“Cardinal, desire them to arrest that insolent fellow before he leaves the court.”
“Your majesty,” answered Mazarin, “desires me to do only what I was going to ask you to let me do.
These bravoes who resuscitate in our epoch the traditions of another reign are troublesome; since there are two of them already there, let us add a third.”
Athos was not altogether the queen’s dupe, but he was not a man to run away on suspicion — above all, when distinctly told that he should see his friends again. He waited, then, in the ante-chamber with impatience, till he should be conducted to them.
He walked to the window and looked into the court. He saw the deputation from the