"He remained in Guyenne to raise troops. He told me that he could already count upon nearly three hundred men, but he says that, from want of time, they will be but ill equipped to take the field, and he would much prefer that we should obtain for him the command of a place like Vayres, or Île Saint-George. There, he says, he would be sure of making himself useful to your Highnesses."
"But how can we obtain it?" asked the princess. "We are in too bad odor at court at this moment to recommend any one, and if we should undertake it, whoever we might recommend would become on the instant an object of suspicion."
"Perhaps, madame," said the viscountess, "a method which Monsieur Richon himself suggested to me may be practicable."
"What is that?"
"Monsieur d'Épernon is, it appears," continued the viscountess, blushing, "very much in love with a certain young woman."
"Ah! yes, the fair Nanon," said Madame la Princesse, disdainfully; "we know about that."
"Well, it seems that the duc d'Épernon can refuse nothing to this young woman, and that she disposes of whatever any one chooses to purchase from her. Could not you purchase a commission for Monsieur Richon?"
"It would be money well placed," said Lenet.
"True, but the chest is empty, as you well know, Monsieur le conseiller," said Madame de Tourville.