Oh! of course _I_ know that you have done nothing of the kind; but, at all events, the king has seen the receipts, and he can do no other than believe you are incriminated." "I beg your pardon, I do not see--" "You will see presently, though.

The king, moreover, having read your love-letter to La Valliere, and the offers you there made her, cannot retain any doubt of your intentions with regard to that young lady; you will admit that, I suppose ?" "Certainly.

Pray conclude." "In the fewest words.

The king, we may henceforth assume, is your powerful, implacable, and eternal enemy." "Agreed.

But am I, then, so powerful, that he has not dared to sacrifice me, notwithstanding his hatred, with all the means which my weakness, or my misfortunes, may have given him as a hold upon me ?" "It is clear, beyond all doubt," pursued Aramis, coldly, "that the king has quarreled with you--irreconcilably." "But, since he has absolved me--" "Do you believe it likely ?" asked the bishop, with a searching look.
"Without believing in his sincerity, I believe it in the accomplished fact." Aramis slightly shrugged his shoulders.
"But why, then, should Louis XIV.