Mademoiselle de Montalais was right; the young cavalier wasgoodly to look upon.

He was a young man of from twenty-four to twenty-five yearsof age, tall and slender, wearing gracefully the picturesquemilitary costume of the period. His large boots contained afoot which Mademoiselle de Montalais might not have disownedif she had been transformed into a man. With one of hisdelicate but nervous hands he checked his horse in themiddle of the court, and with the other raised his hat,whose long plumes shaded his at once serious and ingenuouscountenance.

The guards, roused by the steps of the horse, awoke and wereon foot in a minute. The young man waited till one of themwas close to his saddle-bow: then stooping towards him, in aclear, distinct voice, which was perfectly audible at thewindow where the two girls were concealed, "A message forhis royal highness," he said.

"Ah, ah!" cried the soldier. "Officer, a messenger!"

But this brave guard knew very well that no officer wouldappear, seeing that the only one who could have appeareddwelt at the other side of the castle, in an apartmentlooking into the gardens. So he hastened to add: "Theofficer, monsieur, is on his rounds, but in his absence, M.de Saint-Remy, the maitre d'hotel shall be informed."

"M. de Saint-Remy?" repeated the cavalier, slightlyblushing.

"Do you know him?"

"Why, yes; but request him, if you please, that my visit beannounced to his royal highness as soon as possible."

"It appears to be pressing," said the guard, as if speakingto himself, but really in the hope of obtaining an answer.

The messenger made an affirmative sign with his head.

"In that case," said the guard, "I will go and seek themaitre d'hotel myself."

The young man, in the meantime, dismounted; and whilst theothers were making their remarks upon the fine horse thecavalier rode, the soldier returned.

"Your pardon, young gentleman; but your name, if youplease?"

"The Vicomte de Bragelonne, on the part of his highness M.le Prince de Conde."

The soldier made a profound bow, and, as if the name of theconqueror of Rocroy and Sens had given him wings, he steppedlightly up the steps leading to the ante-chamber.

M. de Bragelonne had not had time to fasten his horse to theiron bars of the perron, when M. de Saint-Remy came running,out of breath, supporting his capacious body with one hand,whilst with the other he cut the air as a fisherman cleavesthe waves with his oar.

"Ah, Monsieur le Vicomte! You at Blois!" cried he. "Well,that is a wonder. Good-day to you - good-day, MonsieurRaoul."

"I offer you a thousand respects, M. de Saint-Remy."

"How Madame de la Vall - I mean, how delighted Madame deSaint-Remy will be to see you! But come in. His royalhighness is at breakfast - must he be interrupted? Is thematter serious?"

"Yes, and no, Monsieur de Saint-Remy. A moment's delay,however, would be disagreeable to his royal highness."

"If that is the case, we will force the consigne, Monsieurle Vicomte. Come in. Besides, Monsieur is in an excellenthumor to-day. And then you bring news, do you not?"

"Great news, Monsieur de Saint-Remy."

"And good, I presume?"

"Excellent."

"Come quickly, come quickly then!" cried the worthy man,putting his dress to rights as he went along.

Raoul followed him, hat in hand, and a little disconcertedat the noise made by his spurs in these immense salons.

As soon as he had disappeared in the interior of the palace,the window of the court was repeopled, and an animatedwhispering betrayed the emotion of the two girls. They soonappeared to have formed a resolution, for one of the twofaces disappeared from the window. This was the brunette;the other remained behind the balcony, concealed by theflowers, watching attentively through the branches theperron by which M. de Bragelonne had entered the castle.

In the meantime the object of so much laudable curiositycontinued his route, following the steps of the maitred'hotel. The noise of quick steps, an odor of wine andviands, a clinking of crystal and plates, warned them thatthey were coming to the end of their course.

The pages, valets and officers, assembled in the officewhich led up to the refectory, welcomed the newcomer withthe proverbial politeness of the country; some of them wereacquainted with Raoul, and all knew that he came from Paris.It might be said that his arrival for a moment suspended theservice. In fact, a page, who was pouring out wine for hisroyal highness, on hearing the jingling of spurs in the nextchamber, turned round like a child, without perceiving thathe was continuing to pour out, not into the glass, but uponthe tablecloth.

Madame, who was not so preoccupied as her glorious spousewas, remarked this distraction of the page.

"Well?" exclaimed she.

"Well!" repeated Monsieur; "what is going on then?"

