'De Brissac!' I muttered, 'this caterer for the Bastille, is, like De Bitche, my evil genius.'
'Hush!' said Dundrennan; 'any display of hostility will spoil the plan of my intended campaign. I mean you to play a little game with these four commissioners, as the warrant of Louis, "by God's grace, King of France and Navarre," styles them. So, gentlemen, what is the latest news from the vicinity of Notre Dame?'
'The same as ever,' replied the commander of Mont Carmel; 'the star of La Comtesse d'Amboise is still in the ascendant.'
'King Louis still reigns in the bosoms of his subjects—the female portion thereof especially,' said De Brissac.
'For shame, De Brissac; this is "lese Majesty."'
'Nay, 'tis a melancholy truism.'
'And Monseigneur le Cardinal still worships at the shrine of Marion de l'Orme?' said I, with a spiteful glance at De Brissac.
'Oh yes, M. Blane!' said he, with a covert smile; 'and has employed M. Poussin to paint two classic subjects from ancient history for her boudoir.'
'The sorrows of the chaste Lucretia, perhaps?'
'No: Nero, after his first shave, presenting his soapsuds to thundering Jove in the Capitol; and Caligula making love to the moon, and beseeching her to enter his bed.'