“Oh, my lord!” exclaimed Dubarry.
“But who advised you, count?” asked Richelieu.
“You want to know in a minute as much as I, the sage, the adept, who has lived three thousand and seven hundred years.”
“Ah, you are spoiling the good opinion we had of you,” said the old nobleman.
“I am not pressing you to believe me, and it was not I who asked you to come away from the royal hunt.”
“He is right, duke,” said the lady visitor. “Do not be impatient with us, my lord.”
“The man is never impatient who has time on his hands.”
“Be so good—add this favor to the others you have done me, to tell me how you obtain such secrets?”
“I shall not hesitate, madam,” said Balsamo slowly as if he were matching words with her speech, “the revelation is made to me by a bodiless Voice. It tells me all that I desire.”
“Miraculous!”