"I am going to bore myself for appearances. The Duchesse de Boufflers."
"Oh. You might amuse her, then, with some anecdotes of your past sanctity."
"She knows them too well. She will merely insist on talking to me of the frightful improprieties of Mme. de Coigny."
"Oh, by-the-way, as to that, I hear that de Bernis did not even know her sex."
"I have met him at Mme. Doublet's; and I give him credit for rather more brain than that."
"Really? In that case I must take the affair into my repertoire. M. de Mailly-Nesle will be able to weep in Claude's company."
"Such tears appear to run in the family. You've been rather unkind to Claude of late—and, moreover, it was dangerous to garble the story. His disfavor with la Châteauroux certainly did not last long."
"No—silly boy! Really, Richelieu, that little invention should have done him a good turn. If the Duchess had refused to speak to him for a week, he would have been saved. As it is—um—I am glad that my position is not his."
"Well, au revoir. I go to seek my dame d'étiquette."
"Au revoir. But oh! Richelieu! Remember, when you relate the tale, that it is not only from the affections of Mailly-Nesle, but from those of de Coigny himself, that the abbé is tearing the lady."