Page:Louise de la Valliere text.djvu/126

Rh 116 LOUISE DE LA VALLIERE. •*I did, sire." "What state was he in? Speak unreservedly." "Devour whom?'* "De Guiche." "What wild boar?'* "The boar that wounded him." "Monsieur de Guiche wounded by a boar?" "So it is said, at least.** "By a poacher, rather, or by a jealous husband, or an ill- used lover, who, in order to be revenged, fired upon him.'* "What is that you say. Monsieur Valot? Were not Mon- sieur de Guiche's wounds produced by defending himself against a wild boar?" "Monsieur de Guiche's wounds were produced by a pistol- bullet which broke his ring-finger and the little finger of the right hand, and afterward buried itself in the intercostal muscles of the chest." "A bullet? Are you sure Monsieur de Guiche has been wounded by a bullet?" exclaimed the king, pretending to look much surprised. "Indeed, I am, sire; so sure, in fact, that here it is." And he presented to the king a half-flattened bullet, which the king looked at, but did not touch. "Did he have that in his chest, poor fellow?" he asked. "Not precisely. The ball did not penetrate, but was flattened, as you see, either upon the trigger of the pistol or upon the right side of the breast-bone." "Good heavens!" said the king seriously, "you said nothing to me about this. Monsieur de Manicamp." "What does all this mean, then, this invention about hunting a wild boar at nightfall? Come, speak, monsieur." "Sire " "It seems, then, that you are right," said the king, turn- ing round toward his captain of musketeers, "and that a duel actually took place." The king possessed, to a greater extent than any one else, the faculty enjoyed by the great in power or position, of compromising and dividing those beneath him. Manicamp darted a look full of reproaches at the musketeer. D'Ar- tagnan understood the look at once, and not wishing to re- main beneath the weight of such an accusation, advanced a step forward, and said:
 * 'In a very sad state, indeed, sire.'*
 * 'The wild boar did not quite devour him, however?**
 * 'Sire "