he same person. These four people,
with my master, and old Perronnette, my jailer, and the governor of the
prison, are the only persons with whom I have ever spoken, and, indeed,
almost the only persons I have ever seen."

"Then, you were in prison?"

"If I am a prisoner here, there I was comparatively free, although in a
very narrow sense--a house which I never quitted, a garden surrounded
with walls I could not clear, these constituted my residence; but you
know it, as you have been there. In a word, being accustomed to live
within these bounds, I never cared to leave them. And so you will
understand, monsieur, that not having seen any thing of the world, I
have nothing left to care for; and, therefore, if you relate anything,
you will be obliged to explain everything to me."

"And I will do so," said Aramis, bowing, "for it is my duty,
monseigneur."

"Well, then, begin by telling me who was my tutor."

"A worthy, and, above all, an honorable gentleman, monseigneur; fit
guide both for body and soul. Had you ever any reason to complain of
him?"

"Oh, no; quite the contrary. But this gentleman of yours often used to
tell me that my father and mother were dead. Did he deceive me, or did
he speak the truth?"

"He was compelled to comply with the orders given him."

"Then he lied?"

"In one respect. Your father is dead."

"And my mother?"

"She is dead for you."

"But then she lives for others, does she not?"

"Yes."

"And I--and I, then" (the young man looked sharply at Aramis), "am
compelled to live in the obscurity of a prison?"

"Alas! I fear so."

"And that, because my presence in the world would lead to the revelation
of a great secret?"

"Certainly, a very great secret."

"My enemy must indeed be powerful, to be able to shut up in the Bastille
a child such as I then was."

"He is."

"More powerful than my mother, then?"

"And why do you ask that?"

"Because my mother would have taken my part."

Aramis hesitated. "Yes, monseigneur; more powerful than your mother."

"Seeing, then, that my nurse and preceptor were carried off, and that I,
also, was separated from them--either they were, or I am, very dangerous
to my enemy?"

"Yes; a peril from which he freed himself, by causing the nurse and
preceptor to disappear," answered Aramis quietly.

"Disappear!" cried the prisoner--"but how did they disappear?"

"In the surest possible way," answered Aramis;--"they are dead."

The young