Half an hour later an orderly announced to his Excellency the governor that a lady desired to see him.
"Admit her at once," said De Lauson. "Mademoiselle," when madame stood before him, "am I to have the happiness of being of service to you? Or, is it 'madame' instead of 'mademoiselle'?"
"I have promised to disclose my identity in time, your Excellency. However, I shall not object to 'madame.' Monsieur, I am about to ask you a question which I shall request not to be repeated."
The governor, looking at her with open admiration, recalled the days when, as a student, he had conjured up in his own mind the faces of the goddesses. This face represented neither Venus nor Pallas; rather the lithe-limbed huntress who forswore marriage for the chase.
"And this question?" he inquired.
"What brought Monsieur le Chevalier du Cévennes, as he calls himself, to Quebec?"
The governor's face became shaded with gravity, "I may not tell you that. I did not know that you knew Monsieur le Comte. He will, without doubt, return to France with Monsieur le Marquis, his father. Nay, I shall tell you this: the Chevalier expected never to return to France."
"Never to return to France?" vaguely.
"Yes, Madame; so I understood, him to say." The governor's curiosity was manifest.
"Conspiring did not bring him here?"