ccord?"

"No, no, my dear prelate; a _fete_ to which M. Colbert advised the king
to invite himself."

"Ah--exactly; as it would be a _fete_ of so costly a character that you
would be ruined in giving it."

"Precisely so. In happier days, as I said just now, I had a kind of
pride in showing my enemies how inexhaustible my resources were; I felt
it a point of honor to strike them with amazement, by creating millions
under circumstances where they imagined nothing but bankruptcies and
failures would follow. But, at present, I am arranging my accounts with
the state, with the king, with myself; and I must now become a mean,
stingy man; I shall be able to prove to the world that I can act or
operate with my deniers as I used to do with my bags of pistoles, and
from to-morrow my equipages shall be sold, my mansions mortgaged, my
expenses curtailed."

"From to-morrow," interrupted Aramis, quietly, "you will occupy
yourself, without the slightest delay, with your _fete_ at Vaux, which
must hereafter be spoken of as one of the most magnificent productions
of your most prosperous days."

"Are you mad, Chevalier d'Herblay?"

"I! do you think so?"

"What do you mean, then? Do you not know that a _fete_ at Vaux, one of
the very simplest possible character, would cost four or five millions?"

"I do not speak of a _fete_ of the very simplest possible character, my
dear superintendent."

"But, since the _fete_ is to be given to the king," replied Fouquet, who
misunderstood Aramis's idea, "it cannot be simple."

"Just so: it ought to be on a scale of the most unbounded magnificence."

"In that case, I shall have to spend ten or twelve millions."

"You shall spend twenty, if you require it," said Aramis, in a perfectly
calm voice.

"Where shall I get them?" exclaimed Fouquet.

"That is my affair, monsieur le surintendant; and do not be uneasy for a
moment about it. The money shall be placed at once at your disposal, the
moment you have arranged the plans of your _fete_."

"Chevalier! chevalier!" said Fouquet, giddy with amazement, "whither are
you hurrying me?"

"Across the gulf into which you were about to fall," replied the bishop
of Vannes. "Take hold of my cloak, and throw fear aside."

"Why did you not tell me that sooner, Aramis? There was a day when, with
one million only, you could have saved me; whilst to-day--"

"Whilst to-day I can give you twenty," said the prelate. "Such is the
case, however--the reaso