Privat blinked at her out of his stupid eyes.
"But I am prepared to pay for it."
A sign of animation seemed to come into the turnkey's face, but he did not move nor seek to question her.
"What I am about to ask may be very difficult for you to do, and that is why I am prepared to pay you well." She dwelt upon the last words, seeming to guess that she had struck the right note.
"How much are you prepared to pay?" he asked in his slow way.
Edmé drew a purse from the folds of her gown, and opening it disclosed a number of shining gold pieces. Privat's eyes were animated now.
"All that!" he exclaimed. "What do you want me to do for it? It must be something dangerous. I—I am not a brave man."
"It is merely," continued Edmé, holding the open purse in her hand, "to procure me speech with a prisoner."
"What prisoner?"
"Colonel Robert Tournay."