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Rh 362 LOUISE DE LA VALLIERE. word, this is very serious; you ought to be furious at that. What the deuce does the fellow mean by getting trapdoors made without first consulting you? Trapdoors! Mor^ dioux! I haven't got any, except in my dungeons at Bracieux." "And you will add/' said Raoul, "that my last motive for considering myself insulted is, the portrait that Mon- sieur de St. Aignan well knows." "Is it possible? A portrait, too! A change of residence, a trapdoor, and a portrait! Why, my dear friend, with but one of those causes of complaint there is enough, and more than enough, for all the gentlemen in France and Spain to cut one another's throats, and that is saying but very little." "Well, my dear friend, you are furnished with all you need, I suppose?" "I shall take a second horse with me. Select your own rendezvous, and while you are waiting there, you can prac- tice some of the best passes, so as to get your limbs as elastic as possible." "Thank you. I shall be waiting for you in the wood of Vincennes, close to Minimes." "All's right, then. Where am I to find this Monsieur de St. Aignan?" "At the Palais Royal." Perthes rang a huge hand-bell. "My court suit," he said to the servant who answered the summons, "my horse, and a led horse to accompany me." Then, turning to Raoul, as soon as the servant had quitted the room, he said: "Does your father know anything about this?" "No; I am going to write to him." "And D'Artagnan?" "No, nor D'Artagnan either. He is very cautious, you know, and might have diverted me from my purpose." "D'Artagnan is a sound adviser, though," said Perthes, astonished that, in his own loyal faith in D'Artagnan, any one could have thought of himself, so long as there was a D'Artagnan in the world. "Dear Monsieur du Vallon," said Raoul, "do not ques- tion me any more, I implore you. I have told you all that I had to say; it is prompt action that I now expect, as sharp and decided as you know how to arrange it. That, indeed, is my reason for having chosen you." "You will be satisfied with me," replied Porthos.