We will, without delay, endeavor to
satisfy their curiosity.

Porthos, faithful to his duty as an arranger of affairs, had,
immediately after leaving the Palais Royal, set off to join Raoul at the
Minimes in the Bois de Vincennes, and had related everything, even to
the smallest details, which had passed between Saint-Aignan and himself.
He finished by saying that the message which the king had sent to his
favorite would not probably occasion more than a short delay, and that
Saint-Aignan, as soon as he could leave the king, would not lose a
moment in accepting the invitation which Raoul had sent him. But Raoul,
less credulous than his old friend, had concluded, from Porthos'
recital, that if Saint-Aignan was going to the king, Saint-Aignan would
tell the king everything; and that the king would, therefore, forbid
Saint-Aignan to obey the summons he had received to the hostile meeting.
The consequence of his reflections was, that he had left Porthos to
remain at the place appointed for the meeting, in the very improbable
case that Saint-Aignan would come there; and had endeavored to make
Porthos promise that he would not remain there more than an hour or an
hour and a half at the very longest. Porthos, however, formally refused
to do anything of the kind, but, on the contrary, installed himself in
the Minimes as if he were going to take root there, making Raoul promise
that when he had been to see his father, he would return to his own
apartments, in order that Porthos' servant might know where to find him,
in case M. de Saint-Aignan should happen to come to the rendezvous.

Bragelonne had left Vincennes, and had proceeded at once straight to the
apartments of Athos, who had been in Paris during the last two days, the
comte having been already informed of what, had taken place by a letter
from D'Artagnan. Raoul arrived at his father's; Athos, after having held
out his hand to him, and embraced him most affectionately, made a sign
for him to sit down.

"I know you come to me as a man would go to a friend, vicomte, whenever
he is suffering; tell me, therefore, what it is that brings you now."

The young man bowed, and began his recital; more than once in the course
of it his tears almost choked his utterance, and a sob, checked in his
throat, compelled him to suspend his narrative for a few minutes.
However, he finished at last. Athos most probably already knew how
matters stood, as we have just now said D'Artagnan had