"The difficulty of finding one with an attractive face and a good disposition, who has no parents likely to take him away from me when I have brought him up; for to dote on a child just to have him taken from you at the age of twenty or twenty-five——"
"But the interval, monsieur."
"Oh! time flies so fast! one is not conscious of its flight! You know that I once thought of taking some young poor relation into my house; but my family are all old Leaguers, and their children are ugly, or obstreperous, or dirty."
"It is certain, monsieur, that the younger branch of the Bourons is not attractive. You appropriated the stature, all the charm and all the gallantry of the family, and no one but yourself can give you an heir worthy of you."
"Myself!" said Bois-Doré, slightly dazed by this declaration.
"Yes, monsieur, I am speaking seriously. Since you are tired of your liberty; since I hear you say, for the tenth time, that you mean to settle down——"
"Why, Adamas, you speak of me as if I were an old rake! It seems to me that, since our Henri's sad death, I have lived as becomes a man overwhelmed by grief, and a resident nobleman in duty bound to set a good example."
"Certainly, certainly, monsieur, you can say all that you please to me on that subject It is my duty not to contradict you. You are not obliged to tell me of your delightful adventures in the châteaux or groves of the neighborhood, eh, monsieur? That is nobody's business but yours. A faithful servant ought not to spy upon his master, and I do not think that I have ever asked monsieur any indiscreet questions."
"I do justice to your delicacy, my dear Adamas," replied Bois-Doré, at once embarrassed, disturbed and flattered by the chimerical suppositions of his idolatrous valet. "Let us talk of something else," he added, afraid to dwell upon so delicate a subject, and trying to believe that Adamas knew of adventures of his of which he had no knowledge himself.
The marquis did not boast openly. He was too well bred to tell of the love-affairs he had had and to invent others that he had never had. But he was delighted that he should still be accredited with them, and provided that no particular woman was compromised, he did not contradict those who said that he was favored of all women. His friends connived at his modest conceit, and it was the great delight of the younger men, of Guillaume d'Ars in particular, to tease him on that point, knowing how agreeable such teasing was to him.