LOUISE DE LA VALLIERE. 49 for his indolence, and silently pitied Planchet. Porthos breakfasted with a very good appetite, and when he had finished he said, looking at Triichen, "I could make my- self very happy here." Triichen smiled at his remark, and so did Planchet, but the latter not without some embarrass- ment. D'Artagnan then addressed Porthos: "You must not let the delights of Oapua make you forget the real object of our journey to Fontaiuebleau." "My presentation to the king?" "Certainly. I am going to take a turn in the town to get everything ready for that. Do not think of leaving the house, I beg." "Oh, no!" exclaimed Porthos. Planchet looked at D'Artagnan nervously. "Will you be away long?" he inquired. "No, my friend; and this very evening I will release you from two troublesome guests." "Oh! Monsieur d'Artagnan! can you say " "No, no; you are an excellent-hearted fellow, but your house is very small. Such a house, with only a couple of acres of land, would be fit for a king and make him very happy, too. But you were not born a great lord." "No more was Monsieur Porthos," murmured Planchet. "But he has become so, my good fellow; his income has been a hundred thousand francs a year for the last twenty years, and for the last fifty years has been the owner of a couple of fists and a backbone which are not to be matched throughout the whole realm of France. Porthos is a man of the very greatest consequence compared to you, and — well, I need say no more, for I know you are an intelligent fellow." "No, no, monsieur; explain what you mean." "Look at your orchard, how stripped it is, how empty your larder, your bedstead broken, your cellar almost ex- hausted, look too — at Madame Triichen " "Oh! my good gracious!" said Planchet. "Madame Triichen is an excellent person," continued D'Artagnan, "but keep her for yourself, do you under- stand?" and he slapped him on the shoulder. Planchet at this moment perceived Porthos and Triichen sitting close together in an arbor; Triichen, with a grace of manner peculiarly Flemish, was making a pair of earrings for Porthos out of a double cherry, while Porthos was laughing as amorously as Samson did with Delilah. Plan- C Dumas— Vol, XYL
