“Then you accept?”
“No; but I love you.”
“And let M. de Rohan pay. Remember, madame, this would be no generosity towards me, but the refinement of cruelty.”
“M. de Charny, I am a queen. I give to my subjects, but do not accept from them.”
“What do you mean to do, then?”
“You are frank. What do the jewelers say?”
“That as you cannot pay, M. de Rohan will pay for you.”
“What does the public say?”
“That you have the necklace hidden, and will produce it when it shall have been paid for; either by the cardinal, in his love for you, or by the king, to prevent scandal.”
“And you, Charny; in your turn, I ask, what do you say?”