take three balls, I will do the same; then we
will throw the rest of the powder and balls away."

"And we will solemnly swear," said De Wardes, "that we have neither
balls nor powder about us?"

"Agreed; and I swear it," said De Guiche, holding his hand towards
heaven, a gesture which De Wardes imitated.

"And now, my dear comte," said De Wardes, "allow me to tell you that I
am in no way your dupe. You already are, or soon will be, the accepted
lover of Madame. I have detected your secret, and you are afraid I shall
tell others of it. You wish to kill me, to insure my silence; that is
very clear; and in your place, I should do the same." De Guiche hung
down his head. "Only," continued De Wardes, triumphantly, "was it
really worth while, tell me, to throw this affair of Bragelonne's on my
shoulders? But, take care, my dear fellow; in bringing the wild boar to
bay, you enrage him to madness; in running down the fox, you endow him
with the ferocity of the jaguar. The consequence is, that brought to bay
by you, I shall defend myself to the very last."

"You will be quite right to do so."

"Yes; but take care; I shall work more harm than you think. In the first
place, as a beginning, you will readily suppose that I have not been
absurd enough to lock up my secret, or your secret rather, in my own
breast. There is a friend of mine, who resembles me in every way, a
man whom you know very well, who shares my secret with me; so, pray
understand, that if you kill me, my death will not have been of much
service to you; whilst, on the contrary, if I kill you--and everything
is possible, you know--you understand?" De Guiche shuddered. "If I kill
you," continued De Wardes, "you will have secured two mortal enemies to
Madame, who will do their very utmost to ruin her."

"Oh! monsieur," exclaimed De Guiche, furiously, "do not reckon upon my
death so easily. Of the two enemies you speak of, I trust most
heartily to dispose of one immediately, and the other at the earliest
opportunity."

The only reply De Wardes made was a burst of laughter, so diabolical in
its sound, that a superstitious man would have been terrified. But De
Guiche was not so impressionable as that. "I think," he said, "that
everything is now settled, Monsieur de Wardes; so have the goodness to
take your place first, unless you would prefer me to do so."

"By no means," said De Wardes. "I shall be delighted to save you the
slightest trouble." And spurring his