Ascanio blushed and stammered some unintelligible words.
"Oh, you needn't blush for that!" cried Aubry. "Deuce take me! a duchess! and a duchess who's the king's mistress at that! I should never have any such luck. But let us come back to business."
"Yes," said Ascanio, "let us come back to Colombe."
"Bah! I'm not talking about Colombe. I'm talking about a letter."
"What letter?"
"A letter the Duchesse d'Etampes wrote you."
"Who told you that I have a letter from the Duchesse d'Etampes in my possession?"
"Benvenuto Cellini."
"Why did he tell you that?"
"Because he must have that letter, because it is absolutely essential that he should have it, because I agreed to take it to him, because all I have done was done to get possession of that letter."