La reine Margot. English

  CHAPTER XV.

  WHAT WOMAN WILLS, GOD WILLS.

  Marguerite was not mistaken: the wrath distilled in the depths ofCatharine's heart at sight of this comedy, the intrigue of which shefollowed without being in any way able to change its denouement,required a victim. So instead of going directly to her own room thequeen mother proceeded to that of her lady in waiting.

  Madame de Sauve was in expectation of two visits--one she hoped toreceive from Henry, and the other she feared was in store for her fromthe queen mother. As she lay in her bed only partially undressed, whileDariole kept watch in the antechamber, she heard a key turn in the lock,and then slowly approaching footsteps which would have seemed heavy ifthey had not been deadened by thick rugs. She did not recognize Henry'slight, eager step; she suspected that Dariole was prevented from comingto warn her, and so leaning on her elbow she waited with eye and earalert. The portiere was lifted and the trembling young woman sawCatharine de Medicis appear.

  Catharine seemed calm; but Madame de Sauve, accustomed for two years tostudy her, well knew what dark designs, and possibly cruel vengeance,might be concealed beneath that apparent calm.

  At sight of Catharine, Madame de Sauve was about to spring from her bed,but Catharine signed to her to stay where she was; and poor Charlottewas fixed to the spot, inwardly endeavoring to collect all the forces ofher soul to endure the storm which was silently gathering.

  "Did you convey the key to the King of Navarre?" inquired Catharine,without the tone of her voice betraying any change; and yet as she spokeher lips grew paler and paler.

  "I did, madame," answered Charlotte, in a voice which she vainly triedto make as firm and assured as Catherine's was.

  "And have you seen him?"

  "Who?" asked Madame de Sauve.

  "The King of Navarre."

  "No, madame; but I am expecting him, and when I heard the key turn inthe lock, I firmly believed it was he."

  At this answer, which indicated either perfect confidence or deepdissimulation on Madame de Sauve's part, Catharine could not repress aslight shiver. She clinched her short plump hand.

  "And yet you knew perfectly well," said she with her evil smile, "youknew perfectly well, Carlotta, that the King of Navarre would not cometo-night."

  "I, madame? I knew that?" exclaimed Charlotte, with a tone of surpriseperfectly well assumed.

  "Yes, you knew it!"

  "If he does not come, he must be dead!" replied the young woman,shuddering at the mere supposition.

  What gave Charlotte the courage to lie so was the certainty that shewould suffer from a terrible vengeance if her little treason should bediscovered.

  "But did you not write to the king, Carlotta mia?" inquired Catharine,with the same cruel and silent laugh.

  "No, madame," answered Charlotte, with well-assumed naivete, "I cannotrecollect receiving your majesty's commands to do so."

  A short silence followed, during which Catharine continued to gaze onMadame de Sauve as the serpent looks at the bird it wishes to fascinate.

  "You think you are pretty," said Catharine, "you think you are clever,do you not?"

  "No, madame," answered Charlotte; "I only know that sometimes yourmajesty has been graciously pleased to commend both my personalattractions and address."

  "Well, then," said Catharine, growing eager and animated, "you weremistaken if you think so, and I lied when I told you so; you are asimpleton and hideous compared to my daughter Margot."

  "Oh, madame," replied Charlotte, "that is a fact I will not even try todeny--least of all in your presence."

  "So, then, the King of Navarre prefers my daughter to you; acircumstance, I presume, not to your wishes, and certainly not what weagreed should be the case."

  "Alas, madame," cried Charlotte, bursting into a torrent of tears whichnow flowed from no feigned source, "if it be so, I can but say I am veryunfortunate!"

  "It is so," said Catharine, darting the two-fold keenness of her eyeslike a double poniard into Madame de Sauve's heart.

  "But who can make you believe that?" asked Charlotte.

  "Go down to the Queen of Navarre's _pazza_, and you will find your loverthere!"

  "Oh!" exclaimed Madame de Sauve.

  Catharine shrugged her shoulders.

  "Are you jealous, pray?" asked the queen mother.

