'But you did not choose it, madame?'
'No.'
'Alas!—it was very cruel of you. Had any one told me that I should have lived in this place so long without my heart breaking I could not have believed it.'
The Countess gazed at me fully and pitilessly; but little Nicola cast down her soft eyes sadly as I spoke.
'And was my visit to the Rue de St. Jacques my sole crime?' I asked furiously.
'It was not.'
'Then madame will perhaps have the kindness to inform me whether I am indebted to the King or to M. de Brissac for my quarters here?'
'To Louis of France himself.'
'But he was most gracious to me when I delivered my standard and the despatches.'
'He who knows not how to dissemble knows not how to reign,' said the Countess, smiling again; ''tis an old regal proverb—but at that moment the King was in no way incensed at you.'