— is it not? You who come and relate all this; you, who rouse in my soul curiosity, hatred, ambition, and, perhaps, even the thirst of vengeance; except you, monsieur, who, if you are the man to whom I expect, whom the note I have received applies to, whom, in short, Heaven ought to send me, must possess about you — ”
“What?” asked Aramis.
“A portrait of the king, Louis XIV., who at this moment reigns upon the throne of France.”
“Here is the portrait,” replied the bishop, handing the prisoner a miniature in enamel, on which Louis was depicted life-like, with a handsome, lofty mien.
The prisoner eagerly seized the portrait, and gazed at it with devouring eyes.