recomposing at the same time the mysteries which the young had not seen,
and which the old had believed to be forever effaced.

"Speak, monsieur," said Louis XIV., the first to escape from troubles,
suspicions, and remembrances.

"Yes, speak," added Mazarin, to whom the little malicious thrust
directed against Anne of Austria had restored energy and gayety.

"Sire," said the comte, "a sort of miracle has changed the whole destiny
of Charles II. That which men, till that time, had been unable to do,
God resolved to accomplish."

Mazarin coughed while tossing about in his bed.

"King Charles II.," continued Athos, "left the Hague neither as a
fugitive nor a conqueror, but as an absolute king, who, after a distant
voyage from his kingdom, returns amidst universal benedictions."

"A great miracle, indeed," said Mazarin; "for, if the news was true,
King Charles II., who has just returned amidst benedictions, went away
amidst musket-shots."

The king remained impassible. Philip, younger and more frivolous, could
not repress a smile, which flattered Mazarin as an applause of his
pleasantry.

"It is plain," said the king, "there is a miracle; but God, who does so
much for kings, monsieur le comte, nevertheless employs the hand of man
to bring about the triumph of His designs. To what men does Charles II.
principally owe his re-establishment?"

"Why," interrupted Mazarin, without any regard for the king's
pride--"does not your majesty know that it is to M. Monk?"

"I ought to know it," replied Louis XIV., resolutely; "and yet I ask my
lord ambassador, the causes of the change in this General Monk?"

"And your majesty touches precisely the question," replied Athos; "for
without the miracle of which I have had the honor to speak, General
Monk would probably have remained an implacable enemy of Charles II. God
willed that a strange, bold, and ingenious idea should enter into
the mind of a certain man, whilst a devoted and courageous idea took
possession of the mind of another man. The combinations of these two
ideas brought about such a change in the position of M. Monk, that, from
an inveterate enemy, he became a friend to the deposed king."

"These are exactly the details I asked for," said the king. "Who and
what are the two men of whom you speak?"

"Two Frenchmen, sire."

"Indeed! I am glad of that."

"And the two ideas," said Mazarin;--"I am more curious about ideas than
about men, for my part."

"Yes," mur