第28章

"Well？"

askedLouisXIV。，who，onperceivinghim，threwontothetablecoveredwithpapersalargegreencloth。

"Theorderisexecuted，sire。"

"AndFouquet？"

"Monsieurlesurintendantfollowsme，"saidD\'Artagnan。

"Intenminuteslethimbeintroduced，"saidtheking，dismissingD\'Artagnanagainwithagesture。？Thelatterretired;buthadscarcelyreachedthecorridorattheextremityofwhichFouquetwaswaitingforhim，whenhewasrecalledbytheking\'sbell。

"Didhenotappearastonished？"askedtheking。

"Who，sire？"

"Fouquet，"repliedtheking，withoutsayingmonsieur，apeculiaritywhichconfirmedthecaptainofthemusketeersinhissuspicions。

"No，sire，"repliedhe。

"That\'swell！"？AndasecondtimeLouisdismissedD\'Artagnan。

Fouquethadnotquittedtheterracewherehehadbeenleftbyhisguide。？Hereperusedhisnote，conceivedthus:

"Somethingisbeingcontrivedagainstyou。？Perhapstheywillnotdaretocarryitoutatthecastle;itwillbeonyourreturnhome。？Thehouseisalreadysurroundedbymusketeers。？Donotenter。？Awhitehorseisinwaitingforyoubehindtheesplanade！"

FouquetrecognizedthewritingandzealofGourville。？Notbeingwillingthat，ifanyevilhappenedtohimself，thispapershouldcompromiseafaithfulfriend，thesurintendantwasbusytearingitintoathousandmorsels，spreadaboutbythewindfromthebalustradeoftheterrace。？D\'Artagnanfoundhimwatchingthesnowflakeflutteringofthelastscrapsinspace。

"Monsieur，"

saidhe，"thekingawaitsyou。"

Fouquetwalkedwithadeliberatestepalongthelittlecorridor，whereMM。deBrienneandRosewereatwork，whilsttheDucdeSaint—Aignan，seatedonachair，likewiseinthecorridor，appearedtobewaitingfororders，withfeverishimpatience，hisswordbetweenhislegs。？ItappearedstrangetoFouquetthatMM。Brienne，Rose，anddeSaint—Aignan，ingeneralsoattentiveandobsequious，shouldscarcelytaketheleastnotice，ashe，thesurintendant，passed。？Buthowcouldheexpecttofinditotherwiseamongcourtiers，hewhomthekingnolongercalledanythingbutFouquet？？Heraisedhishead，determinedtolookeveryoneandeverythingbravelyintheface，andenteredtheking\'sapartment，wherealittlebell，whichwealreadyknow，hadalreadyannouncedhimtohismajesty。

Theking，withoutrising，noddedtohim，andwithinterest:"Well！howareyou，MonsieurFouquet？"saidhe。

"I

aminahighfever，"repliedthesurintendant;"butIamattheking\'sservice。"

"Thatiswell;theStatesassembleto—morrow;haveyouaspeechready？"

Fouquetlookedatthekingwithastonishment。？"I

havenot，sire，"repliedhe;"butIwillimproviseone。？Iamtoowellacquaintedwithaffairstofeelanyembarrassment。？Ihaveonlyonequestiontoask;willyourmajestypermitme？"

"Certainly。？Askit。"

"WhydidnotyourmajestydohisfirstministerthehonorofgivinghimnoticeofthisinParis？"

"Youwereill;Iwasnotwillingtofatigueyou。"

"Neverdidalabor—neverdidanexplanationfatigueme，sire;andsincethemomentiscomeformetodemandanexplanationofmyking—"

"Oh，MonsieurFouquet！anexplanation？？Anexplanation，pray，ofwhat？"

"Ofyourmajesty\'sintentionswithrespecttomyself。"

Thekingblushed。？"Ihavebeencalumniated，"continuedFouquet，warmly，"andIfeelcalledupontoadjurethejusticeofthekingtomakeinquiries。"

"Yousayallthistomeveryuselessly，MonsieurFouquet;IknowwhatIknow。"

"Yourmajestycanonlyknowthethingsthathavebeentoldtoyou;andI，onmypart，havesaidnothingtoyou，whilstothershavespokenmany，manytimes—"

"Whatdoyouwishtosay？"saidtheking，impatienttoputanendtothisembarrassingconversation。

"Iwillgostraighttothefacts，sire;andIaccuseacertainmanofhavinginjuredmeinyourmajesty\'sopinion。"

