"Alas! I am quite aware of it."
"Moreover, in party contests, you know, the friends of the enemy do not escape."
"Ah! you mean that poor Laicques will have to suffer."
"I am afraid it is almost inevitable, duchesse."
"Oh! he only receives twelve thousand francs pension."
"Yes, but the king of Spain has some influence left; advised by M. Fouquet he might get M. Laicques shut up in prison for a little while."
"I am not very nervous on that point, my dear friend; because, thanks to a reconciliation with Anne of Austria, I will undertake that France should insist upon M. Laicques' liberation."
"True. In that case, you will have something else to apprehend."
"What can that be?" said the duchesse, pretending to be surprised and terrified.
"You will learn; indeed, you must know it already, that having once been an affiliated member of the order, it is not easy to leave it; for the secrets that any particular member may have acquired are unwholesome, and carry with them the germs of misfortune for whoever may reveal them."