M. de Saint-Remy, who had just introduced his head throughthe doorway, took advantage of the moment.

"Why am I to be disturbed?" said Gaston, helping himself toa thick slice of one of the largest salmon that had everascended the Loire to be captured between Painboeuf andSaint-Nazaire.

"There is a messenger from Paris. Oh! but after monseigneurhas breakfasted will do; there is plenty of time."

"From Paris!" cried the prince, letting his fork fall. "Amessenger from Paris, do you say? And on whose part doesthis messenger come?"

"On the part of M. le Prince," said the maitre d'hotelpromptly.

Every one knows that the Prince de Conde was so called.

"A messenger from M. le Prince!" said Gaston, with aninquietude that escaped none of the assistants, andconsequently redoubled the general curiosity.

Monsieur, perhaps, fancied himself brought back again to thehappy times when the opening of a door gave him an emotion,in which every letter might contain a state secret, - inwhich every message was connected with a dark andcomplicated intrigue. Perhaps, likewise, that great name ofM. le Prince expanded itself, beneath the roofs of Blois, tothe proportions of a phantom.

Monsieur pushed away his plate.

"Shall I tell the envoy to wait?" asked M. de Saint-Remy.

A glance from Madame emboldened Gaston, who replied: "No,no! let him come in at once, on the contrary. A propos, whois he?"

"A gentleman of this country, M. le Vicomte de Bragelonne."

"Ah, very well! Introduce him, Saint-Remy - introduce him."

And when he had let fall these words, with his accustomedgravity, Monsieur turned his eyes, in a certain manner, uponthe people of his suite, so that all, pages, officers, andequerries, quitted the service, knives and goblets, and madetowards the second chamber a retreat as rapid as it wasdisorderly.

This little army had dispersed in two files when Raoul deBragelonne, preceded by M. de Saint-Remy, entered therefectory.

The short interval of solitude which this retreat had lefthim, permitted Monsieur the time to assume a diplomaticcountenance. He did not turn round, but waited till themaitre d'hotel should bring the messenger face to face withhim.

Raoul stopped even with the lower end of the table, so as tobe exactly between Monsieur and Madame. From this place hemade a profound bow to Monsieur and a very humble one toMadame; then, drawing himself up into military pose, hewaited for Monsieur to address him.

On his part the Prince waited till the doors werehermetically closed; he would not turn round to ascertainthe fact, as that would have been derogatory to his dignity,but he listened with all his ears for the noise of the lock,which would promise him at least an appearance of secrecy.

The doors being closed, Monsieur raised his eyes towards thevicomte, and said, "It appears that you come from Paris,monsieur?"

"This minute, monseigneur."

"How is the king?"

"His majesty is in perfect health, monseigneur."

"And my sister-in-law?"

"Her majesty the queen-mother still suffers from thecomplaint in her chest, but for the last month she has beenrather better."

"Somebody told me you came on the part of M. le Prince. Theymust have been mistaken, surely?"

"No, monseigneur; M. le Prince has charged me to convey thisletter to your royal highness, and I am to wait for ananswer to it."

Raoul had been a little annoyed by this cold and cautiousreception, and his voice insensibly sank to a low key.

The prince forgot that he was the cause of this apparentmystery, and his fears returned.

He received the letter from the Prince de Conde with ahaggard look, unsealed it as he would have unsealed asuspicious packet, and in order to read it so that no oneshould remark the effects of it upon his countenance, heturned round.

Madame followed, with an anxiety almost equal to that of theprince, every maneuver of her august husband.

Raoul, impassible, and a little disengaged by the attentionof his hosts, looked from his place through the open windowat the gardens and the statues which peopled them.

"Well!" cried Monsieur, all at once, with a cheerful smile;"here is an agreeable surprise, and a charming letter fromM. le Prince. Look, Madame!"

The table was too large to allow the arm of the prince toreach the hand of Madame; Raoul sprang forward to be theirintermediary, and did it with so good a grace as to procurea flattering acknowledgment from the princess.

"You know the contents of this letter, no doubt?" saidGaston to Raoul.

"Yes, monseigneur; M. le Prince at first gave me the messageverbally, but upon reflection his highness took up his pen."

"It is beautiful writing," said Madame, "but I cannot readit."

"Will you read it to Madame, M. de Bragelonne?" said theduke.

"Yes, read it, if you please, monsieur."

