"Ask it, then."
"You will some day return to France?"
"I hope so."
"Ought I to write to Mademoiselle de la Valliere?"
"No; you must not."
"But I have so many things to say to her."
"Come and say them to her, then."
"Never!"
"Pray, what virtue do you attribute to a letter which your speech might not possess?"
"Perhaps you are right."