Fabri, a man of sense, might laugh to-day, and to-morrow; but the third day, when the report came to him from a dozen quarters, mainly by women's mouths, he would not laugh.

And presently he would shrug his shoulders and stand aside, and leave the matter in more earnest hands.
Blondel dropped no more than that hint, therefore, and as he passed homeward applauded his discretion.

He was proud of the turn things had taken at the Council; elated by the part he had played, and the proof he had given of his mastery, he felt able to carry anything through.

His mind, leaping over the immediate future, pictured a wider theatre, in which his powers would have full scope, and a larger stage on which he might aspire to play the first part.

He saw himself not only wealthy, but ennobled, the fount of honour, the favourite, and, in time, the master of princes.