"Is it high?"
"Fifteen to eighteen feet."
"A trifle."
"Yes, for you who are young, but it is a different affair for me; be prudent, I beg."
"Do not be afraid."
Gaston went first, slowly and prudently, followed by La Jonquiere, who laughed in his sleeve, and grumbled every time he hurt his fingers, or when the wind shook the cords.
"A nice affair for the successor of Richelieu and Mazarin," he growled to himself. "It is true I am not yet a cardinal; that saves me."
Gaston touched the water, or rather ice, of the fosse; a moment after, La Jonquiere was by his side.
"Now follow me," said the latter. On the other side of the moat a ladder awaited them.
"You have accomplices then?"