“Why?”
“Because, sire, if these men tell lies, the people are glad enough to see them whipped, or even hanged; but if they chance upon a truth——”
“A truth! It is true that the queen went to M. Mesmer’s, but I gave her permission.”
“Oh, sire!” cried M. de Crosne.
His tone of sincerity struck the king more than anything M. de Provence had said; and he answered, “I suppose, sir, that was no harm.”
“No, sire; but her majesty has compromised herself.”
“M. de Crosne, what have your police told you?”
“Sire, many things, which, with all possible respect for her majesty, agree in many points with this pamphlet.”
“Let me hear.”
“That the queen went in a common dress, in the middle of this crowd, and alone.”