“Bonne?”
“Yes.”
“To Charles of Lorraine, son of Louis IV., King of France.”
“Just so. Now add, ‘brother of Lothaire, despoiled of the crown of France by the usurper, Hugh Capet.’”
“Oh! oh!” said the duke and the cardinal.
“Now, Charles of Lorraine inherited from his brother Lothaire. Now, the race of Lothaire is extinct, therefore you are the only true heirs of the throne.”
“What do you say to that, brother?” cried the cardinal.
“I say, that unluckily there exists in France a law they call the Salic law, which destroys all our pretensions.”
“I expected that objection, monseigneur,” said David, “but what is the first example of the Salic law?”
“The accession of Philippe de Valois, to the prejudice of Edward of England.”