Raoul began to read, Monsieur giving again all hisattention. The letter was conceived in these terms:

Monseigneur - The king is about to set out for thefrontiers. You are aware that the marriage of his majesty isconcluded upon. The king has done me the honor to appoint mehis marechal-des-logis for this journey, and as I knew withwhat joy his majesty would pass a day at Blois, I venture toask your royal highness's permission to mark the house youinhabit as our quarters. If, however, the suddenness of thisrequest should create to your royal highness anyembarrassment, I entreat you to say so by the messenger Isend, a gentleman of my suite, M. le Vicomte de Bragelonne.My itinerary will depend upon your royal highness'sdetermination, and instead of passing through Blois, weshall come through Vendome and Romorantin. I venture to hopethat your royal highness will be pleased with myarrangement, it being the expression of my boundless desireto make myself agreeable to you."

"Nothing can be more gracious toward us," said Madame, whohad more than once consulted the looks of her husband duringthe reading of the letter. "The king here!" exclaimed she,in a rather louder tone than would have been necessary topreserve secrecy.

"Monsieur," said his royal highness in his turn, "you willoffer my thanks to M. de Conde, and express to him mygratitude for the honor he has done me."

Raoul bowed.

"On what day will his majesty arrive?" continued the prince.

"The king, monseigneur, will in all probability arrive thisevening."

"But how, then, could he have known my reply if it had beenin the negative?"

"I was desired, monseigneur, to return in all haste toBeaugency, to give counter-orders to the courier, who washimself to go back immediately with counter-orders to M. lePrince."

"His majesty is at Orleans, then?"

"Much nearer, monseigneur; his majesty must by this timehave arrived at Meung."

"Does the court accompany him?"

"Yes, monseigneur."

"A propos, I forgot to ask you after M. le Cardinal."

"His eminence appears to enjoy good health, monseigneur."

"His nieces accompany him, no doubt?"

"No, monseigneur, his eminence has ordered theMesdemoiselles de Mancini to set out for Brouage. They willfollow the left bank of the Loire, while the court will comeby the right."

"What! Mademoiselle Mary de Mancini quit the court in thatmanner?" asked Monsieur, his reserve beginning to diminish.

"Mademoiselle Mary de Mancini in particular," replied Raouldiscreetly.

A fugitive smile, an imperceptible vestige of his ancientspirit of intrigue, shot across the pale face of the prince.

"Thanks, M. de Bragelonne," then said Monsieur. "You would,perhaps, not be willing to carry M. le Prince the commissionwith which I would charge you, and that is, that hismessenger has been very agreeable to me; but I will tell himso myself."

Raoul bowed his thanks to Monsieur for the honor he had donehim.

Monsieur made a sign to Madame, who struck a bell which wasplaced at her right hand; M. de Saint-Remy entered, and theroom was soon filled with people.

"Messieurs," said the prince, "his majesty is about to payme the honor of passing a day at Blois; I depend upon theking, my nephew, not having to repent of the favor he doesmy house."

"Vive le Roi!" cried all the officers of the household withfrantic enthusiasm, and M. de Saint-Remy louder than therest.

Gaston hung down his head with evident chagrin. He had allhis life been obliged to hear, or rather to undergo this cryof "Vive le Roi!" which passed over him. For a long time,being unaccustomed to hear it, his ear had had rest, and nowa younger, more vivacious, and more brilliant royalty roseup before him, like a new and more painful provocation.

Madame perfectly understood the sufferings of that timid,gloomy heart; she rose from the table, Monsieur imitated hermechanically, and all the domestics, with a buzzing likethat of several bee-hives, surrounded Raoul for the purposeof questioning him.

Madame saw this movement, and called M. de Saint Remy. "Thisis not the time for gossiping, but working," said she, withthe tone of an angry housekeeper.

M. de Saint-Remy hastened to break the circle formed by theofficers round Raoul, so that the latter was able to gainthe ante-chamber.

"Care will be taken of that gentleman, I hope," addedMadame, addressing M. de Saint-Remy.

The worthy man immediately hastened after Raoul. "Madamedesires refreshments to be offered to you," said he; "andthere is, besides, a lodging for you in the castle."

"Thanks, M. de Saint-Remy," replied Raoul; "but you know howanxious I must be to pay my duty to M. le Comte, my father."

"That is true, that is true, Monsieur Raoul; present him, atthe same time, my humble respects, if you please."

Raoul thus once more got rid of the old gentleman, andpursued his way. As he was passing under the porch, leadinghis horse by the bridle, a soft voice called him from thedepths of an obscure path.

"Monsieur Raoul!" said the voice.

The young man turned round, surprised, and saw a darkcomplexioned girl, who, with a finger on her lip, held outher other hand to him. This young lady was an utterstranger.