Ten Years Later: Louise de la Valliere by Alexandre Dumas Chapter 29 Page 23

And, as he said this, he took her in his arms, and encircled her waist with both his hands, saying, “My own love!

my own dearest and best beloved, follow me.”

She made a final effort, in which she concentrated, no longer all of her firmness of will, for that had long since been overcome, but all her physical strength. “No!” she replied, weakly, “no! no! I should die from shame.”

“No! you shall return like a queen. No one knows of your having left — except, indeed, D’Artagnan.”

“He has betrayed me, then?”

“In what way?”

“He promised faithfully — ”