Page:The Vicomte de Bragelonne 2.djvu/496

Rh 484 THE VICOMTE HE BRAOELONNE. c "Bah!" replied Aram is, "it is nothing, since I am here; the principal thing was that I should get here, and here I am." "Speak quickly," said Fouquet, closing the door of the cabinet behind Aramis and himself. "Are we alone?" "Yes, perfectly." "No one can listen to us? no one can hear us?" "Be satisfied; nobody." "Is Monsieur du Valon arrived?" "Yes." "And you have received my letter?" "Yes. The affair is serious, apparently, since it necessi- tates your presence in Paris, at a moment when your pres- ence was so urgent elsewhere." "You are right; it cannot be more serious." "Thank you! thank you! What is it about? But, for God's sake! before anything else, take time to breathe, dear friend. You are so pale, you frighten me." "I am really in great pain. But, for Heaven's sake, think nothing about me. Did Monsieur du Valon tell you nothing when he delivered the letter to you?" "No. I heard a great noise; I went to the window; I saw at the feet of the perron a sort of horseman of marble; I went down, he held the letter out to me, and his horse fell down dead." ""But he?" "He fell with the horse; he was lifted up, and carried to an apartment. Having read the letter, I went up to him, in hopes of obtaining more ample information; but he was asleep, and after such a fashion that it was impossible to wake him. I took pity on him; I gave orders that his boots should be taken off, and that he should be left quite undisturbed." "So far well; now, this is the question in hand, mon- seigneur. You have seen Monsieur d'Artagnan in Paris, have you not?" "Certes, and think him a man of intelligence, and even a man of heart, although he did bring about the death of our dear friends Lyodot and D'Eymeris." "Alas! yes, I heard of that. At Tours I met the courier who was bringing me the letter from Gourville and the dis- patches from Pellisson. Have you seriously reflected on that event, monsieur?" "Yes"