Buckingham threw himself on his knees. “Madame, you are the source of intelligence, of goodness, and of compassion; you are the first person in this kingdom, not only by your rank, but the first person in the world on account of your angelic attributes. I have said nothing, madame. Have I, indeed, said anything you should answer with such a cruel remark? What have I betrayed?”
“You have betrayed yourself,” said the queen, in a low tone of voice.
“I have said nothing,—I know nothing.”
“You forget you have spoken and thought in the presence of a woman, and besides——”
“Besides,” said the duke, “no one knows you are listening to me.”
“On the contrary, it is known; you have all the defects and all the qualities of youth.”
“I have been betrayed or denounced, then?”
“By whom?”
“By those who, at Havre, had, with infernal perspicacity, read my heart like an open book.”
“I do not know whom you mean.”