“By the by, I forgot to ask you about that. Why fifteen francs for him, and only three francs for poor Seldon?”
“The distinction made in that instance was a truly noble act, and one which displayed the king’s goodness of heart to great advantage.”
“The king’s, you say.”
“The cardinal’s, I mean. ‘This unhappy man,’ said M. Mazarin, ‘is destined to remain in prison forever.’”
“Why so?”
“Why, it seems that his crime is a lasting one, and, consequently, his punishment ought to be so, too.”
“Lasting?”
“No doubt of it, unless he is fortunate enough to catch the small-pox, and even that is difficult, for we never get any impure air here.”
“Nothing can be more ingenious than your train of reasoning, my dear M. de Baisemeaux. Do you, however, mean to say that this unfortunate man must suffer without interruption or termination?”
“I did not say he was to suffer, my lord, a fifteen-franc boarder does not suffer.”