Good night, Doctor," said the Abbe. "And may the shadow of
your discretion never grow less."
A moment later I conducted Lilly to the door, and when I returned to De
Grammont, who had not spoken a word during the entire interview, he
shrugged his shoulders and said:--
"Sacrament! What a wise man a fool may be! It is to admire!"
"I doubt if any man is beneficially wise unless he be in part a fool,"
said the Abbe, and I closed the symposium by remarking:--
"Folly tinctures wisdom with common sense, illumines it with imagination,
and gives it everyday usefulness. But best of all, it helps a man to
understand the motives of other fools who constitute the bulk of
mankind."
"Ah, baron," said De Grammont, yawning. "It is all doubtless true. Who
would have expected to find so much cynical wisdom in an Englishman? But
let us to bed!"
Hamilton and I were up by five o'clock the next morning, in consultation.
He was for dropping the matter in so far as it involved Frances, but I
insisted that while it was a disagreeable task for her, she was wise with
a woman's wisdom, calm with a woman's calmness, and bold with a woman's
boldness, which knows no equal when the motive springs from the heart
rather than the head.
We discussed the matter in all its phases, and then I went to the palace
to see Frances. When she arose, I was waiting to tell her that the Abbe
would see the king at ten o'clock and to ask her to wait in the anteroom
of the duchess's parlor.
Pages:
288
289
290
291
292
293
294
295
296
297
298
299
300
301
302
303
304
305
306
307
308
309
310
311
312