But the former was probably in a humour for talking, for he would not be checked; and pretending not to remark the manner in which his advances had been received, he continued—
"The nights are still chill, the breeze enters this coach on all sides, and I feared lest the cold had struck you."
"I am habituated to suffer heat and cold," the Count answered; "besides, it is probable that if I have not yet made my apprenticeship, I am about to undergo one which will accustom me to endure everything without complaining."
"Who knows, my lord?" the exempt said, with a shake of the head.
"What?" the other objected, "Am I not condemned to a lengthened captivity in a fortress?"
"Yes, according to the terms of the order, which it is my duty to carry out."
There was a momentary silence. The Count gazed absently at the country which the first beams of day were beginning to illumine. At length he turned to the exempt.
"May I ask whither you are taking me?" he said.
"I see no objection to your doing so."
"And you will answer my question?"