makes me mean as an earthworm; but since Monseigneur permits me to speak freely — ”
D’Artagnan paused.
“Yes; speak.”
“Then, I will presume to say that all my friends are in the king’s Musketeers and Guards, and that by an inconceivable fatality my enemies are in the service of your Eminence; I should, therefore, be ill received here and ill regarded there if I accepted what Monseigneur offers me.”
“Do you happen to entertain the haughty idea that I have not yet made you an offer equal to your value?” asked the cardinal, with a smile of disdain.
“Monseigneur, your Eminence is a hundred times too kind to me; and on the