"Will your lordship allow me to speak frankly?"
"Speak."
"Well, you are a great lord, a marquis, it is true; as for me, I am but a poor devil, compared with you, very little and of no account. However, miserable as you suppose me, there is something invaluable in my estimation."
"And that is—"
"My liberty, your lordship; my independence, the right of going and of coming, without rendering anyone an account of my proceedings. I humbly submit that I am not born to be a servant."
"Have you said all?"
"Yes, all, your lordship."
"But you are not a servant, only a guide."
"That is true, your lordship; but often, spite of yourself, you forget the guide, to think only of the servant; and as to me, I cannot get used to be treated in that fashion. My pride revolts in spite of myself."
A scornful smile played upon the lips of the young man.