"News?"
"Monsieur le Marquis is here!"
"I have seen him, Victor, and spoken to him,"
"A reconciliation? The Virgin save me, but you will return to France!"
"Not I, lad," with a gaiety which deceived the poet. "I will tell you something later. Have you had your supper?"
"No."
"Then off with us both. And, a bottle of the governor's burgundy which I have been saving."
"Wine?" excitedly.
"Does not the name sound good? And, by the way, did you know that that woman with the grey mask, who was at the Corne d'Abondance …"
"I have seen her," quietly.