"Upon your honor and your conscience, before God!" reiterated the empress.
The cardinal raised his eyes slowly, and in a low voice, said "I dare not deny it. I wrote them. In an unlucky hour I wrote them—but not to Du Barry."
"To whom, then?"
"To one who has betrayed me to Du Barry. Far be it for me to name him. I alone will bear the weight of your majesty's displeasure. I alone am the culprit."
"I know of no culprit in the matter," replied Maria Theresa, throwing back her stately head. "I stand before God and before the world, and every man has a right to pass sentence upon my actions—even the Cardinal de Rohan. I merely wish to show him that the dauphiness and her mother both know what to expect of his eminence."
"The dauphiness knows of this letter?" cried De Rohan.
"It is she who sent me this copy."
The prince bowed his head down upon his hands.
"I am lost!" murmured he.
The empress surveyed him with mistrust. Such emotion on the part of such a man astonished her, and she doubted its sincerity.