“Whom do you mean, sir?”
“Pardieu! do you think I am ignorant of your escapade, both together at the Opera ball? It was pretty.”
“Sir, I protest——”
“Oh, do not be angry; I only mean to warn you for your good. You are not careful enough; you were seen there with her.”
“I was seen?”
“Pardieu! had you, or not, a blue domino?”
Philippe was about to explain that he had not, and did not know what his father meant, but he thought to himself, “It is of no use to explain to him; he never believes me. Besides, I wish to learn more.”
“You see,” continued the old man, triumphantly, “you were recognized. Indeed, M. de Richelieu, who was at the ball in spite of his eighty-four years, wondered who the blue domino could be with whom the queen was walking, and he could only suspect you, for he knew all the others.”
“And pray how does he say he recognized the queen?”
“Not very difficult, when she took her mask off. Such audacity as that surpasses all imagination; she must really be mad about you. But take care, chevalier; you have jealous rivals to fear; it is an envied post to be favorite of the queen, when the queen is the real king. Pardon my moralizing, but I do not wish that the breath of chance should blow down what you have reared so skilfully.”