"If we fail, if we are vanquished," said the young princess, "we will avenge ourselves!"
"Madame," said the princess dowager, "if we fail, it will be that God has vanquished Monsieur le Prince. Pray, would you dream of seeking to be revenged on God?"
The younger princess bowed her head before her mother-in-law's superb humility; indeed, these three personages, saluting one another thus and offering incense at one another's shrine, were not unlike a bishop and two deacons, who make God the pretext of their mutual homage.
"Neither Monsieur de Turenne, Monsieur de La Rochefoucauld, nor Monsieur de Bouillon," murmured the dowager; "they all fail us at once!"
"And no money!" added Madame de Tourville.
"On whom can we rely," said Madame la Princesse, "if Claire herself has forgotten us?"
"Who tells you, my daughter, that Madame de Cambes has forgotten us?"
"She does not return."
"Perhaps she has been prevented; the roads are watched by Monsieur de Saint-Aignan's army, you know."