"Oh, there is more than that, Madame! Otherwise I should have told you nothing. For two months Monsieur d'Exmès has been at liberty."
"And I never knew that a friend was suffering with me, and so near me!" said Diane.
"You did not know it, but he did, Madame," said the governor. "I must confess that when he first learned the fact he exhausted himself in terrible threats against me. Not only did he challenge me to single combat, but—as you foresaw, with a charming sympathy—carrying his love to the point of madness, he declared to my face his determination to take Calais."
"My hopes are greater than ever, then," said Diane.
"Don't hope for too much, Madame," said Lord Wentworth; "for once more I tell you, since Monsieur d'Exmès addressed his appalling farewell to me six months have passed. To be sure, I have had news from my aggressor in that time. At the end of November he sent me, with scrupulous promptness, the amount of his ransom; but not a word of his haughty defiance."
"Wait, my Lord," Diane retorted. "Monsieur d'Exmès will find a way to pay his debts of every description."
"I doubt it, Madame, for the day of maturity will soon be past."
"What do you mean?" asked Madame de Castro.
"I sent word, Madame, to Vicomte d'Exmès, by the messenger who came to me from him, that I would await the fulfilment of his double challenge until the 1st of January, 1558. It is now Dec. 31, 1557."
"Well, then," Diane interrupted him, "he has twelve hours still."