"Hum!" Garnache observed the ecstatic simper with a grim eye. Then
he proceeded with his story.

"The late marquis possessed in his neighbour, the also deceased
Monsieur de La Vauvraye, a very dear and valued friend. Monsieur
de La Vauvraye had an only child, a daughter, to inherit his very
considerable estates probably the wealthiest in all Dauphiny, so I
am informed. It was the dearest wish of his heart to transform what
had been a lifelong friendship in his own generation into a closer
relationship in the next - a wish that found a very ready echo in
the heart of Monsieur de Condillac. Florimond de Condillac was
sixteen years of age at the time, and Valerie de La Vauvraye
fourteen. For all their tender years, they were betrothed, and they
grew up to love each other and to look forward to the consummation
of the plans their fathers had laid for them."

"Monsieur, monsieur," the Seneschal protested, "how can you possibly
infer so much? How can you say that they loved each other? What
authority can you have for pretending to know what was in their
inmost hearts?"

"The authority of Mademoiselle de La Vauvraye," was the unanswerable
rejoinder. "I am telling you, more or less, what she herself wrote
to the Queen."

"Ah! Well, well - proceed, monsieur."

"This marriage should render Florimond de Condillac the wealthiest
and most powerful gentleman in Dauphiny - one of the wealthiest in
France; and the idea of it pleased the old marquis, inasmuch as the