f gold, does it not?"

"That is to say that the Jupiter of Danae changed himself into a shower
of gold for her."

"My lover, then, he whom you assign me--"

"I beg your pardon; I am your friend, and assign you no one."

"That may be; but those who are ill disposed towards me."

"Do you wish to hear the name?"

"I have been waiting this half hour for it."

"Well, then, you shall hear it. Do not be shocked; he is a man high in
power."

"Good," said the marquise, as she clenched her hands like a patient at
the approach of the knife.

"He is a very wealthy man," continued Marguerite; "the wealthiest, it
may be. In a word, it is--"

The marquise closed her eyes for a moment.

"It is the Duke of Buckingham," said Marguerite, bursting into laughter.
This perfidy had been calculated with extreme ability; the name that
was pronounced, instead of the name which the marquise awaited, had
precisely the same effect upon her as the badly sharpened axes, that had
hacked, without destroying, Messieurs de Chalais and de Thou upon the
scaffold. She recovered herself, however, and said, "I was perfectly
right in saying you were a witty woman, for you are making the time pass
away most agreeably. This joke is a most amusing one, for I have never
seen the Duke of Buckingham."

"Never?" said Marguerite, restraining her laughter.

"I have never even left my own house since the duke has been at Paris."

"Oh!" resumed Madame Vanel, stretching out her foot towards a paper
which was lying on the carpet near the window; "it is not necessary for
people to see each other, since they can write." The marquise trembled,
for this paper was the envelope of the letter she was reading as her
friend had entered, and was sealed with the superintendent's arms. As
she leaned back on the sofa on which she was sitting, Madame de Belliere
covered the paper with the thick folds of her large silk dress, and so
concealed it.

"Come, Marguerite, tell me, is it to tell me all these foolish reports
that you have come to see me so early in the day?"

"No; I came to see you, in the first place, and to remind you of those
habits of our earlier days, so delightful to remember, when we used to
wander about together at Vincennes, and, sitting beneath an oak, or in
some sylvan shade, used to talk of those we loved, and who loved us."

"Do you propose that we should go out together now?"

"My carriage is here, and I have three hours at my disposal."

"I