“Really!”
“It was the king who insisted on it; you know on what excellent terms the brothers are just now. The king would not suffer an impertinence of Quelus’s to pass, and ordered him to apologize.”
“Really!”
“Ah! M. Aurilly, I think that we are entering the golden age; the Louvre is about to become Arcadia, and the two brothers Arcades ambo.”
Aurilly smiled, and passed into the ante-chamber, where he was courteously saluted by Quelus, between whose hands a superb cup and ball of ebony inlaid with ivory was making rapid evolutions.
“Bravo! M. Quelus,” said Aurilly.
“Ah! my dear M. Aurilly, when shall I play cup and ball as well as you play the lute?”
“When you have studied your plaything as long as I have my instrument. But where is monseigneur? I thought you were with him.”
“I have an audience with him, but Schomberg comes first.”
“What! M. de Schomberg, also!”