"And you are the person she employs to tell me so?"
"No! I took it upon myself without asking her consent."
"Why? I insist upon knowing!"
"You do know, monsieur. Didn't you tell me that my mother's fortune and my own depended on Madame d'Estrelle's encouragement of your matrimonial plans? That is why I grasped so eagerly the excuse you gave me to go to her house, hoping that the extraordinary nature of your letter would induce her to receive me. That is something you did not anticipate."
"Yes, I did, mordieu!" cried Monsieur Antoine; "I said to myself that that thing would happen if——"
"If what, monsieur?"
"If I had guessed right. I understand."
"But I do not understand."
"That makes no difference to me."
"Excuse me, you want me to guess. You thought that I was foolish enough, impertinent enough, mad enough to aspire to that lady's favor?"