The dessert now made its appearance.

The king had ceased to think anything further of Porthos; he turned his eyes anxiously towards the entrance-door, and he was heard occasionally to inquire how it happened that Monsieur de Saint-Aignan was so long in arriving.

At last, at the moment when his majesty was finishing a pot of preserved plums with a deep sigh, Saint-Aignan appeared.

The king's eyes, which had become somewhat dull, immediately began to sparkle.

The comte advanced towards the king's table, and Louis rose at his approach.