exercise of power, that the man was speaking with perfect sincerity. Besides, in observing his face for a few moments, he could not believe that Aramis would have chosen such a confidant.

“It is the prisoner,” said the superintendent to him, “whom M. d’Herblay carried away the day before yesterday?”

“Yes, monseigneur.”

“And whom he brought back this morning?” added Fouquet, quickly: for he understood immediately the mechanism of Aramis’s plan.

“Precisely, monseigneur.”

“And his name is Marchiali, you say?”

“Yes, Marchiali.

If monseigneur has come here to remove him, so much the better, for I was going to write about him.”