Greetings, all, and thank you for reading and reviewing.
Oh dear, there is discord amongst the brothers. Porthos' view is understandable but how or when might things be resolved? We won't be seeing it in this chapter! A slightly longer one today.
CHAPTER 94
"Captain Tréville! The voice of reason at last," Allaire greeted effusively as the Musketeer entered the room, closely followed by Athos.
"Sit down, please," Tréville ordered, indicating a seat at a table.
"Only if you'll join me," the noble insisted as he settled himself.
"Thank you, but we prefer to stand," was the clipped response. "This is Athos, my lieutenant and currently on a temporary secondment to the Red Guard?"
"Athos?" Allaire's joviality faltered.
"You've heard of me?" the young man asked casually.
"I .. I must have heard your name at court," Allaire said quickly, trying to cover up his slip.
"Interesting that the courtiers have so little to occupy them that they begin gossiping about individual members of the King's guard, don't you think, Athos?" There was no levity in the Captain's tone nor in his expression.
"Very interesting," Athos concurred. "I hope they were not saying anything bad about me."
"I'm sure it must have been related to something heroic you'd done recently. Everyone knows the Musketeers are heroes, don't they?"
"It would be nice to believe that everyone thought that but, sadly, it is not true, is it, Athos?" Tréville began slowly pacing around the room, Allaire's head turning as his eyes warily followed the man's progress.
"No, Captain," and Athos, arms folded, leaned against the wall in apparent indifference but his green eyes were fixed upon Allaire. The two Musketeers had decided outside the room that Tréville would take the lead in the interrogation.
"No, it's not," Tréville went on. "There are those who would prefer to see my Musketeers dead for some reason best known to themselves, and would go to any lengths to achieve that. Wouldn't they, Athos?"
"Yes, they would, Captain."
Suddenly, Tréville stopped and slammed the flat of his hand down on the tabletop so that Allaire visibly jumped. "Like L'Hernault, for example."
"You don't know that for certain," Allaire interjected.
"Oh, but you see, we do. Fact number one, we know that he wants Athos dead; I'm assuming L'Hernault told you he recognised Athos as a Musketeer. Fact number two, it goes beyond him attending the meeting at Troyes, but you do not need to know the finer details. Now, I do not take kindly to any of my men being set upon and left for dead and I certainly do not appreciate a second attempt. Fact number three, L'Hernault left the hunt early and came back here; two more of my men followed him. You've already met them; they brought you here."
There was the slightest flicker in Allaire's eyes as he assimilated this information. Tréville knew from previous experience that the man was now probably evaluating his situation, wondering at the extent of what the Musketeers knew and considering what he should do now in his best interests.
"Fact number four, L'Hernault entered a side door into the lodge, passing a number of Red Guards who saw him. Here's where it gets really interesting. Shortly after, one of the Guards realised that his pistol, which had been placed on the table behind him, was missing."
"Perhaps he made a mistake and left it somewhere else, Captain?" Athos suggested, guessing that Allaire might be considering the weak option.
Tréville shook his head. "Impossible, he had only just cleaned it. Good to hear that a soldier was taking such care of his weapon."
"Then perhaps another of the Guard misappropriated it?"
Now Tréville tut-tutted. "What an idea, Athos, that a soldier would steal the vital equipment belonging to one of his comrades-in-arms and in front of so many of their colleagues!"
"Then who could have taken it, I wonder?" Athos said, his stare still unwavering so that Allaire shifted uncomfortably in his seat.
"I can only think of one person," Tréville said, his hand still on the table so that he loomed over the nobleman. His comments were directed at Athos but he, too, kept his eyes on Allaire. "L'Hernault was the only one who went past, and he took it. He was prepared to seize any chance, just as he did a little while later when he saw Athos walking with the Captain of the Red Guard. He intended to shoot Athos dead, but hit and killed Planque instead. He had both motive and opportunity."
"You are guessing!" Allaire swallowed hard.
"Am I?" Tréville's voice hardened. "So he came to you for help and you concocted this story between you that you had been together all the time. I've no doubt you were suffering from a hangover this morning having drunk too much last evening; it would be easy to verify from servants as to how frequently your glass was refilled. That, however, is where the truth ends."
Allaire seemed about to object but Tréville raised a finger to silence him. "Let me make things perfectly clear to you. You are in an untenable position, Allaire, if you persist in this ridiculous alibi. L'Hernault made a second attempt on the life of Athos and murdered an innocent man, the Captain of Richelieu's Guard. Need I add that the Cardinal is very angry about this? We will break L'Hernault; he will confess to his crime. It is not a matter of 'if', only 'when'. You did not pull the trigger, but you will be held guilty by association and you will suffer the consequences unless you desist in your story. There are things Captain Athos and I need to discuss so we will leave you alone for a few minutes to think about what I have said, but I would strongly suggest that you help yourself and start co-operating."
They left the room and closed the door on the now sombre Allaire.
"We'll leave him for a few minutes to re-assess his position," Tréville decided.
"We can hold him for treason; we could have brought more pressure to bear by telling him that as well," Athos pointed out.
Tréville shook his head. "We need to get to tomorrow's meeting between the King and Menier before we reveal our hand. Gaston is going to be unhappy enough when he realises that we have arrested his men. He can do nothing about L'Hernault for the man is a murderer, but Allaire is a different matter. If he gives us the information against L'Hernault that we can use, he will have done what we wanted, and we will have to release him."
"We could set another watch on him," Athos suggested.
"It's a possibility but we can leave our options open. If he remains at Versailles, we arrest him later and charge him with treason. If he runs, well, where can he go? He is finished at court whatever happens now. There is also the option that we merely ignore him for we have bigger fish to fry."
"Gaston, you mean?"
"Exactly. Now, let's see if he has come to his senses," and Tréville led the way back into the room.
"Are you prepared to assist us?" the Captain demanded.
Gone was Allaire's earlier bombast; the man seemed deflated in mood and physique as he slumped at the table. His voice was little more than a whisper when he spoke. "You wold help me?"
"If you were to assist us now in our enquiries, it might go in your favour; something might be negotiated, but I cannot promise anything. That would depend upon the mercy of the King himself."
"You have nothing to lose but the possibility of gaining much," Athos added. "Do you really have such loyalty to L'Hernault."
"No!" Allaire's answer was immediate. His gaze flitted from one to the other of the men. "L'Hernault killed Planque but he thought it was you." He looked at Athos. "He told me as much and also admitted the first attempt on your life. I wondered why he tried again, and he said Gaston had ordered it."
Neither Tréville nor Athos expected to hear this. Was Gaston now another one intent upon disposing of Athos?
"Perhaps he was trying to give you a feasible excuse," Tréville offered, unsure whether to believe the comment about the King's brother.
"Perhaps," Allaire agreed, "although he said the Duc was furious that you had lived to bring back the information and that the plot was compromised."
With L'Hernault incarcerated - for he would never regain his liberty now – would Gaston persist in pursuing Athos? This was not something either of the officers had contemplated.
"There's more," Allaire continued. "I have the weapon that was used, the one stolen from the Red Guard. L'Hernault gave it to me when I offered to dispose of it on his behalf. It is locked in a box in my room."
A/N
Another interesting (well, it is to me anyway) snippet when I considered using a familiar expression:
John Evelyn wrote in his 'Memoirs' of 1660, 'fear he hasotherfish to fry.' Thistermalsoappeared in an earlytranslation of Rabelais'sPantagruel(1552) by Motteux,but it didnotseem to catch on untillater.