upon a horse he owed to a
woman, Aramis on a horse he owed to his mistress, Porthos on a horse he
owed to his procurator's wife, and d'Artagnan on a horse he owed to his
good fortune--the best mistress possible.

The lackeys followed.

As Porthos had foreseen, the cavalcade produced a good effect; and if
Mme. Coquenard had met Porthos and seen what a superb appearance he
made upon his handsome Spanish genet, she would not have regretted the
bleeding she had inflicted upon the strongbox of her husband.

Near the Louvre the four friends met with M. de Treville, who was
returning from St. Germain; he stopped them to offer his compliments
upon their appointments, which in an instant drew round them a hundred
gapers.

D'Artagnan profited by the circumstance to speak to M. de Treville of
the letter with the great red seal and the cardinal's arms. It is well
understood that he did not breathe a word about the other.

M. de Treville approved of the resolution he had adopted, and assured
him that if on the morrow he did not appear, he himself would undertake
to find him, let him be where he might.

At this moment the clock of La Samaritaine struck six; the four friends
pleaded an engagement, and took leave of M. de Treville.

A short gallop brought them to the road of Chaillot; the day began to
decline, carriages were passing and repassing. d'Artagnan, keeping at
some distance from his friends, darted a scrutinizing glance into every
carriage that appeared, but saw no face with which he was acquainted.

At length, after waiting a quarter of an hour and just as twilight was
beginning to thicken, a carriage appeared, coming at a quick pace on
the road of Sevres. A presentiment instantly told d'Artagnan that this
carriage contained the person who had appointed the rendezvous; the
young man was himself astonished to find his heart beat so violently.
Almost instantly a female head was put out at the window, with two
fingers placed upon her mouth, either to enjoin silence or to send him a
kiss. D'Artagnan uttered a slight cry of joy; this woman, or rather this
apparition--for the carriage passed with the rapidity of a vision--was
Mme. Bonacieux.

By an involuntary movement and in spite of the injunction given,
d'Artagnan put his horse into a gallop, and in a few strides overtook
the carriage; but the window was hermetically closed, the vision had
disappeared.

D'Artagnan then remembered the injunction: "If you value your o