“That must be conditional.”
“On what?”
“On your condonation of a certain liaison.”
“Well, well. Who is the other party to it, Charlot?”
“I must crave your Highness’s absolution.”
“You have it, coquin.”
“It is Fanchette Becquet, then—the Infanta’s first femme de confiance.”
“Ah, rogue!” The duke frowned—then sighed again. “That is to bring corruption very near the fount of innocence.”
“Not corruption, monsieur, but salvation. If I have sacrificed myself to serve your Highness——”
“O—la—la! O to be sure! You are a very disinterested scamp. But that sort of sacrifice will never get you into heaven. And what was innocence doing to risk its salvation, my friend?”