eur," said d'Artagnan, "this was what happened to me--"

"Never mind, never mind!" resumed the cardinal, with a smile which
indicated that he knew the story as well as he who wished to relate it.
"You were recommended to Monsieur de Treville, were you not?"

"Yes, monseigneur; but in that unfortunate affair at Meung--"

"The letter was lost," replied his Eminence; "yes, I know that. But
Monsieur de Treville is a skilled physiognomist, who knows men at first
sight; and he placed you in the company of his brother-in-law, Monsieur
Dessessart, leaving you to hope that one day or other you should enter
the Musketeers."

"Monseigneur is correctly informed," said d'Artagnan.

"Since that time many things have happened to you. You were walking one
day behind the Chartreux, when it would have been better if you had been
elsewhere. Then you took with your friends a journey to the waters of
Forges; they stopped on the road, but you continued yours. That is all
very simple: you had business in England."

"Monseigneur," said d'Artagnan, quite confused, "I went--"

"Hunting at Windsor, or elsewhere--that concerns nobody. I know, because
it is my office to know everything. On your return you were received by
an august personage, and I perceive with pleasure that you preserve the
souvenir she gave you."

D'Artagnan placed his hand upon the queen's diamond, which he wore, and
quickly turned the stone inward; but it was too late.

"The day after that, you received a visit from Cavois," resumed the
cardinal. "He went to desire you to come to the palace. You have not
returned that visit, and you were wrong."

"Monseigneur, I feared I had incurred disgrace with your Eminence."

"How could that be, monsieur? Could you incur my displeasure by having
followed the orders of your superiors with more intelligence and courage
than another would have done? It is the people who do not obey that I
punish, and not those who, like you, obey--but too well. As a proof,
remember the date of the day on which I had you bidden to come to me,
and seek in your memory for what happened to you that very night."

That was the very evening when the abduction of Mme. Bonacieux took
place. D'Artagnan trembled; and he likewise recollected that during the
past half hour the poor woman had passed close to him, without doubt
carried away by the same power that had caused her disappearance.

"In short," continued the cardinal, "as I have heard nothing of you