"Where is the girl?"
"She has been placed for security in the Castle of Picmort. She was guarded by one of the Carbonari, but this man has started on one of those journeys which are characteristic of the society."
"Do you not consider it possible that the girl carries the documents?"
"I do not think so. In the first place, de Brezé through chivalry,—and he is a Paladin—would never give her a charge of grave peril; besides, the place for those papers is Paris."
"Then peace and happiness to the maiden in her Picmort refuge!" sighed the King.
"The Duchess informs me that the steward of the castle may prove a formidable rival to the Marquis in the affections of the fascinating intriguante."
"My blessing on the sylvan pair! An eclogue, indeed! A peasant lover!" remarked the King with a Voltairian laugh, after which he hummed:
"In the lap of Phillis
Damon streweth flowers
Wet with dews of morning."
Lecazes, not heeding the poetical interruption, continued:
"With regard to the documents, your Majesty, a subject which seems to bore you, I affirm that they are in Paris, because, among other reasons, the individual would have need of them in order to convince Madame the Duchess, whom it is his intention of addressing—"