Page:The Vicomte de Bragelonne 2.djvu/497

THE VICOMTE DE BRAGELOSHSTE. 485 "And in it you perceived a direct attack upon your sovereignty?" "And do you believe it to ba so? "Oh, yes, I think so." "Well, I must confess, that sad idea occurred to me like- wise." "Do not blind yourself, monsieur, in the name of Heaven! Listen attentively to me. I return to D'Artagnan." "I am all attention." "Under what circumstances did you see him?" "He came here for monev." "With what kind of order?" "With an order from the king." "Direct?" "Signed by his majesty." "There, then! Well, D'Artagnan has been to Belle-Isle; he was disguised; he came in the character of some sort of an intendant, charged by his master to purchase salt mines. Now, D'Artagnan has no other master but the king; he came, then, sent by the king. He saw Porthos." "Who is Porthos?" "I beg your pardon, I made a mistake. He saw Mon- sieur du Valon at Belle-Isle; and he knows, as well as you and I do, that Belle-Isle is fortified." "And you think that the king sent him there?" said Fe v quet pensively. "I certainly do." "And D'Artagnan, in the hands of the king, is a danger- ous instrument?" "The most dangerous imaginable." "Then I formed a correct opinion of him at the first glance." "How so?" "I wished to attach him to myself." "If you judged him to be the bravest, the most acute, .and the most adroit man in France, you have judged correctly." "He must be had, then, at any price." "D'Artagnan?" "Is not that your opinion?" "It may be my opinion, but you will never have him." "Why?" "Because we have allowed the time to go by. He was dissatisfied with the court, we should have profited by that; since that, he has passed into England; there he powerfully