of dining at the king's table had been
accorded him. His majesty's banqueting-room had produced a certain
effect upon Porthos. Le Seigneur de Bracieux et de Pierrefonds delighted
to remember that, during that memorable dinner, the numerous array of
servants, and the large number of officials, who were in attendance upon
the guests, gave a certain tone and effect to the repast, and seemed to
furnish the room. Porthos undertook to confer upon Mouston a position of
some kind or other, in order to establish a sort of hierarchy among his
other domestics, and to create a military household, which was not
unusual among the great captains of the age, since, in the preceding
century, this luxury had been greatly encouraged by Messieurs de
Treville, de Schomberg, de la Vieuville, without alluding to M. de
Richelieu, M. de Conde, and De Bouillon-Turenne! And, therefore, why
should not he, Porthos, the friend of the king, and of M. Fouquet, a
baron, an engineer, etc., why should not he, indeed, enjoy all the
delightful privileges which large possessions and unusual merit
invariably confer? Slightly neglected by Aramis, who, we know, was
greatly occupied with M. Fouquet; neglected, also, on account of his
being on duty, by D'Artagnan; tired of Truechen and Planchet, Porthos was
surprised to find himself dreaming, without precisely knowing why; but
if any one had said to him, "Do you want anything, Porthos?" he would,
most certainly, have replied, "Yes." After one of those dinners, during
which Porthos attempted to recall to his recollection all the details of
the royal banquet, half joyful, thanks to the excellence of the wines;
half melancholy, thanks to his ambitious ideas, Porthos was gradually
falling off into a gentle doze, when his servant entered to announce
that M. de Bragelonne wished to speak to him. Porthos passed into an
adjoining room, where he found his young friend in the disposition of
mind we are already aware of. Raoul advanced toward Porthos, and shook
him by the hand; Porthos, surprised at his seriousness of aspect,
offered him a seat. "Dear M. de Valon," said Raoul, "I have a service to
ask of you."

"Nothing could happen more fortunately, my young friend," replied
Porthos; "I have had eight thousand livres sent me this morning from
Pierrefonds; and if you want any money--"

"No, I thank you; it is not money."

"So much the worse, then. I have always heard it said that that is the
rarest service, but the easi