“Hush! that is promised him.”
“Bah! by the king?”
“By somebody more powerful than the king.”
“Ah! the devil! Porthos: what incredible things you tell me, my friend!”
“Why incredible? Is there not always somebody in France more powerful than the king?”
“Oh, yes; in the time of King Louis XIII. it was Cardinal Richelieu; in the time of the Regency it was Cardinal Mazarin. In the time of Louis XIV. it is M.——”
“Go on.”
“It is M. Fouquet.”
“Jove! you have hit it the first time.”
“So, then, I suppose it is M. Fouquet who has promised Aramis the red hat?”