so."

"Was I not considerate enough toward you from the very moment I did not
compel you to obey me?"

"To me, sire, you were, but not to my friend; for my friend would be
arrested all the same, whether by myself or by the captain of the
guards."

"And this is your devotion, monsieur! a devotion which argues and
reasons. You are no soldier, monsieur!"

"I wait for your majesty to tell me what I am."

"Well, then--you are a Frondeur."

"And since there is no longer any Fronde, sire, in that case--"

"But if what you say is true--"

"What I say is always true, sire."

"What have you come to say to me, monsieur?"

"I have come to say to your majesty, 'Sire, M. de la Fere is in the
Bastille.'"

"That is not your fault, it would seem."

"That is true, sire; but at all events he is there; and since he is
there, it is important that your majesty should know it."

"Ah! Monsieur d'Artagnan, so you set your king at defiance."

"Sire--"

"Monsieur d'Artagnan! I warn you that you are abusing my patience."

"On the contrary, sire."

"What do you mean by 'on the contrary'?"

"I have come to get myself arrested too."

"To get yourself arrested--you!"

"Of course. My friend will get wearied to death in the Bastille by
himself; and I have come to propose to your majesty to permit me to bear
him company; if your majesty will but give the word, I will arrest
myself; I shall not need the captain of the guards for that, I assure
you."

The king darted toward the table and seized hold of a pen to write the
order for D'Artagnan's imprisonment. "Pay attention, monsieur, that this
is forever," cried the king in a tone of stern menace.

"I can quite believe that," returned the musketeer; "for when you have
once done such an act as that, you will never be able to look me in the
face again."

The king dashed down his pen violently. "Leave the room, monsieur!" he
said.

"Not so, if it please your majesty."

"How is that?"

"Sire, I came to speak gently and temperately to your majesty; your
majesty got into a passion with me; that is a misfortune; but I shall
not the less on that account say what I had to say to you."

"Your resignation, monsieur--your resignation!" cried the king.

"Sire, you know whether I care about my resignation or not, since at
Blois, on the very day when you refused King Charles the million which
my friend the Comte de la Fere gave him, I then tendered my resignation
to your majesty."