o De Beaufort, nor to De Bouillon,
nor to the coadjutor, nor to D'Elbeuf. These gentlemen wage war on
private account, and in buying them up, by granting them what they
wished, monsieur le cardinal has made a good bargain. He will be
delivered to the parliament, members of which can, of course, be bought,
but even Monsieur de Mazarin is not rich enough to buy the whole body."

"I think," returned Anne of Austria, fixing upon him a glance, which in
any woman's face would have expressed disdain, but in a queen's, spread
terror to those she looked upon, "nay, I perceive you dare to threaten
the mother of your sovereign."

"Madame," replied D'Artagnan, "I threaten simply and solely because I
am obliged to do so. Believe me, madame, as true a thing as it is that a
heart beats in this bosom--a heart devoted to you--believe that you
have been the idol of our lives; that we have, as you well know--good
Heaven!--risked our lives twenty times for your majesty. Have you,
then, madame, no compassion for your servants who for twenty years have
vegetated in obscurity, without betraying in a single sigh the solemn
and sacred secrets they have had the honor to share with you? Look at
me, madame--at me, whom you accuse of speaking loud and threateningly.
What am I? A poor officer, without fortune, without protection, without
a future, unless the eye of my queen, which I have sought so long, rests
on me for a moment. Look at the Comte de la Fere, a type of nobility,
a flower of chivalry. He has taken part against his queen, or rather,
against her minister. He has not been unreasonably exacting, it seems to
me. Look at Monsieur du Vallon, that faithful soul, that arm of steel,
who for twenty years has awaited the word from your lips which will make
him in rank what he is in sentiment and in courage. Consider, in short,
your people who love you and who yet are famished, who have no other
wish than to bless you, and who, nevertheless--no, I am wrong, your
subjects, madame, will never curse you; say one word to them and
all will be ended--peace succeed war, joy tears, and happiness to
misfortune!"

Anne of Austria looked with wonderment on the warlike countenance of
D'Artagnan, which betrayed a singular expression of deep feeling.

"Why did you not say all this before you took action, sir?" she said.

"Because, madame, it was necessary to prove to your majesty one thing of
which you doubted---that is, that we still possess amongst us som