Page:The Vicomte de Bragelonne 2.djvu/337

 THE VICOMTE DE BRIGELONNE. 325

"Let your majesty, then, have the goodness to read all the letters yourself, particularly those from England; I hold strongly to this article."

'Monsieur, you shall have that correspondence, and render me an account of it."

"Now, sire, what shall I do with respect to the finances?" "All which Monsieur Fouquet has not done." "That is all I ask of your majesty. Thanks, sire; I de- part at ease;" and at these words he did depart. Louis watched that departure. Colbert was not yet a hundred paces from the Louvre when the king received a courier from England. After having looked at and examined the envelope, the king broke the seal precipitately, and found only a letter from Charles II. The following is what the English prince wrote to his royal brother:

"Your majesty must be rendered very uneasy by the ill- ness of Monsieur le Cardinal Mazarin; but the excess of danger can only prove of service to you. The cardinal is given over by his physician. I thank you for the gracious reply you have made to my communication touching the Princess Henrietta, my sister, and in a week the princess and her court will set out for Paris. It is gratifying to me to acknowledge the fraternal frendship you have evinced toward me, and to call you, more justly than ever, my brother. It is gratifying to me, above everything, to prove to your majesty how much I am interested in all that may please you. You are having Belle-Isle-en-Mer secretly fortified. That is wrong. We shall never be at war against each other. That measure does not make me uneasy, it makes me sad. You are spending useless millions there; tell your ministers so, and be assured that I am well in- formed; render me the same service, my brother, if occa- sion offers."

The king rang his bell violently, and his valet de chamire appeared.

"Monsieur Colbert is just gone; he cannot be far off. Let him be called back!" exclaimed he.

The valet was about to execute the order, when the king stopped him.

"No," said he, "no; I see the whole scheme of that man. Belle-Isle belongs to Monsieur Fouquet; Belle-Isle is being fortified; that is a conspiracy on the part of Monsieur Fou- quet. The discovery of that conspiracy is the ruin of the