"He means, madame, that I am fortunate enough to be able to offer you a paltry sum, which I have collected with much difficulty from my farmers. The offering is a very modest one, but I could do no more,--twenty thousand livres!" she continued, hesitating and lowering her eyes, ashamed to offer so small a sum to the two first ladies in the realm next to the queen. "Twenty thousand livres!" they cried with one accord. "Why, it's a fortune in times like these," continued the dowager. "Dear Claire!" exclaimed Madame la Princesse, "how can we ever repay our obligation to her?" "Your Highness will think of that later." "Where is this money?" inquired Madame de Tourville. "In her Highness's apartment, whither I bade Pompée, my squire, to carry it." "Lenet," said Madame la Princesse, "you will remember that we owe this sum to Madame de Cambes." "It is already carried to her credit," said Lenet, producing his tablets, and pointing out the viscountess's twenty thousand livres set down, under that date, in a column, the total of which would have alarmed the princesses somewhat if they had taken the trouble to add it. "Pray how did you succeed in reaching here, dear Claire?" said Madame la Princesse; "for we are told that Monsieur de Saint-Aignan is watching the road, and searching every traveller, for all the world like a customs officer." "Thanks to Pompée's superior wisdom, madame, we avoided that danger, by making a tremendous détour, which delayed us a day and a half, but assured our safety. Except for that I should have arrived day before yesterday." "Have no uneasiness on that score, madame," said Lenet, "there is no time lost as yet; but we must see to it that we make good use of to-day and to-morrow. To-day, as your Highnesses will remember, we expect three couriers; one has already arrived, the other two are still to come." "May we know the names of these others, monsieur?" asked Madame de Tourville, still hoping to catch the counsellor at fault, for she was constantly at war with him; and though the war was not declared, it was none the less real. "The first, if my expectations are fulfilled, will be Gourville; he comes from the Duc de La Rochefoucauld." "From the Prince de Marsillac, you mean," rejoined Madame de Tourville. "Monsieur le Prince de Marsillac is now Duc de La Rochefoucauld, madame." "His father is dead, then?" "A week since." "Where did he die?" "At Verteuil." "And the second?" asked Madame la Princesse. "The second is Blanchefort, captain of Monsieur le Prince's guards. He comes from Stenay, from Monsieur de Turenne." "In that case," said Madame de Tourville, "I think that, to avoid any loss of time, we should recur to the first plan I suggested in the probable event of the adhesion of Bordeaux, and the alliance of Messieurs de Turenne and de Marsillac." Lenet smiled as usual.