"I will not be too hard, madame."
"Call me as you used to do; it will be a sweet echo of our happy youth."
"Well, then, my dear mistress, my darling Anne—"
"Do you know Spanish still?"
"Yes."
"Ask me in Spanish, then."
"Will your majesty do me the honor to pass a few days with me at Dampierre?"
"Is that all?" said the queen, stupefied. "Nothing more than that?"
"Good heavens! Can you possibly imagine that in asking you that, I am not asking you the greatest conceivable favor. If that really be the case, you do not know me. Will you accept?"
"Yes, gladly. And I shall be happy," continued the queen, with some suspicion, "if my presence can in any way be useful to you."