“The Comte de la Fère, then?”
“And his son, the son of all four of us.”
“That poor boy who is dying of love for La Vallière, whom my brother so disloyally bereft him of? Be easy on that score. I shall know how to rehabilitate his happiness. Tell me only one thing, Monsieur d’Herblay; do men, when they love, forget the treachery that has been shown them? Can a man ever forgive the woman who has betrayed him? Is that a French custom, or is it one of the laws of the human heart?”
“A man who loves deeply, as deeply as Raoul loves Mademoiselle de La Vallière, finishes by forgetting the fault or crime of the woman he loves; but I do not yet know whether Raoul will be able to forget.”
“I will see after that. Have you anything further to say about your friend?”
“No; that is all.”
“Well, then, now for M. Fouquet. What do you wish me to do for him?”
“To keep him on as surintendant, in the capacity in which he has hitherto acted, I entreat you.”
“Be it so; but he is the first minister at present.”
“Not quite so.”
“A king, ignorant and embarrassed as I shall be, will, as a matter of course, require a first minister of state.”
“Your Majesty will require a friend.”
“I have only one, and that is yourself.”
“You will have many others by and by, but none so devoted, none so zealous for your glory.”
“You shall be my first minister of state.”
“Not immediately, Monseigneur, for that would give rise to too much suspicion and astonishment.”
“M. de Richelieu, the first minister of my grandmother, Marie de Medici, was simply bishop of Lucon, as you are bishop of Vannes.”
“I perceive that Your Royal Highness has studied my notes to great advantage; your amazing perspicacity overpowers me with delight.”
“I am perfectly aware that M. de Richelieu, by means of the queen’s protection, soon became cardinal.”
“It would be better,” said Aramis, bowing, “that I should not be appointed first minister until Your Royal Highness has procured my nomination as cardinal.”
“You shall be nominated before two months are past, Monsieur d’Herblay. But that is a matter of very trifling moment; you would not offend me if you were to ask more than that, and you would cause me serious regret if you were to limit yourself to that.”
“In that case, I have something still further to hope for, Monseigneur.”
“Speak! speak!”
“M. Fouquet will not keep long at the head of affairs, he will soon get old. He is fond of pleasure, consistently, I mean, with all his labors, thanks to the youthfulness he still retains; but this protracted youth will disappear at the approach of the first serious annoyance, or at the first illness he may experience. We will spare him the annoyance, because he is an agreeable and noble-hearted man; but we cannot save him from ill-health. So it is determined. When you shall have paid all M. Fouquet’s debts, and restored the finances to a sound condition, M. Fouquet will be able to remain the sovereign ruler in his little court of poets and painters—we shall have made him rich. When that has been done, and I have become Your Royal Highness’s prime minister, I shall be able to think of my own interests and yours.”
The young man looked at his interrogator.
“M. de Richelieu, of whom we were speaking just now, was very much to blame in the fixed idea he had of governing France alone, unaided. He allowed two kings, King Louis XIII and himself, to be seated on the selfsame throne, whilst he might have installed them more conveniently upon two separate and distinct thrones.”
“Upon two thrones?” said the young man, thoughtfully.
“In fact,” pursued Aramis, quietly, “a cardinal, prime minister of France, assisted by the favor and by the countenance of his Most Christian Majesty the King of France, a cardinal to whom the king his master lends the treasures of the state, his army, his counsel, such a man would be acting with twofold injustice in applying these mighty resources to France alone. Besides,” added Aramis, “you will not be a king such as your father was, delicate in health, slow in judgment, whom all things wearied; you will be a king governing by your brain and by your sword; you will have in the government of the state no more than you will be able to manage unaided; I should only interfere with you. Besides, our friendship ought never to be, I do not say impaired, but in any degree affected, by a secret thought. I shall have given you the throne of France, you will confer on me the throne of St. Peter. Whenever your loyal, firm, and mailed hand should have joined in ties of intimate association the hand of a pope such as I shall be, neither Charles V, who owned two-thirds of the habitable globe, nor Charlemagne, who possessed it entirely, will be able to reach to half your stature. I have no alliances, I have no predilections; I will not throw you into persecutions of heretics, nor will I cast you into the troubled waters of family dissension; I will simply say to you: The whole universe is our own; for me the minds of men, for you their bodies. And as I shall be the first to die, you will have my inheritance. What do you say of my plan, Monseigneur?”
“I say that you render me happy and proud, for no other reason than that of having comprehended you thoroughly. Monsieur d’Herblay, you shall be cardinal, and when cardinal, my prime minister; and then you will point out to me the necessary steps to be taken to secure your election as pope, and I will take them. You can ask what guarantees from me you please.”
“It is useless. Never shall I act except in such a manner that you will be the gainer; I shall never ascend the ladder of fortune, fame, or position, until I have first seen you placed
