"But you must allow that they alone cannot be controverted."
"There can be fact as well as faith," replied Balsamo, with the same respect but with the same firmness.
"You speak a trifle darkly, my lord Baron of Magic. I am at heart a good Frenchwoman, but not in mind, and do not yet understand all the fineness of the language. They say I shall soon pick it up, even to the puns. Meanwhile, I must urge you to speak more plainly if you want my comprehension."
"I ask your highness to let me dwell obscure," said the baron, with a melancholy smile. "I should feel too much regret to reveal to so great a princess a future not equal to her hopes."
"Dear me, this is becoming serious," said Marie Antoinette, "and Abracadabra whets my curiosity in order to make me beg my fortune to be told."
"Heaven forbid my being forced into it," observed Balsamo
coldly.
"Of course, for you would be put to much pains for little result," laughed the princess.
But her merriment died away without a courtier's echoing it; all suffered the influence of the mystic man who claimed the whole attention.
"Still it was you foretold my coming to Taverney?" said the mighty lady, to which Balsamo silently bowed. "How was the trick done, my lord baron?"