"You are right, Pierre, always right, my good Pierre!" said Madame la Princesse. "Let us say nothing." "And we owe this to the gallant Richon," said the princess dowager. "Hasn't he done well, Compère Lenet, and aren't you content with him?" _Compère_ was the princess dowager's pet word; it was a reminiscence of Henri IV., who used it frequently. "Richon is a man of brain and energy, madame, and I pray your Highness to believe that if I had not been as sure of him as of myself I would not have recommended him." "What shall we do for him?" said Madame la Princesse. "We must give him some important post," said the dowager. "Some important post? Your Highness cannot think of doing so," interposed Madame de Tourville, sourly; "you forget that Monsieur Richon is not of gentle birth!" "Nor am I, madame," retorted Lenet; "which fact does not prevent Monsieur le Prince from having some confidence in me, I believe. Most assuredly do I admire and respect the nobility of France; but there are circumstances in which a noble heart, I venture to say, is worth more than an ancient coat of arms." "Why did not good Richon come himself to tell us this joyful tidings?" asked Madame la Princesse. "He remained in Guyenne to raise troops. He told me that he could already count upon nearly three hundred men, but he says that, from want of time, they will be but ill equipped to take the field, and he would much prefer that we should obtain for him the command of a place like Vayres, or Île Saint-George. There, he says, he would be sure of making himself useful to your Highnesses." "But how can we obtain it?" asked the princess. "We are in too bad odor at court at this moment to recommend any one, and if we should undertake it, whoever we might recommend would become on the instant an object of suspicion." "Perhaps, madame," said the viscountess, "a method which Monsieur Richon himself suggested to me may be practicable." "What is that?" "Monsieur d'Épernon is, it appears," continued the viscountess, blushing, "very much in love with a certain young woman." "Ah! yes, the fair Nanon," said Madame la Princesse, disdainfully; "we know about that." "Well, it seems that the duc d'Épernon can refuse nothing to this young woman, and that she disposes of whatever any one chooses to purchase from her. Could not you purchase a commission for Monsieur Richon?" "It would be money well placed," said Lenet. "True, but the chest is empty, as you well know, Monsieur le conseiller," said Madame de Tourville. Lenet turned with a smile to Madame de Cambes. "This is the moment, madame," said he, "to prove to their Highnesses that you have forgotten nothing." "What do you mean, Lenet?"