"What can I do to serve you, monsieur?" asked he.

"You are the officer on duty, lieutenant of the musketeers,
are you?"

"I have that honor," replied the officer.

"Monsieur, I must absolutely speak to the king."

The lieutenant looked attentively at the unknown, and in
that look, however rapid, he saw all he wished to see --
that is to say, a person of high distinction in an ordinary
dress.

"I do not suppose you to be mad," replied he; "and yet you
seem to me to be in a condition to know, monsieur, that
people do not enter a king's apartments in this manner
without his consent."

"He will consent."

"Monsieur, permit me to doubt that. The king has retired
this quarter of an hour; he must be now undressing. Besides,
the word is given."

"When he knows who I am, he will recall the word."

The officer was more and more surprised, more and more
subdued.