He replied that he had just come from the land of oranges. This set all the ladies laughing. Those were times in which everybody traveled, but in which, notwithstanding, a journey of a hundred leagues was a problem often solved by death.
“From the land of oranges?” cried Mademoiselle de Tonnay-Charente. “From Spain?”
“Eh! eh!” said the musketeer.
“From Malta?” echoed Montalais.
“Ma foi! You are coming very near, ladies.”
“Is it an island?” asked La Valliere.
“Mademoiselle,” said D’Artagnan; “I will not give you the trouble of seeking any further; I come from the country where M. de Beaufort is, at this moment, embarking for Algiers.”