"Anne!" sighed Henri, "there are people who cannot be bought; there are hearts that the king is not rich enough to purchase." "Well! perhaps so; but hearts are sometimes given. What have you done to win that of the beautiful statue?" "I believe, Anne, that I have done all I could." "Really, Comte du Bouchage, you are mad. You see a woman, sad, solitary, and melancholy, and you become more sad, more recluse, and more melancholy than she. She is alone--keep her company; she is sad--be gay; she regrets--console her, and replace him she regrets." "Impossible! brother." "Have you tried? Are you in love, or are you not?" "I have no words to express how much!" "Well! I see no reason to despair." "I have no hope." "At what time do you see her?" "I have told you that I do not see her."--"Never?"--"Never!" "Not even at her window?" "Not even at her window!" "We must put an end to that. Do you think she has a lover?" "I have never seen any one enter her house, except the Remy of whom I spoke to you." "Take the house opposite." "It may not be to let." "Bah! offer double the rent!" "But if she sees me there, she will disappear as before." "You shall see her this evening." "I!" "Yes! Be under her balcony at eight o'clock." "I am always there." "Well, give me the address." "Between the Porte Bussy and the Hotel St. Denis, near the corner of the Rue des Augustins, and a few steps from a large inn, having for a sign, 'The Sword of the Brave Chevalier.'" "Very well, then; this evening at eight o'clock." "But what do you intend to do?" "You shall see: meanwhile, go home; put on your richest dress, and use your finest perfume, and I hope that you will enter the house to-night." "May you be a true prophet, brother!" "Well! I leave you for the present, for my lady-love waits for me: and I confess, that after your account, I prefer her to yours. Adieu! Henri, till the evening." The brothers then pressed each other's hands, and separated. CHAPTER VII. "THE SWORD OF THE BRAVE CHEVALIER." During the conversation we have just related, night had begun to fall, enveloping the city with its damp mantle of fog.