Calico Illustrated Classics: The Man in the Iron Mask
I recognized you I must add that if the king were to know of the presence of this bishop here said Aramis that bishop would the executioner’s ax glitter tomorrow see My enemy must be powerful to be able to shut up in the Bastille a child such as I was then said the young man He is You had a tutor in your early years Do you know who was the son of King Henry IV asked Aramis Louis XIII answered the youth slightly reddening Well the king died young and unhappy Did he die childless asked the young man No but he was without a child for a long time He was in the depths of despair when his wife Anne of Austria announced an interesting event There was great joy On the fifth of September 1638 she gave birth to a son Aramis looked at his companion and thought he observed him turning pink He continued 6
You are about to hear a secret which they think is buried with the dead While the court rejoiced and the king showed the newborn to his nobles the queen gave birth to a second son The king feared the second son might one day cause civil war Oh I understand murmured the young man This is why the second son Philippe has disappeared so completely that not a soul in France is aware of his existence except his mother Aramis continued And yourself asked the young man Do you possess about you a portrait of the king Louis XIV The bishop handed the prisoner a small portrait The prisoner seized the portrait and gazed at it And now monseigneur here is a mirror The young man eagerly compared the likeness of Louis with his own image 8
I am lost said the captive The king will never set me free I wonder which of the two is truly the king added the bishop The king Monsieur is he who is on the throne and not in prison replied Philippe Monseigneur the king will be he who after leaving his dungeon shall sit upon the throne on which his friends will place him Aramis spoke with great respect I have the honor of offering myself to your royal highness Free me from the Bastille Let me breathe the fresh air Give me spurs and a sword and then we shall begin to understand each other It is precisely my goal to give you all this and more said Aramis I wish you to be a king for the happiness of humanity And my brother If I restore you to your place on your brother’s throne he shall take yours in prison I will have the pleasure of seeing your highness 9
