"You are railing, my lord."
"Always; it is my style."
"Then I shall make you change your note; which will help me in the good graces of the dauphiness, whom you have offended."
"Do so, as it will not be a useless act, considering the delicate ground on which you stand as regards her," returned Balsamo phlegmatically.
"What will you say if I have you arrested straightway, my lord the horoscopist?"
"You would do yourself injury, my lord cardinal."
"Really! How do you make that out?" demanded the proud peer with crushing scorn.
"You would unmake yourself."
"At least, we shall know who really is Baron Joseph Balsamo, alias Count Fenix, a sprig of a family tree of which I have never seen the picture in any heraldic work in Europe."
"You should have asked to see it in the portfolio of the Duke of Breteuil, your friend——"