Ten Years Later: The Vicomte of Bragelonne by Alexandre Dumas Chapter 56 Page 6

“Loret drinks cider at my house!” cried Fouquet, laughing.

“Certainly he does, monsieur, and that is the reason why he dines there with pleasure.”

“Vatel,” cried Fouquet, pressing the hand of his maitre d’hotel, “you are a man! I thank you, Vatel, for having understood that at my house M. de la Fontaine, M. Conrart, and M. Loret are as great as dukes and peers, as great as princes, greater than myself. Vatel, you are a good servant, and I double your salary.”

Vatel did not even thank his master, he merely shrugged his shoulders a little, murmuring this superb sentiment: “To be thanked for having done one’s duty is humiliating.”

“He is right,” said Gourville, as he drew Fouquet’s