“I ought,” muttered Anne to herself, “by this time to remember that these men are giants.”
“Alas, madame!” exclaimed D’Artagnan, “this proves to me that not till to-day has your majesty had a just idea of us.”
“Perhaps,” said Anne; “but that idea, if at last I have it——”
“Your majesty will do us justice. In doing us justice you will no longer treat us as men of vulgar stamp. You will see in me an ambassador worthy of the high interests he is authorized to discuss with his sovereign.”
“Where is the treaty?”
“Here it is.”
Anne of Austria cast her eyes upon the treaty that D’Artagnan presented to her.
“I do not see here,” she said, “anything but general conditions; the interests of the Prince de Conti or of the Ducs de Beaufort, de Bouillon and d’Elbeuf and of the coadjutor, are herein consulted; but with regard to yours?”
“We do ourselves justice, madame, even in assuming the high position that we have. We do not think ourselves worthy to stand near such great names.”
“But you, I presume, have decided to assert your pretensions viva voce?”