"And these forty-five gentlemen never quit the king, you say?"
"I did not say so, madame."
"Ah! I thought you did; at least, you said you had very little liberty."
"It is true, I have very little; because by day we are on service near the king, and at night we stay at the Louvre."
"In the evening?"
"Yes."
"Every evening?"
"Nearly."
"What would have happened then this evening, if your duty had kept you? I, who waited for you, and should have been ignorant of the cause of your absence, should have thought my advances despised."
"Ah! madame, to see you I will risk all, I swear to you."