He related, with that poetry, that picturesqueness, which perhaps he alone possessed at that period, the escape of Fouquet, the pursuit, the furious race, and, lastly, the inimitable generosity of the surintendant, who might have fled ten times over, who might have killed the adversary in the pursuit, but who had preferred imprisonment, perhaps worse, to the humiliation of one who wished to rob him of his liberty.

In proportion as the tale advanced, the king became agitated, devouring the narrator's words, and drumming with his finger-nails upon the table.
"It results from all this, sire, in my eyes, at least, that the man who conducts himself thus is a gallant man, and cannot be an enemy to the king.

That is my opinion, and I repeat it to your majesty.

I know what the king will say to me, and I bow to it,--reasons of state.

So be it! To my ears that sounds highly respectable.