“Mine, monsieur, are the correct ones.”
“I do not say they are not.”
“And you have accepted what was not due to you.”
D’Artagnan’s eyes flashed. “What is not due to me yet, you meant to say, M. Colbert; for if I had received what was not due to me at all, I should have committed a theft.”
Colbert made no reply to this subtlety. “You then owe fifteen thousand livres to the public chest,” said he, carried away by his jealous ardor.
“Then you must give me credit for them,” replied D’Artagnan, with his imperceptible irony.
“Not at all, monsieur.”
“Well! what will you do, then? You will not take my rouleaux from me, will you?”
“You must return them to my chest.”
“I! Oh! Monsieur Colbert, don’t reckon upon that.”