The apartment of M. Bonacieux, then, became a mousetrap; and whoever appeared there was taken and interrogated by the cardinal’s people.  It must be observed that as a separate passage led to the first floor, in which d’Artagnan lodged, those who called on him were exempted from this detention.

Besides, nobody came thither but the three Musketeers; they had all been engaged in earnest search and inquiries, but had discovered nothing.  Athos had even gone so far as to question M. de Treville—­a thing which, considering the habitual reticence of the worthy Musketeer, had very much astonished his captain.  But M. de Treville knew nothing, except that the last time he had seen the cardinal, the king, and the queen, the cardinal looked very thoughtful, the king uneasy, and the redness of the queen’s eyes donated that she had been sleepless or tearful.  But this last circumstance was not striking, as the queen since her marriage had slept badly and wept much.

M. de Treville requested Athos, whatever might happen, to be observant of his duty to the king, but particularly to the queen, begging him to convey his desires to his comrades.

As to d’Artagnan, he did not budge from his apartment.  He converted his chamber into an observatory.  From his windows he saw all the visitors who were caught.  Then, having removed a plank from his floor, and nothing remaining but a simple ceiling between him and the room beneath, in which the interrogatories were made, he heard all that passed between the inquisitors and the accused.

The interrogatories, preceded by a minute search operated upon the persons arrested, were almost always framed thus:  “Has Madame Bonacieux sent anything to you for her husband, or any other person?  Has Monsieur Bonacieux sent anything to you for his wife, or for any other person?  Has either of them confided anything to you by word of mouth?”

“If they knew anything, they would not question people in this manner,” said d’Artagnan to himself.  “Now, what is it they want to know?  Why, they want to know if the Duke of Buckingham is in Paris, and if he has had, or is likely to have, an interview with the queen.”

D’Artagnan held onto this idea, which, from what he had heard, was not wanting in probability.

In the meantime, the mousetrap continued in operation, and likewise d’Artagnan’s vigilance.

On the evening of the day after the arrest of poor Bonacieux, as Athos had just left d’Artagnan to report at M. de Treville’s, as nine o’clock had just struck, and as Planchet, who had not yet made the bed, was beginning his task, a knocking was heard at the street door.  The door was instantly opened and shut; someone was taken in the mousetrap.

D’Artagnan flew to his hole, laid himself down on the floor at full length, and listened.

Cries were soon heard, and then moans, which someone appeared to be endeavoring to stifle.  There were no questions.