"But that is not a horse for a man."
"Therefore it is intended for a beautiful woman."
"Take care, Henry; you are going to be indiscreet, for we shall see this beautiful woman at the hunt; and if I do not know whose knight you are, I shall at least know whose equerry you are."
"No, my lord, you will not know," said Henry, with his feigned good-humor, "for this beautiful woman cannot go out this morning; she is indisposed."
He sprang into the saddle.
"Ah, bah!" cried d'Alençon, laughing; "poor Madame de Sauve."
"François! François! it is you who are indiscreet."
"What is the matter with the beautiful Charlotte?" went on the Duc d'Alençon.
"Why," replied Henry, spurring his horse to a gallop, and making him describe a graceful curve; "why, I have no idea,—a heaviness in the head, according to what Dariole tells me. A torpor of the whole body; in short, general debility."
"And will this prevent you from joining us?" asked the duke.