“With an order from the king.”
“Direct?”
“Signed by his majesty.”
“There, then! Well, D’Artagnan has been to Belle-Isle; he was disguised; he came in the character of some sort of an intendant, charged by his master to purchase salt-mines. Now, D’Artagnan has no other master but the king: he came, then, sent by the king. He saw Porthos.”
“Who is Porthos?”
“I beg your pardon, I made a mistake. He saw M. du Vallon at Belle-Isle; and he knows, as well as you and I do, that Belle-Isle is fortified.”
“And you think that the king sent him there?” said Fouquet, pensively.