“Could you put me in communication with your witty and agreeable friend? Is he much changed?”
“He has become an abbé, that is all.”
“You alarm me; his profession must have made him renounce any great undertakings.”
“On the contrary,” said Athos, smiling, “he has never been so much a musketeer as since he became an abbé, and you will find him a veritable soldier.”
“Could you engage to bring him to me to-morrow morning at ten o’clock, on the Pont du Louvre?”
“Oh, oh!” exclaimed Athos, smiling, “you have a duel in prospect.”
“Yes, count, and a splendid duel, too; a duel in which I hope you will take your part.”
“Where are we to go, my lord?”
“To Her Majesty the Queen of England, who has desired me to present you to her.”
“This is an enigma,” said Athos, “but it matters not; since you know the solution of it I ask no further. Will your lordship do me the honor to sup with me?”