Chapter 29

Chapter XXIX:
Chaillot.

Although they had not been summoned, Manicamp and Malicorne had followed
the king and D'Artagnan. They were both exceedingly intelligent men;
except that Malicorne was too precipitate, owing to ambition, while
Manicamp was frequently too tardy, owing to indolence. On this occasion,
however, they arrived at precisely the proper moment. Five horses were
in readiness. Two were seized upon by the king and D'Artagnan, two
others by Manicamp and Malicorne, while a groom belonging to the stables
mounted the fifth. The cavalcade set off at a gallop. D'Artagnan had
been very careful in his selection of the horses; they were the very
animals for distressed lovers - horses which did not simply run, but
flew. Within ten minutes after their departure, the cavalcade, amidst a
cloud of dust, arrived at Chaillot. The king literally threw himself off
his horse; but notwithstanding the rapidity with which he accomplished
this maneuver, he found D'Artagnan already holding his stirrup. With a
sign of acknowledgement to the musketeer, he threw the bridle to the
groom, and darted into the vestibule, violently pushed open the door, and
entered the reception-room. Manicamp, Malicorne, and the groom remained
outside, D'Artagnan alone following him. When he entered the reception-
room, the first object which met his gaze was Louise herself, not simply
on her knees, but lying at the foot of a large stone crucifix. The young
girl was stretched upon the damp flag-stones, scarcely visible in the
gloom of the apartment, which was lighted only by means of a narrow
window, protected by bars and completely shaded by creeping plants. When
the king saw her in this state, he thought she was dead, and uttered a
loud cry, which made D'Artagnan hurry into the room. The king had
already passed one of his arms round her body, and D'Artagnan assisted
him in raising the poor girl, whom the torpor of death seemed already to
have taken possession of. D'Artagnan seized hold of the alarm-bell and
rang with all his might. The Carmelite sisters immediately hastened at
the summons, and uttered loud exclamations of alarm and indignation at
the sight of the two men holding a woman in their arms. The superior
also hurried to the scene of action, but far more a creature of the world
than any of the female members of the court, notwithstanding her
austerity of manners, she recognized the king at the first glance, by the
respect which those present exhibited for him, as well as by the
imperious and authoritative way in which he had thrown the whole
establishment into confusion. As soon as she saw the king, she retired
to her own apartments, in order to avoid compromising her dignity. But
by one of the nuns she sent various cordials,