'Well, it will interest you to hear that her coming to Paris was forced. That practically we are prisoners.'
'You mean to say that he—the King—has gone as far as that!'
'I mean what I say—Madame cannot leave her hotel, except to go to the Louvre, without his permission.'
'But this is infamous!'
'In an almost similar case this was what the daughter of de Cœuvres said, and yet she died Duchesse de Beaufort. But are you satisfied now?'
'I am,' I said in a low tone, and then, with an effort, 'but there is still the other matter.'
'You are exacting—are you sure you have a right to ask that?'
Luckily, it was too dark for Palin to see my eyes turn to the tangle of crushed ribbons on the table. How much did the Huguenot know? I could not tell, and after all I had no right to ask the question I had, and said so.
'I have no right, but, if it is true, it means that the affair is at an end.'
'If it is true?'