“And this is your devotion, monsieur! a devotion which argues and reasons. You are no soldier, monsieur!”

“I wait for your majesty to tell me what I am.”

“Well, then — you are a Frondeur.”

“And since there is no longer any Fronde, sire, in that case — ”

“But if what you say is true — ”

“What I say is always true, sire.”

“What have you come to say to me, monsieur?”

“I have come to say to your majesty, ‘Sire, M.

de la Fere is in the Bastile.’“