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Approach, and look at him, and say if we resemble persons who are going to escape." "Certainly not, your majesty," said Planchet, a little astonished at the honour done to him.
The two friends paused before the window in complete amazement, while Planchet, perceiving their astonishment, was in no little degree secretly delighted at it. "Ah! Planchet, you rascal," said D'Artagnan, "I now understand your absences." "Oh, oh! there is some white linen!" said Porthos, in his turn, in a voice of thunder.
It might have been thought he was going to swallow his tongue, so full became his throat, so red were his eyes! "Twenty thousand livres!" murmured he. "Twenty thousand livres, and yet " D'Artagnan, with his neck elongated, his legs stretched out, and his hands hanging listlessly, looked like a statue of discouragement. Planchet drew up a sigh from the deepest cavities of his breast.
"Let us try, then." And Planchet went in search of pens, ink, and paper.
Planchet clasped his hands; he saw that D'Artagnan was in earnest, and, in good truth, he believed his master had lost his senses. "An army! ah, monsieur," said he, with his most agreeable smile, for fear of irritating the madman, and rendering him furious, "an army! how many?" "Of forty men," said D'Artagnan. "Forty against forty thousand! that is not enough.
This manner of acting roused much respect for d'Artagnan's policy among the Musketeers. Planchet was equally seized with admiration, and said no more about going away. The life of the four young men had become fraternal. D'Artagnan, who had no settled habits of his own, as he came from his province into the midst of his world quite new to him, fell easily into the habits of his friends.
It was then Planchet's turn, and he unhesitatingly embraced the lady in question, not, however, until he had made a sign as if requesting D'Artagnan's and Porthos's permission, a permission as a matter of course frankly conceded. D'Artagnan complimented Planchet, and said, "You are indeed a man who knows how to make life agreeable."
"I will carry the letter in the lining of my coat," said Planchet; "and if I am taken I will swallow it." "Well, but then you will not be able to fulfill your commission," said d'Artagnan. "You will give me a copy this evening, which I shall know by heart tomorrow." D'Artagnan looked at his friends, as if to say, "Well, what did I tell you?"
"In that case, you know " "No, thank you, I am not in want of anything. I placed my savings with Planchet, who pays me the interest of them." "Your savings?" "Yes, to be sure," said D'Artagnan: "why should I not put by my savings, as well as another, Porthos?" "Oh, there is no reason why; on the contrary, I always suspected you that is to say, Aramis always suspected you to have savings.
"Well, monsieur, in point of fact, then, 'better to sit down than to stand up, is plain enough, especially when one may be fatigued," and Planchet smiled in a roguish way; "as for 'better to be lying down, let that pass, but as for the last proposition, that it is 'better to be dead than alive, it is, in my opinion, very absurd, my own undoubted preference being for my bed; and if you are not of my opinion, it is simply, as I have already had the honor of telling you, because you are boring yourself to death."
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