It was a trifle finer, too, than accorded with Huguenot taste; or it looked the finer for the way he wore it, even as Teligny's and Foucauld's velvet capes and stiff brocades lost their richness and became but the adjuncts, fitting and graceful, of the men.
Odder still, as Tignonville laughed, half hiding and half revealing the dainty scented paper in his hand, his clothes seemed smarter and he more awkward than usual.
"It is from a lady," he admitted.

"But a bit of badinage, I assure you, nothing more!" "Understood!" M.de Nancay murmured politely.

"I congratulate you." "But--" "I say I congratulate you!" "But it is nothing." "Oh, I understand.

And see, the King is about to rise.

Go forward, Monsieur," he continued benevolently.