Читать книгу Alias Aramis - Greg Pius - Страница 4

The son of an Abbe is expected to be learned, gentle spirited and kindhearted. Life as a King's Musketeer often required instinctive action, rough handling of enemies and a hard heat. So when Rene d'Herblay was forced by circumstances beyond his control to kill another man, he assumed a split personality complex. At home in front of his father he was young Rene the clerical student. In Paris in front of his peers he was Aramis, the deadly swordsman.

Once you have killed a man in cold blood you cannot get free of your memory of that first kill. Rene reconciled this horror by establishing a fiery reputation as if Aramis was some heroic character. Aramis took no slight to his honor. To even look darkly at Aramis was invite trouble. His duels always ended one way. Among his comrades it was well known that the blade of Aramis the Musketeer was lethal.

Yet Rene could be found at times in his own room under the Abbe's roof studying with a Jesuit priest. There was no doubt that Rene knew his bible cover to cover. Perhaps less well known was how violent the bible stories can be at times. Also its in the bible that revenge had to attained with “an eye for an eye”. To the logical mind of Rene d'Herblay that meant that if someone tried to kill you then you were morally okay if you killed them first.

The other internal conflict going on inside Rene's mind involved the validity of the saying "being cruel to be kind." No priest could be caught being cruel to women, children, older parishioners and animals. Yet a Musketeer must often thwart the actions of traitors. This may involve arresting women against their will; removing young families from the only housing they can afford; and sometimes having to stop parents from visiting their son in the Bastille. Only in the persona of Aramis could Rene (or his alter ego Henri) stomach such brutality and callousness.

Away from the attentions of his peers and cousins, Rene revealed his high level of intelligence. Words written By Rene to loved ones always brought a tear to their eyes. this love missives were always signed “Henri”. Lovers mistakenly believing that Aramis had reveled his true name to only them. His friends soon began pestering Rene to write their letters for them. Enemies 0f his friends often found the satire of Rene's pen to be predictably savage.

Still considering a future career in the church, Rene would attend mass and speak with the local parish priests. His father decided to get his son back on track to succeed him as Abbe. So he called Rene back home. To protect his family, Rene arrived late at night. His father hurried Rene into his library. When his son was seated, the time was rife for a fatherly lecture. He began by saying,

"You know Rene I can not live for ever. Our family has been well provided for by the income from my position. I had hoped that my son would take over from me when I proved too frail to say Masses. But to do that, you, Rene, must already be established inside the priesthood. Now I know what you are going to say but we must be practical. The family of that man you killed will not stop you from becoming a priest. They simply cannot, as it was a duel. Besides the Jesuit who came here to ask me about your future said that once ordained no earthly power can touch a priest. If you get ordained then no one in France will ever dare to try to kill you."

Knowing that it would earn a rebuke from his father, Rene still could not resist answering with a sarcastic remark. He said,

"Well in that case I can go out and kill all my enemies then simply get ordained. So convenient don't you think that a church desperate for priests are so ready to absolve all postulates of capital crimes?"

His father did not approve of attacking the church even in fun. He shouted back,

"DON'T YOU TAKE THAT TONE WITH ME. THIS IS NOT PARIS. I AM NOT ONE OF YOUR COMRADESs IN ARMS. YOU WILL SHOW THE CHURCH RESPECT AT ALL TIMES."

Aramis was cowered by his father's fury, so he said in a subdued tone,

"Very well father. I am sorry for my rudeness."

His father was still angry so his next words were forceful. He said,

"So you should be. This laxity must end. You have been in Paris long enough. I realize that you cannot just leave without a season's notice. My brother-in-law was adamant that the King would not give you his permission until the current war situation changes. But, when it does, you will approach your uncle to ask the King for an honorable retirement from the Musketeers. "

Heart-broken at the thought of leaving his life of freedom for a life of drudgery as he saw parish life, Rene was speechless. He stood as if frozen in time. Then slowly he bowed his head.

His father took this to be a sign that his son had finally accepted the path he had chosen for him. So he allowed Rene to leave the library. Finding his way to his mother, Rene told her of his future dreams and nightmares.

A very calm and surprisingly perceptive woman, Rene's mother was in sympathy with her son. Having no say in his future did not stop Josefina d'Herblay from interfering with her husband's plans. She said,

"Henri my darling you must not despair. Your father cannot countermand the King. As long as the King needs his Musketeers to fight his wars he will not releases you. There is no blade in his service more deadly than yours, is there my lovely boy."

Smiling at his mother's unfailing support, Rene felt he must tell her everything. Only then could her scheming mind find him a way out of this terrible fate awaiting her son. So he said,

"Not true mother. There is one other. He is a very young man, newly arrived. I have seen his swordplay and he is better than me. In fact I doubt if there is a blade in Paris that can match his blade."

Concerned that this may put her son in danger, she said,

"Who is it ma cher? Not that nasty Captain of the Cardinal's guards? He must be a horrid man from the tales you tell of his barbaric actions"

Laughing at his mother's leap to this worst possible option, Rene said,

"Be at peace mother, this blade is friendly. I have fought beside this young man on different occasions. He is very fast, perhaps too fast for any enemy. His stamina is outstanding. All he lacks is the patience of a killer. There at least I am his master."

Smiling with relief Madame d'Herblay said

"He is a close friend of yours, isn't he my son. That is good. If you are going into danger, then it is good to have such friends. Now come into my room and tell me of all your love affairs since I saw you last. Are you still leading on that red haired lady in waiting? What if the Queen finds out about your affairs? You know she has a soft spot for you. Be careful my son of a woman's jealousy. Particularly when that woman is Queen of France. But come let me have all the details...'

