{"product_id":"2940012860033","title":"TEN YEARS LATER","description":"Chapter I. In which D'Artagnan finishes by at Length placing his Hand\u003cbr\u003eupon his Captain's Commission.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe reader guesses beforehand whom the usher preceded in announcing\u003cbr\u003ethe courier from Bretagne. This messenger was easily recognized. It was\u003cbr\u003eD'Artagnan, his clothes dusty, his face inflamed, his hair dripping with\u003cbr\u003esweat, his legs stiff; he lifted his feet painfully at every step, on\u003cbr\u003ewhich resounded the clink of his blood-stained spurs. He perceived\u003cbr\u003ein the doorway he was passing through, the superintendent coming out.\u003cbr\u003eFouquet bowed with a smile to him who, an hour before, was bringing him\u003cbr\u003eruin and death. D'Artagnan found in his goodness of heart, and in his\u003cbr\u003einexhaustible vigor of body, enough presence of mind to remember\u003cbr\u003ethe kind reception of this man; he bowed then, also, much more from\u003cbr\u003ebenevolence and compassion, than from respect. He felt upon his lips the\u003cbr\u003eword which had so many times been repeated to the Duc de Guise: \"Fly.\"\u003cbr\u003eBut to pronounce that word would have been to betray his cause; to speak\u003cbr\u003ethat word in the cabinet of the king, and before an usher, would have\u003cbr\u003ebeen to ruin himself gratuitously, and could save nobody. D'Artagnan\u003cbr\u003ethen, contented himself with bowing to Fouquet and entered. At this\u003cbr\u003emoment the king floated between the joy the last words of Fouquet had\u003cbr\u003egiven him, and his pleasure at the return of D'Artagnan. Without being a\u003cbr\u003ecourtier, D'Artagnan had a glance as sure and as rapid as if he had been\u003cbr\u003eone. He read, on his entrance, devouring humiliation on the countenance\u003cbr\u003eof Colbert. He even heard the king say these words to him:--\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Ah! Monsieur Colbert; you have then nine hundred thousand livres at\u003cbr\u003ethe intendance?\" Colbert, suffocated, bowed but made no reply. All this\u003cbr\u003escene entered into the mind of D'Artagnan, by the eyes and ears, at\u003cbr\u003eonce.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe first word of Louis to his musketeer, as if he wished it to contrast\u003cbr\u003ewith what he was saying at the moment, was a kind \"good day.\" His second\u003cbr\u003ewas to send away Colbert. The latter left the king's cabinet, pallid and\u003cbr\u003etottering, whilst D'Artagnan twisted up the ends of his mustache.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"I love to see one of my servants in this disorder,\" said the king,\u003cbr\u003eadmiring the martial stains upon the clothes of his envoy.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"I thought, sire, my presence at the Louvre was sufficiently urgent to\u003cbr\u003eexcuse my presenting myself thus before you.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"You bring me great news, then, monsieur?\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Sire, the thing is this, in two words: Belle-Isle is fortified,\u003cbr\u003eadmirably fortified; Belle-Isle has a double _enceinte_, a citadel, two\u003cbr\u003edetached forts; its ports contain three corsairs; and the side batteries\u003cbr\u003eonly await their cannon.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"I know all that, monsieur,\" replied the king.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"What! your majesty knows all that?\" replied the musketeer, stupefied.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"I have the plan of the fortifications of Belle-Isle,\" said the king.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Your majesty has the plan?\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Here it is.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"It is really correct, sire: I saw a similar one on the spot.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eD'Artagnan's brow became clouded.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Ah! I understand all. Your majesty did not trust to me alone, but sent\u003cbr\u003esome other person,\" said he in a reproachful tone.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Of what importance is the manner, monsieur, in which I have learnt what\u003cbr\u003eI know, so that I know it?\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Sire, sire,\" said the musketeer, without seeking even to conceal his\u003cbr\u003edissatisfaction; \"but I must be permitted to say to your majesty, that\u003cbr\u003eit is not worth while to make me use such speed, to risk twenty\u003cbr\u003etimes the breaking of my neck, to salute me on my arrival with\u003cbr\u003esuch intelligence. Sire, when people are not trusted, or are deemed\u003cbr\u003einsufficient, they should scarcely be employed.\" And D'Artagnan, with\u003cbr\u003ea movement perfectly military, stamped with his foot, and left upon the\u003cbr\u003efloor dust stained with blood. The king looked at him, inwardly enjoying\u003cbr\u003ehis first triumph.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Monsieur,\" said he, at the expiration of a minute, \"not only is\u003cbr\u003eBelle-Isle known to me, but, still further, Belle-Isle is mine.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"That is well! that is well, sire, I ask but one thing more,\" replied\u003cbr\u003eD'Artagnan.--\"My discharge.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"What! your discharge?\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Without doubt I am too proud to eat the bread of the king without\u003cbr\u003eearning it, or rather by gaining it badly.--My discharge, sire!\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Oh, oh!\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"I ask for my discharge, or I will take it.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"You are angry, monsieur?\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"I have reason, _mordioux!_ Thirty-two hours in the saddle, I ride day\u003cbr\u003eand night, I perform prodigies of speed, I arrive stiff as the corpse of\u003cbr\u003ea man who has been hung--and another arrives before me! Come, sire, I am\u003cbr\u003ea fool!--My discharge, sire!\"","brand":"SAP","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47078992281840,"sku":"2940012860033","price":0.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/2940012860033_p0.jpg?v=1763573140","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940012860033","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}