"Madame has of course heard the new tale?" he said.
"Something fresh this morning, Abbé? Who does it concern?"
"Not the great Monsieur, the Prince, my lady, but a Monsieur of much nearer acquaintance."
"Indeed? Monsieur Who, then? How interesting! Make no delay."
"The difficulty precisely is to say Who, Madame; but it is he who calls himself Monsieur de Répentigny. There is in Paris at this very instant a real Monsieur de Répentigny—no relation to our one—who is publicly declaring our Canadian to have stolen his title, and to be nothing less than a cheat."
He gave a malicious look at Cyrène, who turned pale and caught at a chair. However, the great lady herself intervened.
"Stop, Abbé; stop, sir. This time you pass the bounds permitted you. How dare you come into the presence of a Princess inventing such slanderous monstrosities against your superior. A nephew, sir, of the Chevalier de Bailleul, acknowledged by him as such to myself in his own château, is above the aspersions of a contemptible plebeian. Let this be a lesson to you, and never dare again to enter my sight. Footmen, conduct him out of my presence and service. No reply! I am irrevocable in this."
"What is the commotion I heard?" exclaimed Madame l'Etiquette, entering just after the reader's expulsion.
The Princess told her of Jude's insolent assertion.
"It is a serious matter. As likely as not it is true," Madame said, and looked severely at Cyrène.