d all that."

"And I thanked your majesty for your remarks at the time, because they
testified an interest in M. de Bragelonne which did him much honor."

"And you may possibly remember," said the king, very deliberately, "that
you had the greatest repugnance for this marriage."

"Quite true, sire."

"And that you solicited my permission, much against your own
inclination?"

"Yes, sire."

"And finally, I remember, for I have a memory nearly as good as your
own; I remember, I say, that you observed at the time: 'I do not believe
that Mademoiselle de la Valliere loves M. de Bragelonne.' Is that true?"

The blow told well, but Athos did not draw back. "Sire," he said, "I
have already begged your majesty's forgiveness; but there are certain
particulars in that conversation which are only intelligible from the
_denouement_."

"Well, what is the _denouement_, monsieur?"

"This: that your majesty then said, 'that you would defer the marriage
out of regard for M. de Bragelonne's own interests.'"

The king remained silent. "M. de Bragelonne is now so exceedingly
unhappy that he cannot any longer defer asking your majesty for a
solution of the matter."

The king turned pale; Athos looked at him with fixed attention.

"And what," said the king, with considerable hesitation, "does M. de
Bragelonne request?"

"Precisely the very thing that I came to ask your majesty for at my last
audience, namely, your majesty's consent to his marriage."

The king remained perfectly silent. "The questions which referred to
the different obstacles in the way are all now quite removed for us,"
continued Athos. "Mademoiselle de la Valliere, without fortune, birth,
or beauty, is not the less on that account the only good match in the
world for M. de Bragelonne, since he loves this young girl."

The king pressed his hands impatiently together. "Does your majesty
hesitate?" inquired the comte, without losing a particle of either his
firmness of his politeness.

"I do not hesitate--I refuse," replied the king.

Athos paused a moment, as if to collect himself: "I have had the honor,"
he said, in a mild tone, "to observe to your majesty that no obstacle
now interferes with M. de Bragelonne's affections, and that his
determination seems unalterable."

"There is my will--and that is an obstacle, I should imagine!"

"That is the most serious of all," Athos replied quickly.

"Ah!"

"And may we, therefore, be permitted to ask your maje