"You!" said the duchess with astonishment.
"Yes, madame," replied Richelieu, "you have your correspondence, I have mine. I have seen seven or eight letters that you have received to-day. Will your highness have the goodness to look at one I received yesterday?"
"Is this letter for me only, or may it be read aloud?"
"We are among discreet people, are we not?" said Richelieu, looking round him.
"I think so," replied the duchess, "besides, the gravity of the situation."
The duchess took the letter, and read:
"'Monsieur le Duc—I am a woman of my word. My husband is on the eve of setting out for the little journey you know of. To-morrow, at eleven o'clock, I shall be at home for you only. Do not think that I decide on this step without having put all the blame on the shoulders of Monsieur de Villeroy. I begin to fear for him, as you may have undertaken to punish him. Come, then, at the appointed hour, to prove to me that I am not too much to blame in conspiring with you against my lord and master.'"
"Ah! pardon, this is not the one I intended to show you, that is the one of the day before yesterday. Here is yesterday's."
The duchess took the second letter, and read as follows:
"'My dear Armand,'