And he rode off, accompanied by all those who were mounted. Colbert hid his ugly head behind his horse's neck.
"I shall be quits," said D'Artagnan, as he galloped along, "by getting a little talk with Aramis this evening. And then. Monsieur Fouquet is a man of honor. Mordioux! I have said so, and it must be so."
And this was the way how, toward seven o'clock in the evening, without announcing his arrival by the din of trumpets, and without even his advanced guard, without outriders or musketeers, the king presented himself before the gate of Vaux where Fouquet, who had been informed of his royal guest's approach, had been waiting for the last halfhour, with his head uncovered, surrounded by his household and his friends.
CHAPTER XIII.
NECTAR AND AMBROSIA.
M. Fouquet held the stirrup of the king, who, having dismounted, bowed most graciously, and more graciously still held out his hand to him, which Fouquet, in spite of a slight resistance on the king's part, carried respectfully to his lips. The king wished to wait in the first courtyard for the arrival of the carriages, nor had he long to wait, for the roads had been put into excellent order by the surintendant, and a stone would hardly have been found of the size of an egg the whole way from Melun to Vaux; so that the carriages, rolling along as though on a carpet, brought the ladies to Vaux, without jolting or fatigue, by eight o'clock. They were received by Mme. Fouquet, and at the moment they made their appearance a light as bright as day burst forth from all the trees and vases and marble statues. This species of enchantment lasted until their majesties had retired into the palace. All these wonders and magical effects which the chronicler has heaped up, or, rather, preserved, in his recital, at the risk of rivaling the creations of a romancist; these splendors whereby night seemed conquered and nature corrected, together with every delight and luxury combined for the satisfaction of all the senses, as well as of the mind, Fouquet did, in real truth, offer to his sovereign in that enchanting retreat of which no monarch could, at that time, boast of possessing an equal. We do