"Nobodyhasinjuredyou，MonsieurFouquet。"

"Thatreplyprovestome，sire，thatIamright。"

"MonsieurFouquet，Idonotlikepeopletobeaccused。"

"Notwhenoneisaccused？"

"Wehavealreadyspokentoomuchaboutthisaffair。"

"Yourmajestywillnotallowmetojustifymyself？"

"IrepeatthatIdonotaccuseyou。"

Fouquet，withahalf—bow，madeastepbackward。？"Itiscertain，"thoughthe，"thathehasmadeuphismind。？Healonewhocannotgobackcanshowsuchobstinacy。？Nottoseethedangernowwouldbetobeblindindeed;nottoshunitwouldbestupid。"？Heresumedaloud，"Didyourmajestysendformeonbusiness？"

"No，MonsieurFouquet，butforsomeadviceIwishtogiveyou。"

"I

respectfullyawaitit，sire。"

"Restyourself，MonsieurFouquet，donotthrowawayyourstrength;thesessionoftheStateswillbeshort，andwhenmysecretariesshallhaveclosedit，IdonotwishbusinesstobetalkedofinFranceforafortnight。"

"HasthekingnothingtosaytomeonthesubjectofthisassemblyoftheStates？"

"No，MonsieurFouquet。"

"Nottome，thesurintendantofthefinances？"

"Restyourself，Ibegyou;thatisallIhavetosaytoyou。"

Fouquetbithislipsandhunghishead。？Hewasevidentlybusywithsomeuneasythought。？Thisuneasinessstrucktheking。？"Areyouangryathavingtorestyourself，M。Fouquet？"saidhe。

"Yes，sire，Iamnotaccustomedtotakerest。"

"Butyouareill;youmusttakecareofyourself。"

"Yourmajestyspokejustnowofaspeechtobepronouncedto—morrow。"

Hismajestymadenoreply;thisunexpectedstrokeembarrassedhim。？Fouquetfelttheweightofthishesitation。？Hethoughthecouldreaddangerintheeyesoftheyoungprince，whichfearwouldbutprecipitate。？"IfIappearfrightened，Iamlost，"thoughthe。

Theking，onhispart，wasonlyuneasyatthealarmofFouquet。？"Hasheasuspicionofanything？"murmuredhe。

"Ifhisfirstwordissevere，"againthoughtFouquet;"ifhebecomesangry，orfeignstobeangryforthesakeofapretext，howshallIextricatemyself？？Letussmooththedeclivityalittle。？Gourvillewasright。"

"Sire，"

saidhe，suddenly，"sincethegoodnessofthekingwatchesovermyhealthtothepointofdispensingwithmylabor，mayInotbeallowedtobeabsentfromthecouncilofto—morrow？？Icouldpassthedayinbed，andwillentreatthekingtograntmehisphysician，thatwemayendeavortofindaremedyagainstthisfearfulfever。"

"Sobeit，MonsieurFouquet，itshallbeasyoudesire;youshallhaveaholidayto—morrow，youshallhavethephysician，andshallberestoredtohealth。"

"Thanks！"

saidFouquet，bowing。？Then，openinghisgame:

"ShallI

nothavethehappinessofconductingyourmajestytomyresidenceofBelle—Isle？"

AndhelookedLouisfullintheface，tojudgeoftheeffectofsuchaproposal。？Thekingblushedagain。

"Doyouknow，"repliedhe，endeavoringtosmile，"thatyouhavejustsaid，\'MyresidenceofBelle—Isle\'？"

"Yes，sire。"

"Well！doyounotremember，"continuedthekinginthesamecheerfultone，"thatyougavemeBelle—Isle？"

"Thatistrueagain，sire。？Only，asyouhavenottakenit，youwilldoubtlesscomewithmeandtakepossessionofit。"

"Imeantodoso。"

"Thatwas，besides，yourmajesty\'sintentionaswellasmine;andIcannotexpresstoyourmajestyhowhappyandproudIhavebeentoseealltheking\'sregimentsfromParistohelptakepossession。"

Thekingstammeredoutthathedidnotbringthemusketeersforthatalone。

"Oh，Iamconvincedofthat，"saidFouquet，warmly;"yourmajestyknowsverywellthatyouhavenothingtodobuttocomealonewithacaneinyourhand，tobringtothegroundallthefortificationsofBelle—Isle。"

"Peste！"criedtheking;"Idonotwishthosefinefortifications，whichcostsomuchtobuild，tofallatall。？No，letthemstandagainsttheDu

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