“Lose what?”
“The lady and, incidentally, her fortune.”
I confessed to a very languid interest in the love affairs of the Marquis and the lady, but for politeness’ sake I asked him another question.
“Permit me, since you have broached the subject, does the lady consent or refuse?”
“She consents, but the Duke refuses.”
“Ah!”
“But I hope that his refusal is not irrevocable.”
“For your sake I trust so,” I replied. “Yet I fail to see how this concerns me.”
“You shall learn directly. Mademoiselle de Villars is one of the Queen’s maids of honor. She usually resides at the Court at Versailles. For this week, however, she is on leave of absence, I have learned, and is in residence at the Hôtel de Rivau-Huet in Paris.”
“Yes?” I said interrogatively. I was beginning to have some curiosity as to whither all this tended.