“The reply to which shall be gold,” said Fouquet, making a sign to his intendant, who went out with the order D’Artagnan handed him.
“Oh!” said the latter, “I was not uneasy about the payment; the house is good.”
A painful smile passed over the pale features of Fouquet.
“Are you in pain?” asked Madame de Belliere.
“Do you feel your attack coming on?” asked Madame Fouquet.
“Neither, thank you both,” said Fouquet.
“Your attack?” said D’Artagnan, in his turn; “are you unwell, monseigneur?”
“I have a tertian fever, which seized me after the fete at Vaux.”
“Caught cold in the grottos, at night, perhaps?”
“No, no; nothing but agitation, that was all.”