"Monseigneur is mistaken," he said, before even Fouquet could interrogate him; "you must have given Toby some commission, for he has been to the stables and taken your lordship's swiftest horse, and saddled it himself." "Well?" "And he has gone off." "Gone!" exclaimed Fouquet. "Let him be pursued, let him be captured." "Nay, nay," said Aramis, taking him by the hand, "be calm, the evil is done now." "The evil is done, you say?" "No doubt; I was sure of it. And now, let us give no cause for suspicion; we must calculate the result of the blow, and ward it off, if possible." "After all," said Fouquet, "the evil is not great." "You think so," said Aramis. "Of course. Surely a man is allowed to write a love-letter to a woman." "A man, certainly; a subject, no; especially, too, when the woman in question is one with whom the king is in love." "But the king was not in love with La Valliere a week ago! he was not in love with her yesterday, and the letter is dated yesterday; I could not guess the king was in love, when the king's affection was not even yet in existence." "As you please," replied Aramis; "but unfortunately the letter is not dated, and it is that circumstance particularly which annoys me. If it had only been dated yesterday, I should not have the slightest shadow of uneasiness on your account." Fouquet shrugged his shoulders. "Am I not my own master," he said, "and is the king, then, king of my brain and of my flesh?" "You are right," replied Aramis; "do not let us give more importance to matters than is necessary; and besides ... Well, if we are menaced, we have means of defense." "Oh! menaced!" said Fouquet; "you do not place this gnat bite, as it were, among the number of menaces which may compromise my fortunes and my life, do you?" "Do not forget, Monsieur Fouquet, that the bite of an insect can kill a giant, if the insect be venomous." "But has this sovereign power you were speaking of already vanished?" "I am all-powerful, it is true, but I am not immortal." "Come, then, the most pressing matter is to find Toby again, I suppose. Is not that your opinion?" "Oh! as for that, you will not find him again," said Aramis, "and if he were of any great value to you, you must give him up for lost." "At all events he is somewhere or another in the world," said Fouquet. "You're right, let me act," replied Aramis. CHAPTER VI. MADAME'S FOUR CHANCES.