Did he love yonder woman, or was his fancy like mine, ephemeral?
And he married Mademoiselle de Montbazon?
That is droll, a kind of tentative vengeance." His eyes closed and he fell into a dreaming state.

Like all men who have known eventful but useless lives, the marquis lived in the past.
The future held for him nothing cut pain and death, and his thought seldom went forth to meet it.

Day after day he sat alone with his souvenirs, unmindful of the progress about him, indifferent.
When the valet returned with the wine and the livres, he placed three chairs within easy distance of the marquis, and waited to learn what further orders his master had in mind.
The marquis opened his eyes.

"When Messieurs the Jesuits come, show them in at once.

The hypocrites come on a begging errand.