  "I?" exclaimed Madame de Sauve, recalling her fast-failing strength.

  "Yes, you! I should like to see a Frenchwoman's jealousy."

  "But," said Madame de Sauve, "how should your majesty expect me to bejealous except out of vanity? I love the King of Navarre only as far asyour majesty's service requires it."

  Catharine gazed at her for a moment with dreamy eyes.

  "What you tell me may on the whole be true," she murmured.

  "Your majesty reads my heart."

  "And your heart is wholly devoted to me?"

  "Command me, madame, and you shall judge for yourself."

  "Well, then, Carlotta, since you are ready to sacrifice yourself in myservice, you must still continue for my sake to be in love with the Kingof Navarre and, above all, to be very jealous,--jealous as an Italianwoman."

  "But, madame," asked Charlotte, "how does an Italian woman show herjealousy?"

  "I will tell you," replied Catharine, and after nodding her head two orthree times she left the room as deliberately and noiselessly as she hadcome in.

  Charlotte, confused by the keen look of those eyes dilated like a cat'sor a panther's without thereby losing anything of their inscrutability,allowed her to go without uttering a single word, without even lettingher breathing be heard, and she did not even take a respiration untilshe heard the door close behind her and Dariole came to say that theterrible apparition had departed.

  "Dariole," said she, "draw up an armchair close to my bed and spend thenight in it. I beg you to do so, for I should not dare to stay alone."

  Dariole obeyed; but in spite of the company of her faithful attendant,who stayed near her, in spite of the light from the lamp which shecommanded to be left burning for the sake of greater tranquillity,Madame de Sauve also did not fall asleep till daylight, so insistentlyrang in her ears the metallic accent of Catharine's voice.

  * * * * *

  Though Marguerite had not fallen asleep till daybreak she awoke at thefirst blast of the trumpets, at the first barking of the dogs. Sheinstantly arose and began to put on a costume so negligent that it couldnot fail to attract attention. Then she summoned her women, and had thegentlemen ordinarily in attendance on the King of Navarre shown into herantechamber, and finally opening the door which shut Henry and De laMole into the same room, she gave the count an affectionate glance andaddressing her husband she said:

  "Come, sire, it is not sufficient to have made madame my mother believein what is not; it still remains for you to convince your whole courtthat a perfect understanding exists between us. But make yourself quiteeasy," added she, laughing, "and remember my words, rendered almostsolemn by the circumstances. To-day will be the last time that I shallput your majesty to such a cruel test."

  The King of Navarre smiled and ordered his gentlemen to be admitted.

  Just as they were bowing to him he pretended suddenly to recollecthaving left his mantle on the queen's bed and begged their excuse forreceiving them in such a way; then, taking his mantle from the hands ofMarguerite, who stood blushing by his side, he clasped it on hisshoulder. Next, turning to his gentlemen, he inquired what news therewas in the city and at court.

  Marguerite was engaged in watching out of the corner of her eye theimperceptible signs of astonishment betrayed by the gentlemen atdetecting this newly revealed intimacy between the king and queen ofNavarre, when an usher entered, followed by three or four gentlemen, andannounced the Duc d'Alencon.

  To bring him there Gillonne had only to tell him that the king had spentthe night in the queen's room.

  Francois rushed in so precipitately that he almost upset those whopr
eceded him. His first glance was for Henry; his next was forMarguerite.

  Henry replied with a courteous bow; Marguerite composed her features sothat they expressed the utmost serenity.

  Then the duke cast a vague but scrutinizing look around the whole room:he saw the two pillows placed at the head of the bed, the derangement ofits tapestried coverings, and the king's hat thrown on a chair.

  He turned pale, but quickly recovering himself, he said:

  "Does my royal brother Henry join this morning with the King in his gameof tennis?"

  "Does his Majesty do me the honor to select me as his partner?" inquiredHenry, "or is it only a little attention on your part, mybrother-in-law?"

  "His Majesty has not so said, certainly," replied the duke, somewhatembarrassed; "but don't you generally play with him?"

