"Upon my word! I should like to go in chase of him myself, to see how he'll receive the messenger."
"Unhappily, or rather happily, that is out of the question, and you must needs remain with me."
"True; but let us lose no time. Write your order, duke, and place Courtauvaux at my disposal."
The duke took a pen and wrote upon a bit of paper these two words:—
"Bordeaux.—No,"
and signed his name.
He then enclosed this laconic despatch in an envelope, on which he wrote the following address:—
"To her Majesty, Queen Anne of Austria, Regent of France."
Nanon meanwhile wrote a few lines, which she placed with the other, after showing them to the duke:—
My Dear Baron,—The accompanying despatch is for her Majesty the queen, as you see. On your life, carry it to her instantly; the welfare of the kingdom is at stake!
Your loving sister,
Nanon.