Duke. Well, if I were king I should have made an end of it long ago.

Albin. Is it true that the king is so good-natured?

Duke. You have not yet been presented to His Majesty?

François. This is the first time the Chevalier has been in Paris.

Duke. Yes, you are incredibly young. How old, if I may ask?

Albin. I only look so young; I am already seventeen.

Duke. Seventeen!—how much is still in front of you! I am already four-and-twenty!... I am beginning to regret how much of my youth I have missed!

François (laughs). That is good. You, Duke—you count every day lost in which you have not conquered a woman or killed a man.

Duke. Only the unfortunate thing is that one never makes a conquest of the right woman, and always kills the wrong man. And that as a matter of fact is how one misses one's youth. You know what Rollin says?

François. What does Rollin say?