With that Aramis's mother led him off to her private chambers. They were not to reappear until midnight. By then Josefina d'Herblay had much scandal locked away in a mother's heart. Her son never ceased to amaze her in how easily he fell in and out of love. A dozen women may think they have the key to his heart, but his mother knew that he kept that bolted from the inside.

As Aramis left in the dark to avoid his enemies, his parents thought of him in vastly different ways. Rene's father saw a young Abbe who was a dutiful son. His mother saw her beloved Henri as a romantic hero and adoring son. They both cherished their own version of this only son.

Once he got back to Paris, Aramis shook off his provincial disguise to assume his role as a King's Musketeer. Immediately on the alert to the machinations of Cardinal Richelieu, Rene picked up on the fact that he was being followed as well as closely watched when not moving about the streets of Paris. Careful not to lead these Cardinal's spies to any of his friends, Rene waited until the next muster of Musketeers to contact his comrades. As was now common, D 'Artagnan was standing beside his two friends at morning assembly. He silenced any questions about his tardiness in contacting them the previous evening. This he did by giving their secret sign that they were being watched.

Athos nodded then after the assembly finished, he led all three of them into their captain's office. The Captain had already left for his morning meeting with the King. As Athos was the next most senior officer he always allowed to wait in the Captain's office chamber. So the actions of the friends of Athos did not raise any eyebrows.

Once inside the room Athos checked all possible hiding places. The other three secured any open windows. Then Athos spoke,

“Welcome back Aramis. How was your father?.……There is no need to swear so violently but I am sure its deserved. I have never met a more boring man. But what of your lovely mother?”

Aramis recovered his good mood immediately at the mention of his mother. So he said,

“She was as beautiful as ever. We spent a great amount of time together. She sends you her fervent wish that in battle you do not leave my side.”

Then Athos got a very serious look on his face as he said,

“Now down to serious business. We all saw Aramis give the signal for someone watching. We all have seen spies sent by the Cardinal hanging around outside our hotels. We are all being followed. This is going to make what I have to say even more dangerous. Our chivalry has been appealed to by no less than our beloved Queen. ”

Shock showed on Porthos face but Aramis only allowed a slight twitching of his lips. Once more Athos glanced into all the dark corners of the large chamber. Then he said

"I will let our friend D'Artagnan fill in the details. But if the Cardinal is watching then he may already know too much about what the Queen wants from us. We could be putting our necks out to be chopped off by the Cardinal's executioner. But lets hear what our new friend has to say".

Now D'Artagnan stepped forward. He said in an eager voice,

"The Queen needs us to go to Milan. There we are to deliver two letters and pick up some royal letters. These must be handed to the Queen's agent here in Paris. A bag of gold has been offered to pay our expenses. This whole mission will be very dangerous. There is the real chance that the Cardinal knows that someone is going to get these letters. As we already can see, his spies are everywhere. So you all have to decide if you want to come on this dangerous mission."

Porthos was the first to respond. He said in his usual gruff manner,

"If it means that I get to smash the heads of the Cardinal's guards then count me in for the whole trip."

Aramis was more circumspect in his reply. He said,

"I assume we are going to the ducal palace in Milan to give and get letters from an agent of the Queen's brother. The king of Spain often sends letters to the Queen through many channels. The ones delivered by his ambassador here in Paris are almost certainly intercepted and read. So we are to be this alternate channel of communication. It is almost certainly a suicide mission."

Taken aback by this touch of stark realism, D'Artagnan said,

"If you don't want to risk your life just say so Aramis. No one will hold it against you."

Smiling without any humor showing in his eyes, Aramis replied to this veiled attack on his courage. He said darkly,

"The last person to question my bravery is now dead. But I forgive you this impertinence. You misunderstood my cautious comments. I am definitely going on this mission. But I will not be used as a decoy to satisfy a royal whim. Are these letters important enough to risk four lives?"

Seeing his young friend close to losing his temper, Athos once more becomes the peacekeeper. He said,

"Let me address this now openly stated concern. I have my own spies in the palace. They tell me that the Cardinal is trying to trap the Queen into an act of treason. That way he will rid himself of a sister of his main enemy. This is why Cardinal Richelieu has schemed to keep the Queen out of the King's bedroom. If he can get the King to sue for an annulment, then a new marriage would be possible. Be sure that the Cardinal has someone totally in his power already lined up to be the new Queen."

Nodding as this outline of dark intrigue matched his own suspicions, Aramis said,

"In that case I withdraw my former comments. I will risk my life to thwart the cardinal. When do we go?"

Looking at Athos as one would look at a honored uncle, D'Artagnan said ,

"My contact says that we must be in Milan within the fortnight. With assassins waiting for us along the main courier route we may have to do some rough riding. So we must take two horses. Our servants can ride the second horse but we must travel light. With the gold coins the Queen has given me for this mission we can afford to buy our food and drink along the way. Still we may have to camp off the road if we are being chased."

So Athos did the formal head count. He said

“Are we all in this together? Porthos you still have not said if you still want to go or stay.”

Porthos looked at D'Artagnan then said

“That bag of gold will buy us good food and wine on our ride to Milan. There I hear they have food we can only dream about here in Paris. So my answer is YES!”

Aramis could not resist teasing his best friend. So he said

“My friend do you always let your stomach make your decisions instead of your mind?”

Porthos did not even blush. Used to Aramis and his barbs Porthos replied

“My mind is never hungry but my stomach is always ready for fine food and wine. So I let it make all the decisions relating to opportunities to expand my diet.”

Athos mumbled something about it being about expanding his waistline but just then they heard the captain's voice boom out in the courtyard. So all four quickly left the Captain's chamber.

With little else to discuss the four friends went off to get ready for this mission. The somber mood reflected their serious attitudes.