you king of France. You had, then, a right to reign, seeing that it is disputed; you had a right to be proclaimed seeing that you have been concealed; and you possess royal blood, since no one has dared to shed yours, as that of your servants has been shed. Now see, then, what this Providence, which you have so often accused of having in every way thwarted you, h

prince, "my brother's blo

sole arbiter

ch they made an ev

lf, you will defeat the conspiracy of Mazarin and Anne of Austria. You, my prince, will have the same

I was saying to you

uarded

ve made use of it with regard

her and Madame

will t

, if you

is

if you act in such a manner t

there are grav

them, p

ied; I cannot take

t of your new policy; it is human morality. All that is really no

oned king w

hink he will spea

, the men in whom y

And besides, you

sid

rs, and by the license of supreme power. The same Providence which has willed that the concluding step in the geometrical calculation I have had the honor of describing to your royal highness should be your ascension to the throne, and the destruction of him who is hurtful to you, has also determined that the conquered one shall soon end both his own and your sufferings. Therefore, his soul and

ght uttered from the depths of the forest that prolonge

ing," said Philippe, shudde

t has the problem been well put? Have I brought out of the solutio

ave forgotten nothing - ex

fir

ersed in. Let us speak of the causes which may bring about the ruin of al

u or for me, if the constancy and intrepidity of your royal highness are equal to that perfection of resemblance to your brother which nature has bestowed upon you. I repeat it, t

ery serious obstacle, an insurmounta

said A

which cries aloud; rem

, indeed, is an immense obstacle. The horse afraid of the ditch, leaps into the middle of it, and is killed! The

er?" said the you

ld," said the latter,

me one in the world whom

- Yes, I

fore me in my thoughts; listen to my words; precious they indeed are, in their import and their sense, for you who look with such tender regard upon the bright heavens, the verdant meadows, the pure air. I know a country instinct with delights of every kind, an unknown paradise, a secluded corner of the world - where alone, unfettered and unknown, in the thick covert of the woods, amidst flowers, and streams of rippling water, you will forget all the misery that human folly has so recently allotted you. Oh! listen to me, my prince. I do not jest. I have a heart, and mind, and soul, and can re

prince, with a vivacity w

return the others to the waters. Never yet has the food of the stranger, be he soldier or simple citizen, never has any one, indeed, penetrated into that district. The sun's rays there are soft and tempered: in plots of solid earth, whose soil is swart and fertile, grows the vine, nourishing with generous juice its purple, white, and golden grapes. Once a week, a boat is sent to deliver the bread which has been baked at an oven - the common property of all. There - like the seigneurs of early days - powerful in virtue of your dogs, your fishing-lines, your guns, and your beautiful reed-built house, would you live, rich in the produce of the chase, in plentitude of absolute secrecy. There would years of your life roll away, at the end of which, no longer recognizable, for you would have been perfectly transformed, you would have succeeded in acquiring a destiny accorded to you by Heaven. There are a thousand pistoles in this bag, monseigneur - more, far more, than sufficient to purchase the whole marsh of which I have spoken; more than enough to live there as many years as you have days to live; more than enough to constitute you the richest, the freest, and the happi

rriage, walk on the ground, and consult that still voice within me, which Heaven bids

re him with respect, so solemn and august in tone and a