heart. At length Monk appeared to recover, and broke the
silence.

"Monsieur," said he, in a mild, calm tone, "in reply to you,
I will make use of your own words. To any other but yourself
I would reply by expulsion, imprisonment, or still worse,
for, in fact, you tempt me and you force me at the same
time. But you are one of those men, monsieur, to whom it is
impossible to refuse the attention and respect they merit;
you are a brave gentleman, monsieur -- I say so, and I am a
judge. You just now spoke of a deposit which the late king
transmitted through you to his son -- are you, then, one of
those Frenchmen who, as I have heard, endeavored to carry
off Charles I. from Whitehall?"

"Yes, my lord, it was I who was beneath the scaffold during
the execution; I, who had not been able to redeem it,
received upon my brow the blood of the martyred king. I
received, at the same time, the last word of Charles I., it
was to me he said, `Remember!' and in saying, `Remember!' he
alluded to the money at your feet, my lord."

"I have heard much of you, monsieur," said Monk, "but I am
happy to have, in the first place, appreciated you by my own
observations, and not by my remembrances. I will give you,
then, explanations that I have given to no other, and you
will appreciate what a distinction I make between you and
the persons who have hitherto been sent to me."

Athos bowed, and prepared to absorb greedily the words which