Then he propounded his next question: "How many came hither with you ?" "One," said Laurence, promptly; "I came here alone with your servant De Sille." The marshal smiled.
"Good--we will try some other method with you," he said; "but be advised and speak.

None hath ever hidden aught from Gilles de Retz." "Then, my lord," said Laurence, "there is the less reason for you to put me to the question." "I can expound dark speeches," said the marshal, "and I also know my way through the subtleties of lying tongues.

Hope not to lie to me.
How many were they that came to France with you ?" "I will not tell you," said the son of Malise.
The marshal smiled again and nodded his head repeatedly with a certain gustful appreciation.
"You would make a good soldier.

It is a pity that I have gone out of the business.

Yet I have only (as it were) descended from wholesale to particular, from the gross to the detail." Laurence, who felt that the true policy was to be sparing of his words, made no answer.
"You say that you are a clerk.