"First of all, you must return the duke's signature in blank to him; otherwise, you will be hanged. You heard your sentence from his own lips. Secondly, you must leave this house instantly, or not only am I ruined forever, for which you care nothing, but you will be involved in my ruin,--a consideration which will cause you to think twice, I trust, before you decide." "These are my answers, dear lady: the signature in blank is my property, and you can't prevent my getting myself hanged, if such is my good pleasure." "God forbid!" "Thanks! I shall do nothing of the kind; never fear. I declared my aversion to that kind of death a few moments since; I shall keep the document, therefore, unless you have a craving to purchase it from me, in which case we may come to terms." "I have no use for it; I give them away." "Lucky Nanon!" "You will keep it, then?" "Yes." "At the risk of what may happen to you?" "Don't be alarmed; I have a place for it. As to taking my leave, I shall make no such blunder, being here by the duke's invitation. Furthermore, in your desire to be rid of me, you forget one thing." "What is that?" "The important commission the duke mentioned, which is likely to make my fortune." Nanon turned pale. "Why, you know perfectly well that it was not intended for you," she said. "You know that to abuse your present position would be a crime, for which you would have to pay the penalty one day or another." "For that reason I don't propose to abuse it. I am anxious to use it, nothing more." "Besides, Monsieur de Canolles is named in the commission." "Very good; am I not Baron de Canolles?" "Yes; but his face, as well as his name, is known at court. Monsieur de Canolles has been there several times." "_A la bonne heure!_ that's a strong argument; it's the first you have put forward, and you see that I yield to it." "Moreover, you might fall in with your political opponents there," said Nanon; "and perhaps your face, although under a different name, is as well known as Monsieur de Canolles'." "Oh! that would amount to nothing, if, as the duke says, the mission is destined to result advantageously to France. The message will be the messenger's safeguard. A service of such importance implies pardon for him who renders it, and amnesty for the past is always the first condition of political conversions. And so, dear sister, it is not for you, but for me, to impose conditions." "Well, what are yours?" "In the first place, as I was saying, the first condition of every treaty,--general amnesty." "Is that all?" "Secondly, the adjustment of our accounts." "It would seem that I owe you something, then?" "You owe me the hundred pistoles, which you inhumanly refused me." "Here are two hundred." "Good! I recognize the real Nanon in that." "But I give them to you on one condition." "What is that?" "That you repair the wrong you have done." "That is no more than fair. What must I do?"