"Nay, more than that," continued D'Artagnan, "you saw me out yonder, you know I am in the king's service, and yet you could not guess that the king, jealously desirous of learning the name of the man whose abilities had wrought a work of which he heard the most wonderful accounts,--you could not guess, I say, that the king sent me to learn who this man was ?" "What! the king sent you to learn--" "Of course; but don't let us speak of that any more." "Not speak of it!" said Porthos; "on the contrary, we will speak of it; and so the king knew that we were fortifying Belle-Isle ?" "Of course; does not the king know everything ?" "But he did not know who was fortifying it ?" "No, he only suspected, from what he had been told of the nature of the works, that it was some celebrated soldier or another." "The devil!" said Porthos, "if I had only known that!" "You would not have run away from Vannes as you did, perhaps ?" "No; what did you say when you couldn't find me ?" "My dear fellow, I reflected." "Ah, indeed; you reflect, do you?
Well, and what did that reflection lead to ?" "It led me to guess the whole truth." "Come, then, tell me what did you guess after all ?" said Porthos, settling himself into an armchair, and assuming the airs of a sphinx.
"I guessed, in the first place, that you were fortifying Belle-Isle." "There was no great difficulty in that, for you saw me at work." "Wait a minute; I also guessed something else,--that you were fortifying Belle-Isle by M.Fouquet's orders." "That's true." "But even that is not all.

Whenever I feel myself in trim for guessing, I do not stop on my road; and so I guessed that M.Fouquet wished to preserve the most absolute secrecy respecting these fortifications." "I believe that was his intention, in fact," said Porthos.
"Yes, but do you know why he wished to keep it secret ?" "In order it should not become known, perhaps," said Porthos.
"That was his principal reason.

But his wish was subservient to a bit of generosity--" "In fact," said Porthos, "I have head it said that M.Fouquet was a very generous man." "To a bit of generosity he wished to exhibit towards the king." "Oh, oh!" "You seem surprised at that ?" "Yes." "And you didn't guess ?" "No." "Well, I know it, then." "You are a wizard." "Not at all, I assure you." "How do you know it, then ?" "By a very simple means.

I heard M.Fouquet himself say so to the king." "Say what to the king ?" "That he fortified Belle-Isle on his majesty's account, and that he had made him a present of Belle Isle." "And you heard M.Fouquet say that to the king ?" "In those very words.

He even added: 'Belle-Isle has been fortified by an engineer, one of my friends, a man of a great deal of merit, whom I shall ask your majesty's permission to present to you.' "'What is his name ?' said the king.
"'The Baron du Vallon,' M.Fouquet replied.
"'Very well,' returned his majesty, 'you will present him to me.'" "The king said that ?" "Upon the word of a D'Artagnan!" "Oh, oh!" said Porthos.