"Then, if you please, inform him that M. le Comte de la Fere desires to speak to him for a moment."
At the mention of the comte's name, one of the young men, no doubt accustomed to hear it pronounced with respect, immediately went to inform Planchet. It was at this moment that Raoul, after his painful scene with Montalais and Guiche, arrived at the grocer's house. Planchet left his job directly he received the comte's message.
"Ah! Monsieur le Comte!" exclaimed he, "how glad I am to see you! What good star brings you here?"
"My dear Planchet," said Athos, pressing the hand of his son, whose sad look he silently observed—"we are come to learn of you—But in what confusion do I find you! You are as white as a miller; where have you been rummaging?"
"Ah, diable! take care, monsieur: don't come near me till I have well shaken myself."
"What for? Flour or dust only whitens."
"No, no; what you see on my arms is arsenic."
"Arsenic?"
"Yes; I am making my provision for the rats."
"Aye, I suppose in an establishment like this the rats play a conspicuous part."