Page:Louise de la Valliere text.djvu/28

Rh IS LOUISE DE LA VALLIEEB. all reviewed and narrowly inspected by the musketeer. He walked for a quarter of an hour in this more than royal resi- dence, which included as many wonders as articles of furni- ture, and as many servants as there were columns and doors. "Decidedly," he said to himself, "this mansion has no other limits than the limits of the earth. Is it probable Porthos has taken it into his head to go back to Pierref onds without even leaving Monsieur Fouquet's house?" He finally reached a remote part of the chateau inclosed by a stone wall, which was covered with a profusion of thick plants luxuriant in blossoms as large and solid as fruit. At equal distances on the top of this wall were placed various statues, in timid or mysterious attitudes. These were vestals hidden beneath the long Greek peplum, with its thick, heavy folds, agile watchers, covered with their marble veils, and guarding the palace with their furtive glances. A statue of Hermes, with his finger on his lips; one of Iris, with extended wings; another of Night, sprinkled all over with poppies, dominated in the gardens and the outbuild- ings, which could be seen through the trees. All these statues threw in white relief their profiles upon the dark ground of the tall cypresses, which darted their black sum- mits toward the sky. Around these cypresses were intwined climbing roses, whose flowering rings were fastened to every fork of every branch, and spread over the lower branches and upon the various statues showers of flowers of the richest fragrance. These enchantments seemed to the musketeer the result of the greatest efforts of the human mind. He felt in a dreamy, almost poetical frame of mind. The idea that Porthos was living in so perfect an Eden gave him a higher idea of Porthos, showing how true it is that even the very highest orders of minds are not quite exempt from the influence of surrounding circumstances. D'Ar- tagnan found the door, and at the door a kind of spring which he detected; having touched it, the door flew open. D'Artagnan entered, closed the door behind him, and ad- vanced into a pavilion built in a circular form, in which no other sound could be heard but cascades and the songs of birds. At the door of the pavilion he met a lackey. "It is here, I believe," said D'Artagnan, without hesita- tion, "that Monsieur le Baron du Vallon is staying?" "Yes, monsieur," answered the lackey. "Have the goodness to tell him that Monsieur le Cheva- lier d'Artagnan, captain of the king's musketeers, is wait- ing to see him."