ou shall
learn all that I require of you. Wait till that comes, and find out
where your friends are."

Mazarin gave D'Artagnan a bag of money, and the latter withdrew, to
discover in the courtyard that the bag contained silver and not gold.

"Crown pieces only, silver!" exclaimed D'Artagnan; "I guessed as much.
Ah, Mazarin, Mazarin, you have no real confidence in me. So much the
worse for you!"

But the cardinal was rubbing his hands, and congratulating himself that
he had discovered a secret for a tenth of the coin Richelieu would have
spent on the matter.

D'Artagnan first sought for Aramis, who was now an abbe, and lived in a
convent and wrote sermons. But the heart of Aramis was not in religion,
and when D'Artagnan found him, and the two had sat talking for some
time, D'Artagnan said, "My friend, it seems to me that when you were a
musketeer you were always thinking of the Church, and now that you are
an abbe you are always longing to be a musketeer."

"It's true," said Aramis. "Man is a strange bundle of inconsistencies.
Since I became an abbe I dream of nothing but battles, and I practise
shooting all day long here with an excellent master."

Aramis indeed had both retained his swordsmanship and his interest in
public affairs. But when D'Artagnan mentioned Mazarin, and the serious
crisis in the state, Aramis declared that Mazarin was an upstart with
only the queen on his side; and that the young king, the nobles, and
princes, were all against him. Aramis was already on the side of
Mazarin's enemies. He could not pledge himself to anyone, and the two
separated.

D'Artagnan went on to find Porthos, whose address he had learnt from
Aramis. Porthos, who now called himself De Valon after the name of his
estate, lived at ease as a country gentleman should; he was a widower
and wealthy, but he was mortified because his neighbours were of ancient
family and ignored him. He received D'Artagnan with open arms, and when
at breakfast he confessed his weariness, D'Artagnan at once invited him
to join him again and promised that he would get a barony for his
services.

"Go into harness again!" cried D'Artagnan. "Gird on your sword, and win
a coronet. You want a title; I want money; the cardinal wants our help."

"For my part," said the gigantic Porthos, "I certainly want to be made a
baron."

They talked of Athos, who lived on his estate at Bragelonne, and was now
the Count de la Fere. And Porthos mentioned that At