ed. The king turned hastily round; his first idea was that a
letter from Louise had arrived; but, instead of a letter of love, he
only saw his captain of musketeers, standing upright, and perfectly
silent in the doorway. "M. d'Artagnan," he said, "ah! Well, monsieur?"

D'Artagnan looked at Saint-Aignan; the king's eyes took the same
direction as those of his captain; these looks would have been clear to
any one, and for a still greater reason they were so for Saint-Aignan.
The courtier bowed and quitted the room, leaving the king and D'Artagnan
alone.

"Is it done?" inquired the king.

"Yes, sire," replied the captain of the musketeers, in a grave voice,
"it is done."

The king was unable to say another word. Pride, however, obliged him
not to pause at what he had done; whenever a sovereign has adopted a
decisive course, even though it be unjust, he is compelled to prove
to all witnesses, and particularly to prove it to himself, that he was
quite right all through. A good means for effecting that--an almost
infallible means, indeed--is, to try and prove his victim to be in the
wrong. Louis, brought up by Mazarin and Anne of Austria, knew better
than any one else his vocation as a monarch; he therefore endeavored to
prove it on the present occasion. After a few moment's pause, which he
had employed in making silently to himself the same reflections which
we have just expressed aloud, he said, in an indifferent tone: "What did
the comte say?"

"Nothing at all, sire."

"Surely he did not allow himself to be arrested without saying
something?"

"He said he expected to be arrested, sire."

The king raised his head haughtily. "I presume," he said, "that M. le
Comte de la Fere has not continued to play his obstinate and rebellious
part."

"In the first place, sire, what do you wish to signify by _rebellious?_"
quietly asked the musketeer. "A rebel, in the eyes of the king, is a
man who not only allows himself to be shut up in the Bastile, but still
more, who opposes those who do not wish to take him there."

"Who do not wish to take him there!" exclaimed the king. "What do you
say, captain! Are you mad?"

"I believe not, sire."

"You speak of persons who did not wish to arrest M. de la Fere! Who are
those persons, may I ask?"

"I should say those whom your majesty intrusted with that duty."

"But it was you whom I intrusted with it," exclaimed the king.

"Yes, sire; it was I."

"And yet you say that, desp