PAUL.
Monsieur le Duc, in times like these, Madame Kauvar would be far safer than Mademoiselle de Beaumont.
DUKE.
[With quiet hauteur.]
There are some means of safety forbidden to my rank, sir.—Pardon me if I must say that what you suggest is one of them.
PAUL.
What if I dared to love your daughter, to hope that you would grant me the right to guard her as my wife?
DUKE.
Seriously?