"What do you mean then! Do you not know that a fete at Vaux, of the very simplest possible character, would cost four or five millions?"
"I do not speak of a fete of the very simplest possible character, my dear surintendant."
"But, since the fete is to be given to the king," replied Fouquet, who misunderstood Aramis' idea, "it cannot be simple."
"Just so; it ought to be on a scale of the most unbounded magnificence."
"In that case, I shall have to spend ten or twelve millions."
"You shall spend twenty, if you require it," said Aramis, in a perfectly calm voice.
"Where shall I get them?" exclaimed Fouquet.
"That is my affair, Monsieur le Surintendant; and do not be uneasy for a moment about it. The money will be placed at once at your disposal, as soon as you shall have arranged the plans of your fete."
"Chevalier! chevalier!" said Fouquet, giddy with amazement, "whither are you hurrying me?"
"Across the gulf into which you were about to fall," replied the bishop of Vannes. "Take hold of my cloak, and throw fear aside."