"Are you going to ask me if the Count is coming tonight?" said Réginard.
"Not at all," said Mme. de Villefaramir. "I am going to ask if you knew that his real name is Annataro, that he is from Harondor, that his father is ringmaker, that he seduced the wife of Frosty? That will have been during the siege of Forochel, when the Count's Ring filled the Snowmen with fear that the continental blockade would succeed. He aims to get rich from the water-cure trade, which he learned in Morie."
"Now, this is news! May I repeat it?"
"Yes, but little by little, and don't tell anyone you heard it from me."
"Why not?" marvelled Réginard.
"Bien, it is really only supposed to be known to the police?"
"All that remains is to arrest the Count for Gate-breaking, Tearing up of Rules, Assaulting Gate-keepers, Sleeping in Shiré-bordelli without Leave, Bribing Guards with Rings, Calling the Interior Minister Names, Desiring to Punch his Pimply Face, and Thinking the Shirrifes Fashionably Stupid," sallied the viscount. There was a roar of general hilarity at this jeu d'esprit.
