“A man bringing a letter from Oliver Cromwell?” said Mazarin. “And what kind of a man?”

“A genuine Englishman, your eminence. Hair sandy-red — more red than sandy; gray-blue eyes — more gray than blue; and for the rest, stiff and proud.”

“Let him give in his letter.”

“His eminence asks for the letter,” said Bernouin, passing back into the ante-chamber.

“His eminence cannot see the letter without the bearer of it,” replied the young man; “but to convince you that I am really the bearer of a letter, see, here it is; and kindly add,” continued he, “that I am not a simple messenger, but an envoy extraordinary.”