"
"I beg your pardon, Doctor Lilly," I answered, waving my hand as a
substitute for hauling down my colors. "I turn you over to Monsieur
l'Abbe once more."
"I think we understand each other," remarked the Abbe. "You say the king
has employed you to set a figure, and that you are to take the solution
to him to-night?"
"Monsieur l'Abbe is correct," returned Lilly.
"I hope the stars may see fit to advise the king to accept my first
offer, for it will be the last," said the Abbe. "Possibly the stars may
show that in case King Charles sells Dunkirk to London even for a much
larger sum than I shall offer, he may be compelled to spend the money and
a great deal more in defending the city."
"True, true," agreed Lilly.
"Possibly the stars may indicate that King Louis loves war," continued
the Abbe. "They may show that if King Charles refuses my master's offer,
England may be compelled to give up Dunkirk for nothing, or spend a vast
deal of money and blood in defending it. If the French king lays siege to
Dunkirk, the English people will force King Charles to take one of two
courses--defence or abdication. In the latter case he might lose his
head, as his father did before him. Furthermore, if King Charles refuses
my first offer, my master will withdraw, in which case London also will
withdraw. Is it not possible that the stars may tell you all this?"
"The conditions you suggest are so probable that one hardly need ask
confirmation of the stars, and so reasonably to be expected are the
events you predict that, beyond question, stellar revelation will be in
accord with your desires.
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