“Then—we are safe?”
“From Michael Tichelaer.”
“M. de Louvois would never forgive us if it got blown abroad he was at the bottom of this.”
They walked for a way in silence; then the Duchess spoke again—
“And Monsieur Cornelius?”
De Pomponne raised his eyebrows.
“It seems to me that there is not much hope for M. Cornelius. Some such excuse as this was only needed to give a vent to the popular fury against him and his brother—can you imagine a better one? He has tried to murder the young hero of the moment! No, there is no escape for M. de Witt.”
“They will discover this man Tichelaer’s falsehoods.”
“The Dutch are not in the humour to be just.”
She fingered her whip.