“Oh! a minister is not a man.”
“You are adorable, countess. But I did not speak of my hotel; I have a house——”
“Oh! a petite maison?”
“No; a house of yours.”
“A house of mine, cardinal! Indeed, I did not know it.”
“To-morrow, at ten o’clock, you shall have the address.”
The countess blushed; the cardinal took her hand again, and imprinted another kiss upon it, at once bold, respectful, and tender. They then bowed to each other.
“Light monseigneur down,” said the countess; and he went away.
“Well,” thought she, “I have made a great step in the world.”
“Come,” said the cardinal to himself as he drove off, “I think I have killed two birds with one stone; this woman has too much talent not to catch the queen as she has caught me?”