"What now?" asked the duchess.
"Nothing," said the prefect. "I am waiting, Madame, to hear the rumors you mentioned just now about the Duchesse de Berry."
"Oh! they are simple enough. I heard,--but pray remember I give them on no authority but common report,--I have heard that the Duchesse de Berry rejected the advice of all her friends, and obstinately refused to re-embark on the 'Carlo Alberto.'"
"Then where is she now?" asked the prefect.
"In France."
"In France! What can she do in France?"
"Why, you know very well, Monsieur le préfet," said the duchess, "that her Royal Highness's chief object is La Vendée."
"No doubt; but having failed so signally at the South--"
"All the more reason why she should try for success at the West."
The prefect smiled disdainfully.