e
fixed his eyes upon d'Artagnan even more earnestly than before. He was
moderately reassured however, by the aspect of that countenance, full
of astute intelligence and affected humility. "I know he is a Gascon,"
reflected he, "but he may be one for the cardinal as well as for me. Let
us try him."

"My friend," said he, slowly, "I wish, as the son of an ancient
friend--for I consider this story of the lost letter perfectly true--I
wish, I say, in order to repair the coldness you may have remarked in my
reception of you, to discover to you the secrets of our policy. The king
and the cardinal are the best of friends; their apparent bickerings
are only feints to deceive fools. I am not willing that a compatriot,
a handsome cavalier, a brave youth, quite fit to make his way, should
become the dupe of all these artifices and fall into the snare after the
example of so many others who have been ruined by it. Be assured that
I am devoted to both these all-powerful masters, and that my earnest
endeavors have no other aim than the service of the king, and also the
cardinal--one of the most illustrious geniuses that France has ever
produced.

"Now, young man, regulate your conduct accordingly; and if you
entertain, whether from your family, your relations, or even from your
instincts, any of these enmities which we see constantly breaking out
against the cardinal, bid me adieu and let us separate. I will aid you
in many ways, but without attaching you to my person. I hope that my
frankness at least will make you my friend; for you are the only young
man to whom I have hitherto spoken as I have done to you."

Treville said to himself: "If the cardinal has set this young fox upon
me, he will certainly not have failed--he, who knows how bitterly I
execrate him--to tell his spy that the best means of making his court to
me is to rail at him. Therefore, in spite of all my protestations, if
it be as I suspect, my cunning gossip will assure me that he holds his
Eminence in horror."

It, however, proved otherwise. D'Artagnan answered, with the greatest
simplicity: "I came to Paris with exactly such intentions. My
father advised me to stoop to nobody but the king, the cardinal, and
yourself--whom he considered the first three personages in France."

D'Artagnan added M. de Treville to the others, as may be perceived; but
he thought this addition would do no harm.

"I have the greatest veneration for the cardinal," continued he, "an