"I allude only to his wound, madame."
"So much the better, then, for, in other respects, M. de Guiche seems to be very happy; he is always in very high spirits. I am sure that you, Monsieur de Bragelonne, would far prefer to be, like him, wounded only in the body ... for what, indeed, is such a wound, after all!"
Raoul started. "Alas!" he said to himself, "she is returning to it."
"What did you say?" she inquired.
"I did not say anything, madame."
"You did not say anything; you disapprove of my observation, then? you are perfectly satisfied, I suppose?"
Raoul approached closer to her. "Madame," he said, "your royal highness wishes to say something to me, and your instinctive kindness and generosity of disposition induce you to be careful and considerate as to your manner of conveying it. Will your royal highness throw this kind forbearance aside? I am able to bear everything; and I am listening."
"Ah!" replied Henrietta, "what do you understand, then?"
"That which your royal highness wishes me to understand," said Raoul, trembling, notwithstanding his command over himself, as he pronounced these words.
"In point of fact," murmured the princess ... "it seems cruel, but since I have begun—"