"I know it, for I am so unfortunate as not to be able to
say with you that I have nothing to do with the court. I have gone
into palaces, and I shall come out again, but I promise you that my
exit shall make more stir than my entrance. Now, I will tell you who
the Duke de Coigny is. He is one of the three chief paramours of the
queen, one of the great favorites of the Austrian sultana."
"Well, now, that is jolly," cried the cobbler; "you are a comical
rogue, sir. So the queen has her paramours?"
"Yes. You know that the Duke de Besenval, at the time that the
Austrian came as dauphiness to France, said to her: 'These hundred
thousand Parisians, madame, who have come out to meet you, are all
your lovers.' Now she takes this expression of Besenval in earnest,
and wants to make every Parisian a lover of hers. Only wait, only
wait, it will be your turn by and by. You will be able to press the
hand of this beautiful Austrian tenderly to your lips."
"Well, I will let you know in advance, then," said Simon, savagely,
"that I will press it in such right good earnest, that it shall
always bear the marks of it. You were speaking just now of the three
chief paramours--what are the names of the other two?"
"The second is your fine Lord de Adhemar; a fool, a rattle-head, a
booby; but he is handsome, and a jolly lover.
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