Lagardere looked at them as one looks at friends who act in accordance
with one's expectation of them.
"Thanks, friends," he said. Then he sat at Gonzague's table, dipped pen
in ink, and wrote two hurried letters. One he handed to Cocardasse. "This
letter to the king, instantly." The other he handed to Passepoil. "This
to Gonzague's notary, instantly. Come back and wait in the anteroom. When
you hear me cry out, 'Lagardere, I am here,' into the room and out with
your swords for the last chance and the last fight."
Cocardasse laid his hand on the sham hump of the sham Æsop. "Courage,
comrade, the devil is dead."