"Sir, what I say to you about this matter," said Aramis, "is not for the sake of hunting a quarrel. Thank Heaven, I am not a swash-buckler, and being a musketeer only for a while, I only fight when I am forced to do so, and always with great reluctance; but this time the affair is serious, for here is a lady compromised by you."
"By us, you mean," cried D'Artagnan.
"Why did you give me back the handkerchief so awkwardly?"
"Why did you let it fall so awkwardly?"
"I have said that the handkerchief did not fall from my pocket."
"Well, by saying that you have told two lies, sir; for I saw it fall."
"Oh ho! you take it up that way, do you, Master Gascon? Well, I will teach you how to behave yourself."
"And I will send you back to your pulpit, Master Priest. Draw, if you please, and instantly—"....
"Prudence is a virtue useless enough to musketeers, I know, but indispensable to churchmen; and as I am only a temporary musketeer, I hold it best to be prudent. At two o'clock I shall have the honor of expecting you at Treville's. There I will point out the best place and time to you."
The two bowed and separated. Aramis went up the street which led to the Luxembourg; while D'Artagnan, seeing that the appointed hour was coming near, took the road to the Carmes-Deschaux, saying to himself, "I certainly can not hope to come out of these scrapes alive; but if I am doomed to be killed, it will be by a royal musketeer."