s in his own way. My
father tells me: 'Honor is the consideration of what is due to others,
and particularly what is due to oneself.' But Guiche, and Manicamp,
and Saint-Aignan particularly, would say to me: 'What's honor? Honor
consists in studying and yielding to the passions and pleasures of one's
king.' Honor such as that indeed, is easy and productive enough. With
honor like that, I can keep my post at the court, become a gentleman of
the chamber, and accept the command of a regiment, which may at any time
be presented to me. With honor such as that, I can be duke and peer.

"The stain which that woman has stamped upon me, the grief that has
broken my heart, the heart of the friend and playmate of her childhood,
in no way affects M. de Bragelonne, an excellent officer, a courageous
leader, who will cover himself with glory at the first encounter, and
who will become a hundred times greater than Mademoiselle de la Valliere
is to-day, the mistress of the king--for the king will not marry
her--and the more publicly he will proclaim her as his mistress, the
more opaque will grow the shadow of shame he casts upon her face, in the
guise of a crown; and in proportion as others despise, as I despise her,
I shall be gleaning honors in the field. Alas! we had walked together
side by side, she and I, during the earliest, the brightest, the most
angelic portion of our existence, hand in hand along the charming path
of life, covered with the blossoms of youth; and then, alas! we reach
a cross-road, where she separates herself from me, in which we have
to follow a different route, whereby we become more and more widely
separated from each other. And to attain the end of this path, oh,
Heaven! I am now alone, in utter despair, and crushed to the very
earth."

Such were the sinister reflections in which Raoul indulged, when his
foot mechanically paused at the door of his own dwelling. He had reached
it without remarking the streets through which he passed, without
knowing how he had come; he pushed open the door, continued to advance,
and ascended the staircase. The staircase, as in most of the houses at
that period, was very dark, and the landings most obscure. Raoul lived
on the first floor; he paused in order to ring. Olivain appeared, took
his sword and cloak from his hands; Raoul himself opened the door which,
from the ante-chamber, led into a small _salon_, richly furnished enough
for the _salon_ of a young man, and complet