"No, Jeanne is the one to tell the truth. Still, if you will pay me for my report, I will show you that my police spies are up to the mark of Chief Sartines'."
"I have the pay ready," said the king, jingling some coins in his pocket. "No fibs."
"The Countess Dubarry went to her private residence in Valois Street, Paris, where Zamore met her about six o'clock. She went to speak with her sponsor."
"What, is she going to be baptized?"
"Her social sponsor—I do not know the right name for it."
"Say, the lady patroness. So you have fabricated one."
"Nay, she is ready made, and from away back. It is Countess Bearn, of the family of reigning princes. I guess she will not disgrace the line which is allied with the Royal Stuarts, the Dubarry-Moores."
"I never knew of any Countess Bearn but the one who lives by Verdun."
"The very one, who will call to-morrow at seven for a private audience. If the question will be allowed, she will ask when the introduction is to take place, and you will fix it shortly, eh, my Lord of France," said the countess.
The king laughed, but not frankly.