The blow told well, but Athos did not draw back. "Sire," he said, "I have already begged your majesty's forgiveness; but there are certain particulars in that conversation which are only intelligible from the dénouement."
"Well, what is the dénouement, monsieur?"
"This: your majesty then said, that you would defer the marriage out of regard for M. de Bragelonne's own interests."
The king remained silent. "M. de Bragelonne is now so exceedingly unhappy that he cannot any longer defer asking your majesty for a solution of the matter."
The king turned pale; Athos looked at him with fixed attention.
"And what," said the king, with considerable hesitation, "does M. de Bragelonne request?"
"Precisely the very thing that I came to ask your majesty for at my last audience, namely, your majesty's consent to his marriage."
The king remained perfectly silent.
"The questions which referred to the different obstacles in the way are all now quite removed for us," continued Athos. "Mademoiselle de la Valliere, without fortune, birth, or beauty, is not the less on that account the only good match in the world for M. de Bragelonne, since he loves this young girl."
The king pressed his hands impatiently together. "Does your majesty hesitate?" inquired the comte, without losing a particle either of his firmness or his politeness.