Nanon's delight was beyond words. To have Canolles once more in her possession was her one burning desire. As for what Monsieur d'Épernon might say when he learned who Canolles really was, she cared but little. Once Canolles was safe beside her, she would tell the duke that he was her lover; she would proclaim it from the housetops, that all the world might hear. At this juncture the queen's messenger appeared. "Well, well," said the duke, "this is most fortunate, dear Nanon; I will wait upon her Majesty, and bring back with me the request for the exchange." "So that my brother may be here?" "To-morrow, perhaps." "Go, then, go!" cried Nanon, "and do not lose an instant. Oh! to-morrow, to-morrow," she added, raising her arms with a lovely imploring expression, "to-morrow,--God grant it!" "Ah! what a loving heart!" muttered Monsieur d'Épernon as he left the room. When the Duc d'Épernon entered the queen's apartment, Anne of Austria, flushed with wrath, was biting her thick Austrian lips, which were the special admiration of her courtiers, for the very reason that they were her only ugly feature. Monsieur d'Épernon, a famous squire of dames, and accustomed to their smiles, was received like one of the Bordelais rebels. He looked at the queen in amazement; she did not acknowledge his salutation, but gazed at him, with a threatening frown, from the height of her royal majesty. "Aha! is it you, Monsieur le Duc?" she said at last after a pause of some duration; "come hither that I may offer you my congratulations upon your selection of officials within your jurisdiction." "What have I done, madame, I pray to know?" demanded the wondering nobleman; "what has happened?" "It has happened that you appointed to be governor of Vayres a man who has fired upon the king; that is all." "I, madame!" cried the duke. "Your Majesty is most certainly in error; I did not appoint the governor of Vayres,--at least, not that I am aware of." D'Épernon made this reservation because his conscience reproached him with not always making his appointments without assistance. "Ah! this is interesting," said the queen; "Monsieur Richon was not appointed by you, _perhaps?_" And she emphasized the last word most maliciously. The duke, who knew Nanon's talent for selecting fit men for the places to be filled, soon recovered his confidence. "I do not recall the appointment of Monsieur Richon," said he, "but if I did appoint him he must be a faithful servant of the king." "God's mercy!" retorted the queen; "Monsieur Richon, in your judgment, is a faithful servant of the king!--a faithful servant, in good sooth, who kills five hundred men for us in less than three days!" "Madame," said the duke, "if such is the case I shall be forced to admit that I am wrong. But before I am convicted, allow me to go and procure the proof that I appointed him." The queen's first impulse was to detain him, but she thought better of it.