“You wish to be cured of the attacks of Choiseul?”
“Yes, great soothsayer, yes.”
“Do not leave us in the plight, my lord; your honor is at stake,” added the lovely woman.
“I am ready to serve you to my utmost; but I should like to hear if the duke had not some settled plan in calling.”
“I grant it, my lord count—Faith! it is nice to have a man of title for wizard, it does not take us out of our class.”
“Come, be frank,” said the host smiling. “You want to consult me?”
“But I can only whisper it in the strictest privacy to the count because you would beat me if you overheard, countess.”
“The duke is not accustomed to being beaten,” remarked Balsamo, which delighted the old warrior.
“The long and the short of it is that the King is dying of tedium.”
“He is no longer amusable, as Lady Maintenon used to say.”