“To do what, sire?” replied the musketeer, opening his large, calm eyes.
“To arrest M. Fouquet.”
D’Artagnan fell back a step.
“To arrest M. Fouquet!” he burst forth.
“Are you going to tell me that it is impossible?” exclaimed the king, in tones of cold, vindictive passion.
“I never say that anything is impossible,” replied D’Artagnan, wounded to the quick.
“Very well; do it, then.”
D’Artagnan turned on his heel, and made his way towards the door; it was but a short distance, and he cleared it in half a dozen paces; when he reached it he suddenly paused, and said, “Your majesty will forgive me, but, in order to effect this arrest, I should like written directions.”
“For what purpose—and since when has the king’s word been insufficient for you?”
“Because the word of a king, when it springs from a feeling of anger, may possibly change when the feeling changes.”