"I have seen neither proofs nor facts," answered Lamotte,
scornfully. "I have only been amazed at the self-possession with
which the queen goes through her part, and wondered how far her
light-mindedness will carry her. She is truly an adroit player, and
she has played the part of Madame Oliva so well, that not a motion
nor a tone would have betrayed the queen."

"How, madame?" asked the president, in amazement.

"Do you pretend to assert that this witness, who has just left the
hall, is not Madame Oliva, but another person? Do you not know that
this witness, this living portrait of the queen, has for ten months
been detained at the Bastile, and that no change in the person is
possible?"

"I only know that the queen has played her part well," said Lamotte,
shrugging her shoulders. "She has even gone so far, in her desire to
show a difference between Madame Oliva and the queen, as to make a
very great sacrifice, and to disclose a secret of her beauty. She
has laid aside her fine false teeth, and let us see her natural
ones, in order that we may see a difference between the queen and
Madame Oliva. Confess only, gentlemen, that it is a rare and comical
sight to have a queen so like a courtesan, that you can only
distinguish the one from the other by the teeth."

And the countess broke out into scornful laughter, which found a
loud echo in some of the veiled ladies in the tribune.

"Moderate your pleasantry, madame," commanded the president.
"Remember that you are in a grave and perilous situation, and that