\"I
hadnoarms，\"murmuredAramis，aswildandterribleinhiswrathastheshadeofDido。？Andthen，withouttouchingFouquet\'shand，heturnedhisheadaside，andsteppedbackapaceortwo。？Hislastwordwasanimprecation，hislastgestureacurse，whichhisblood—stainedhandseemedtoinvoke，asitsprinkledonFouquet\'sfaceafewdropsofbloodwhichflowedfromhisbreast。？Andbothofthemdartedoutoftheroombythesecretstaircasewhichleddowntotheinnercourtyard。？Fouquetorderedhisbesthorses，whileAramispausedatthefootofthestaircasewhichledtoPorthos\'sapartment。？Hereflectedprofoundlyandforsometime，whileFouquet\'scarriageleftthecourtyardatfullgallop。
\"ShallIgoalone？\"saidAramistohimself，\"orwarntheprince？？Oh！fury！？Warntheprince，andthen—dowhat？？Takehimwithme？？Tocarrythisaccusingwitnessaboutwithmeeverywhere？？War，too，wouldfollow—civilwar，implacableinitsnature！？Andwithoutanyresourcesavemyself—itisimpossible！？Whatcouldhedowithoutme？？Oh！withoutmehewillbeutterlydestroyed。？Yetwhoknows—letdestinybefulfilled—condemnedhewas，lethimremainsothen！？GoodorevilSpirit—gloomyandscornfulPower，whommencallthegeniusofhumanity，thouartapowermorerestlesslyuncertain，morebaselesslyuseless，thanwildmountainwind！？Chance，thouterm\'stthyself，butthouartnothing;thouinflamesteverythingwiththybreath，crumblestmountainsatthyapproach，andsuddenlyartthyselfdestroyedatthepresenceoftheCrossofdeadwoodbehindwhichstandanotherPowerinvisiblelikethyself—whomthoudeniest，perhaps，butwhoseavenginghandisonthee，andhurlstheeinthedustdishonoredandunnamed！？Lost！—I
amlost！？Whatcanbedone？？FleetoBelle—Isle？？Yes，andleavePorthosbehindme，totalkandrelatethewholeaffairtoeveryone！？Porthos，too，whowillhavetosufferforwhathehasdone。？IwillnotletpoorPorthossuffer。？Heseemslikeoneofthemembersofmyownframe;andhisgrieformisfortunewouldbemineaswell。？Porthosshallleavewithme，andshallfollowmydestiny。？Itmustbeso。\"
AndAramis，apprehensiveofmeetinganyonetowhomhishurriedmovementsmightappearsuspicious，ascendedthestaircasewithoutbeingperceived。？Porthos，sorecentlyreturnedfromParis，wasalreadyinaprofoundsleep;hishugebodyforgotitsfatigue，ashismindforgotitsthoughts。？Aramisentered，lightasashadow，andplacedhisnervousgrasponthegiant\'sshoulder。？\"Come，Porthos，\"hecried，\"come。\"