"Can support it?"
"No," I said.
He laughed genially. "Pooh!" he said. "I think that you will. I want your promise, Vicomte. It is a small matter; a trifle, and of no importance; but we must be unanimous. That is the one thing necessary."
I shook my head. We had both come to a halt under the trees, a little within the gates. His servant was leading the horses up and down the road.
"Come," he persisted pleasantly: "you do not think that anything is going to come of this chaotic States General, which his Majesty was mad enough to let Neckar summon? They met on the 4th of May; this is the 17th of July; and to this date they have done nothing but wrangle! Nothing! Presently they will be dismissed, and there will be an end of it!"
"Why protest, then?" I said rather feebly.
"I will tell you, my friend," he answered, smiling indulgently and tapping his boot with his whip. "Have you heard the latest news?"
"What is it?" I replied cautiously. "Then I will tell you if I have heard it."
"The King has dismissed Neckar!"
"No!" I cried, unable to hide my surprise.