Ten Years Later: The Man in The Iron Mask by Alexandre Dumas Chapter 17 Page 23

“To persist in saying that he was king of France; to dress himself up in clothes like those of the king; and then pretend to assume that he was the king himself.”

“Gracious heavens!”

“That is the reason why I have brought him back again, my dear friend.

He is mad and lets every one see how mad he is.”

“What is to be done, then?”

“That is very simple; let no one hold any communication with him. You understand that when his peculiar style of madness came to the king’s ears, the king, who had pitied his terrible affliction, and saw that all his kindness had been repaid by black ingratitude, became perfectly furious; so that, now —