The Count sprang from the bed, crying roughly to the two servants to continue their work. Then, standing by the chair of Mailly-Nesle, he put both hands affectionately on the two bent shoulders.
"Henri, look at me. Thou shalt not take it in this way. I have got no more than has come to a thousand others. I have loved too well. And since I may not have that one thing for which I would sell the soul from my body, 'tis small matter, after all, where I live, or what my portion is. Some day I shall return hither, doubtless—when—when—or thou shalt come to me. Things may occur, perhaps, that shall make all right. Take courage. Thou art a man! There is no time for this. We must talk together of many things. There is my money, my rents—"
The Marquis raised his head, and Claude nodded with satisfaction to see that he was again in control of himself.
"'Tis better, hein? Thou knowest, Henri, I get from Touraine and Languedoc together some fifty thousand livres yearly. I have made that suffice me here, with what I could win at play. My debts, as Fortune wills, are paid. Can the King say as much? What has paid for this life will stay me better abroad, in whatsoever land I may find myself, than it has done here. How to receive it—"
"That shall be my task, Claude. In May, as you have done, and again later in the year, I will go to both estates, as I visit my own. Your stewards will accept me as master, I imagine. They are good fellows, both."
"Between them they steal, with perfect regularity, seven thousand yearly."
"So little? They are not good, then, but stupid. Mine, on my single estate, costs me ten."
"Your lands nearly double mine."
The Marquis shrugged. "Well—and each three months you will write to me, that I may send the rents where you may be?"
"Yes. I will burden thee with news more often than that. Do you know, my friend, I have a mind to set out from Flanders or England for King George's colonies? It has been said that the summer is a paradise in Virginia, or in Lord Baltimore's province."