I wish you
luck, my gallant Chevalier de Moranges, and until you unearth your
father, if you want a little money, my purse is at your service. On my
word, de Jars, you must have been born with a caul. There never was your
equal for wonderful adventures. This one promises well-spicy intrigues,
scandalous revelations, and you'll be in the thick of it all. You're a
lucky fellow! It's only a few months since you had the most splendid
piece of good fortune sent you straight from heaven. A fair lady falls
in love with you and makes you carry her off from the convent of La
Raquette. But why do you never let anyone catch a glimpse of her? Are
you jealous? Or is it that she is no such beauty, after all, but old and
wrinkled, like that knave of a Mazarin?"

"I know what I'm about," answered de Jars, smiling; "I have my very good
reasons. The elopement caused a great deal of indignation, and it's not
easy to get fanatics to listen to common sense. No, I am not in the
least jealous; she is madly in love with me. Ask my nephew."

"Does he know her?"

"We have no secrets from each other; the confidence between us is without
a flaw. The fair one, believe me, is good to look on, and is worth all
the ogling, fan-flirting baggages put together that one sees at court or
on the balconies of the Palais Roy: ah! I'll answer for that. Isn't she,
Moranges?"

"I'm quite of your opinion," said the youth; exchanging with de jars a
singularly significant look; "and you had better treat her well, uncle,
or I shall play you some trick."

"Ah! ah!" cried Jeannin. "You poor fellow! I very much fear that you
are warming a little serpent in your bosom. Have an eye to this dandy
with the beardless chin! But joking apart, my boy, are you really on
good terms with the fair lady?"

"Certainly I am."

"And you are not uneasy, commander?"

"Not the least little bit."

"He is quite right. I answer for her as for my self, you know; as long as
he loves her she will love him; as long as he is faithful she will be
faithful. Do you imagine that a woman who insists on her lover carrying
her off can so easily turn away from the man of her choice? I know her
well; I have had long talks with her, she and I alone: she is
feather-brained, given to pleasure, entirely without prejudices and those
stupid scruples which spoil the lives of other women; but a good sort on
the whole; devoted to my uncle, with no deception about her; but at the