n extent of six leagues in length, and six in breadth, was
a seignorial property, which the people had for a long time respected,
covered as it was with the name of Retz, so redoubtable in the
country. Shortly after the erection of this seignory into a marquisate,
Belle-Isle passed to M. Fouquet. The celebrity of the isle did not date
from yesterday; its name, or rather its qualification, is traced back to
the remotest antiquity. The ancients called it Kalonese, from two Greek
words, signifying beautiful isle. Thus at a distance of eighteen hundred
years, it had borne, in another idiom, the same name it still bears.
There was, then, something in itself in this property of M. Fouquet's,
besides its position of six leagues off the coast of France; a position
which makes it a sovereign in its maritime solitude, like a majestic
ship which disdains roads, and proudly casts anchor in mid-ocean.

D'Artagnan learnt all this without appearing the least in the world
astonished. He also learnt that the best way to get intelligence was to
go to La Roche-Bernard, a tolerably important city at the mouth of
the Vilaine. Perhaps there he could embark; if not, crossing the
salt marshes, he would repair to Guerande-en-Croisic, to wait for an
opportunity to cross over to Belle-Isle. He had discovered, besides,
since his departure from Chateaubriand, that nothing would be impossible
for Furet under the impulsion of M. Agnan, and nothing to M. Agnan
through the initiative of Furet. He prepared, then, to sup off a teal
and a tourteau, in a hotel of La Roche-Bernard, and ordered to be
brought from the cellar, to wash down these two Breton dishes, some
cider, which, the moment it touched his lips, he perceived to be more
Breton still.

CHAPTER 67. How D'Artagnan became acquainted with a Poet, who had turned
Printer for the sake of printing his own Verses

Before taking his place at table, D'Artagnan acquired, as was his
custom, all the information he could; but it is an axiom of curiosity,
that every man who wishes to question well and fruitfully ought in the
first place to lay himself open to questions. D'Artagnan sought, then,
with his usual skill, a promising questioner in the hostelry of La
Roche-Bernard. At the moment, there were in the house, on the first
story, two travelers either preparing for supper, or at supper itself.
D'Artagnan had seen their nags in the stable, and their equipages in
the salle. One traveled with a la