"Do me the favour to listen to me, monseigneur," said Madeleine. "I have only a few more words to say to you, and then you will not see the Marquise de Miranda again in your life."
When Madeleine had seated the prince near her, she said to him:
"Listen, monseigneur, I will be frank, so frank that I defy you not to believe me. I came here with the hope of turning your head."
"So," cried the prince, astonished, "you confess it!"
"Entirely. That end attained, I wished to use my influence over you, to obtain, as I told you, monseigneur, at the beginning of our interview, two things, one considered almost impossible, the other as altogether impossible."
"You are right, madame, to defy me not to believe you," replied the prince, with a constrained smile. "I believe you."
"The two deeds that I wished to obtain from you were great, noble, and generous; they would have made you esteemed and respected. That is very far, I think, from wishing to abuse my influence over you to excite you to evil or indignity, as you suppose."
"Well, madame, come to the point; what is it?"
"First, an act of clemency, or rather of justice, which would rally around you a multitude of hearts in Lombardy,--the free and full pardon of Colonel Pernetti."
The prince jumped up from his chair, and exclaimed:
"The free and full pardon of Colonel Pernetti, one of the most honoured men in all Italy," pursued Madeleine, without noticing the interruption of the prince. "The reasonable pride of this noble-hearted man will prevent his asking you for the slightest alleviation of his woes, but come generously to his relief, and his gratitude will assure you of his devotion."
"I repeat to you, madame, that important reasons of state oppose your request. It is impossible, altogether impossible."
"To be sure. I began, you know, by telling you that, monseigneur. As to the other thing, doubtless more impossible still, it simply concerns your consent to the marriage of a young man whom you have brought up."
"I!" cried the archduke, as if he could not believe his ears. "I, consent to the marriage of Count Frantz?"
"I do not know if he is a count, but I do know that his name is Frantz, since it was told me this morning by Mlle. Antonine Hubert, an angel of sweetness and beauty, whom I have loved from her childhood, and for whom I feel the tenderness of a mother and a sister."