At this sight and this voice Charles was about to cry out, when Aramis placed his finger on his lips and bowed low to the king of England.
"The chevalier!" murmured Charles.
"Yes, sire," interrupted Aramis, raising his voice, "Bishop Juxon, the faithful knight of Christ, obedient to your majesty's wishes."
Charles clasped his hands, amazed and stupefied to find that these foreigners, without other motive than that which their conscience imposed on them, thus combated the will of a people and the destiny of a king.
"You!" he said, "you! how did you penetrate hither? If they recognize you, you are lost."
"Care not for me, sire; think only of yourself. You see, your friends are wakeful. I know not what we shall do yet, but four determined men can do much. Meanwhile, do not be surprised at anything that happens; prepare yourself for every emergency."
Charles shook his head.
"Do you know that I die to-morrow at ten o'clock?"
"Something, your majesty, will happen between now and then to make the execution impossible."
The king looked at Aramis with astonishment.
At this moment a strange noise, like the unloading of a cart, and followed by a cry of pain, was heard beneath the window.
"Do you hear?" said the king.
"I hear," said Aramis, "but I understand neither the noise nor the cry of pain."
"I know not who can have uttered the cry," said the king, "but the noise is easily understood. Do you know that I am to be beheaded outside this window? Well, these boards you hear unloaded are the posts and planks to build my scaffold.
Some workmen must have fallen underneath them and been hurt."
Aramis shuddered in spite of himself.
"You see," said the king, "that it is useless for you to resist. I am condemned; leave me to my death."
"My king," said Aramis, "they well may raise a scaffold, but they cannot make an executioner."
"What do you mean?" asked the king.
"I mean that at this hour the headsman has been got out of the way by force or persuasion. The scaffold will be ready by to-morrow, but the headsman will be wanting and they will put it off till the day after to-morrow."
"What then?" said the king.
"To-morrow night we shall rescue you."
"How can that be?" cried the king, whose face was lighted up, in spite of himself, by a flash of joy.
"Oh! sir," cried Parry, "may you and yours be blessed!"
"How can it be?" repeated the king. "I must know, so that I may assist you if there is any chance."
"I know nothing about it," continued Aramis, "but the cleverest, the bravest, the most devoted of us four said to me when I left him, `Tell the king that to-morrow at ten o'clock at night, we shall carry him off.' He has said it and will do it."
"Tell me the name of that generous friend," said the king, "that I may cherish for him an eternal gratitude, whether he succeeds or not."
"D'Artagnan, sire, the same who had so nearly rescued you when Colonel Harrison made his untimely entrance."
"You are, indeed, wonderful men," said the king; "if such things had been related to me I should not have believed them."
"Now, sire," resumed Aramis, "listen to me. Do not forget for a single instant that we are watching over your safety; observe the smallest gesture, the least bit of song, the least sign from any one near you; watch everything, hear everything, interpret everything."
"Oh, chevalier!" cried the king, "what can I say to you?
There is no word, though it should come from the profoundest depth of my heart, that can express my gratitude. If you succeed I do not say that you will save a king; no, in presence of the scaffold as I am, royalty, I assure you, is a very small affair; but you will save a husband to his wife, a father to his children. Chevalier, take my hand; it is that of a friend who will love you to his last sigh."
Aramis stooped to kiss the king's hand, but Charles clasped his and pressed it to his heart.
At this moment a man entered, without even knocking at the door. Aramis tried to withdraw his hand, but the king still held it. The man was one of those Puritans, half preacher and half soldier, who swarmed around Cromwell.
"What do you want, sir?" said the king.
"I desire to know if the confession of Charles Stuart is at an end?" said the stranger.
"And what is it to you?" replied the king; "we are not of the same religion."
"All men are brothers," said the Puritan. "One of my brothers is about to die and I come to prepare him."
"Bear with him," whispered Aramis; "it is doubtless some spy."
"After my reverend lord bishop," said the king to the man, "I shall hear you with pleasure, sir."
The man retired, but not before examining the supposed Juxon with an attention which did not escape the king.