"
"But St. Auban?" he gasped. "Where is he?"
"In heaven, I hope--but I doubt it sadly."
"You have killed him?"
There and then, as briefly as I might, I told him, whilst the others stood
by to listen, how I had come upon the Marquis in the ch?teau the night
before and what had passed thereafter.
"And now," I said, as I cut his bonds, "it grieves me to charge you with an
impolite errand to his Eminence, but--"
"I'll not return to him," he burst out. "I dare not. Mon Dieu, you have
ruined me, Luynes!"
"Then come with me, and I'll build your fortunes anew and on a sounder
foundation. I have an influential letter in my pocket that should procure
us fortune in the service of the King of Spain."
He needed little pressing to fall in with my invitation, so we set the
sergeant free, and him instead I charged with a message that must have
given Mazarin endless pleasure when it was delivered to him. But he had
the Canaples estates wherewith to console himself and his never-failing
maxim that "chi canta, paga." Touching the Canaples estates, however, he
did not long enjoy them, for when he went into exile, two years later, the
Parliament returned them to their rightful owner.
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