"Sire, M. de Guiche is my friend: your majesty has forbidden duels under pain of death; a falsehood might save my friend's life, and I told it." "Good!" murmured D'Artagnan, "an excellent fellow, upon my word!" "Instead of telling a falsehood, monsieur, you should have prevented him from fighting," said the king. "Oh, sire, your majesty, who is the most accomplished gentleman in France, knows quite as well any of us other gentlemen that we have never considered M. de Botteville dishonored for having suffered death on the Place de Greve. That which does in truth dishonor a man is to avoid meeting his enemy, and not to avoid meeting his executioner." "Well, monsieur, that may be so," said Louis XIV.; "I am very desirous of suggesting a means of your repairing all." "If it be a means of which a gentleman may avail himself, I shall most eagerly do so." "The name of M. de Guiche's adversary?" "Oh, oh!" murmured D'Artagnan, "are we going to take Louis XIII. as a model?" "Sire!" said Manicamp, with an accent of reproach. "You will not name him, it appears, then?" said the king. "Sire, I do not know him." "Bravo!" murmured D'Artagnan. "Monsieur de Manicamp, hand your sword to the captain." Manicamp bowed very gracefully, unbuckled his sword, smiling as he did so, and handed it for the musketeer to take. But Saint-Aignan advanced hurriedly between him and D'Artagnan. "Sire," he said, "will your majesty permit me to say a word?" "Do so," said the king, delighted perhaps at the bottom of his heart for some one to step between him and the wrath which he felt had carried him too far. "Manicamp, you are a brave man, and the king will appreciate your conduct; but to wish to serve your friends too well is to destroy them. Manicamp, you know the name the king asks you for?" "It is perfectly true--I do know it." "You will give it up then?" "If I felt I ought to have mentioned it, I should have already done so." "Then I will tell it, for I am not so extremely sensitive on such points of honor as you are." "You are at liberty to do so, but it seems to me, however--" "Oh! a truce to magnanimity; I will not permit you to go to the Bastille in that way. Do you speak; or I will." Manicamp was keen-witted enough, and perfectly understood that he had done quite sufficient to produce a good opinion of his conduct: it was now only a question of persevering in such a manner as to regain the good graces of the king. "Speak, monsieur," he said to Saint-Aignan: "I have on my own behalf done all that my conscience told me to do, and it must have been very importunate," he added, turning toward the king, "since its mandates led me to disobey your majesty's commands; but your majesty will forgive me, I hope, when you learn that I was anxious to preserve the honor of a lady." "Of a lady?" said the king, with some uneasiness. "Yes, sire." "A lady was the cause of this duel?" Manicamp bowed.