“You, beautiful countess, shun the Place Louis XV.”
“Alas,” said the countess, “one day already I lost myself there; that day I suffered much.”
She left the room, and Cagliostro was about to follow her when Richelieu stopped him.
“One moment,” said he; “there remains only Taverney and I, my dear sorcerer.”
“M. de Taverney begged me to say nothing, and you, marshal, have asked me nothing.”
“Oh, I do not wish to hear,” again cried Taverney.
“But come, to prove your power, tell us something that only Taverney and I know,” said Richelieu.
“What?” asked Cagliostro, smiling.
“Tell us what makes Taverney come to Versailles, instead of living quietly in his beautiful house at Maison-Rouge, which the king bought for him three years ago.”
“Nothing more simple, marshal,” said Cagliostro. “Ten years ago, M. de Taverney wished to give his daughter, Mademoiselle Andrée, to the King Louis XV., but he did not succeed.”