“Not at all. On the contrary, I give it you. Only as it is now mine and not yours, I am sure you will not spare it.”
“Your majesty is in a hurry, then?”
“A great hurry.”
“Then what compels me to wait two days?”
“Reasons known to myself.”
“That’s a different affair. The horse may make up the two days, in the eight he has to travel; and then there is the post.”
“No, no, the post compromises, Monsieur d’Artagnan. Begone and do not forget you are my servant.”
“Sire, it is not my duty to forget it! At what hour to-morrow shall I take my leave of your majesty?”
“Where do you lodge?”
“I must henceforward lodge at the Louvre.”