'I was not at the chateau,' said he. 'I have just come from the town, where I have been to consult with the physicians about the health of the Count de C——, my younger brother.'
'Is he dangerously ill?'
'No, monsieur, thank Heaven, he is not; but in his youth visions of glory and of ambition had excited his imagination, and a grave fever, from which he has just recovered, and which came near proving fatal, has left his head in a state of delirium and insanity, which persuades him that he has only one day longer to live. That's his madness.'
Everything was explained to me now!
'Come, my young friend, now let us talk over your business; tell me what I can do for your advancement. We will go together to Versailles about the end of this month. I will present you at court.'
'I know how kind you are to me, duke, and I have come here to thank you for it.'
'What! have you renounced going to court, and to the advantages you may reckon on having there?'
'Yes.'
'But recollect, that aided by me, you will make a rapid progress, and that with a little assiduity and patience ... say in ten years.'
'They would be ten years lost!'