  Henry smiled, for so many and such serious events had occurred since helast played with the King that he would not have been astonished tolearn that the King had changed his habitual companions at the game.

  "I shall go there," said Henry, with a smile.

  "Come," cried the duke.

  "Are you going away?" inquired Marguerite.

  "Yes, sister!"

  "Are you in great haste?"

  "In great haste."

  "Might I venture to detain you for a few minutes?"

  Such a request was so unusual coming from Marguerite that her brotherlooked at her while her color came and went.

  "What can she be going to say to him?" thought Henry, no less surprisedthan the duke himself.

  Marguerite, as if she had guessed her husband's thought, turned towardhim.

  "Sire," said she, with a charming smile, "you may go back to his majestyif it seem good to you, for the secret which I am going to reveal to mybrother is already known to you, for the reason that the request which Imade you yesterday in regard to this secret was as good as refused byyour majesty. I should not wish, therefore," continued Marguerite, "toweary your majesty a second time by expressing in your presence a wishwhich seemed to be disagreeable."

  "What do you mean?" asked Francois, looking at both of them withastonishment.

  "Aha!" exclaimed Henry, flushing, with indignation, "I know what youmean, madame. In truth, I regret that I am not free. But if I cannotoffer Monsieur de la Mole such hospitality as would be equivalent to anassurance, I cannot do less than to recommend to my brother D'Alenconthe person _in whom you feel such a lively interest_. Perhaps," headded, in order to give still more emphasis to the words italicized,"perhaps my brother will discover some way whereby you will be permittedto keep Monsieur de la Mole here near you--that would be better thananything else, would it not, madame?"

  "Come, come!" said Marguerite to herself, "the two together will do whatneither of them would do individually."

  And she opened the closet door and invited the wounded young man to comeforth, saying to Henry as she did so:

  "Your majesty must now explain to my brother why we are interested inMonsieur de la Mole."

  Henry, caught in the snare, briefly related to M. d'Alencon, half aProtestant for the sake of opposition, as he himself was partly aCatholic from prudence, the arrival of Monsieur de la Mole at Paris, andhow the young man had been severely wounded while bringing to him aletter from M. d'Auriac.

  When the duke turned round, La Mole had come out from the closet and wasstanding before him.

  Francois, at the sight of him, so handsome, so pale, and consequentlydoubly captivating by reason of his good looks and his pallor, felt anew sense of distrust spring up in the depths of his soul. Margueriteheld him both through jealousy and through pride.

  "Brother," said Marguerite, "I will engage that this young gentlemanwill be useful to whoever may employ him. Should you accept hisservices, he will obtain a powerful protector, and you, a devotedservitor. In such times as the present, brother," continued she, "wecannot be too well surrounded by devoted friends; more especially,"added she, lowering her voice so as to be heard by no one but the duke,"when one is ambitious, and has the misfortune to be only third in thesuccession to the throne."

  Then she put her finger on her lip, to intimate to Francois that inspite of the initiation she still kept secret an important part of heridea.

  "Perhaps," she added, "you may differ from Henry, in considering it notbefitting that this young gentleman should remain so immediately in thevicinity of my apartments."

  "Sister," replied Francois, eagerly, "if it meet your wishes, Monsieurde la Mole shall, in half an hour, be installed in my quarters, where, Ithink, he can have no cause to fear any danger. Let him love me and Iwill love him."

  Francois was untruthful, for already in the very depths of his heart hedetested La Mole.

  "Well, well! So then I was not mistaken," said Marguerite to herself,seeing the King of Navarre's scowling face. "Ah, I see that to lead youtwo, one must lead the other."

  Then finishing her thought:

  "There! 'then you are doing well, Marguerite,' Henriette would say."

  In fact, half an hour later La Mole, having been solemnly catechised byMarguerite, kissed the hem of her gown and with an agility remarkable ina wounded man was mounting the stairs that led to the Duc d'Alencon'squarters.

  * * * * *

  Two or three days passed, during which the excellent understandingbetween Henry and his wife seemed to grow more and more firmlyestablished.

  Henry had obtained permission not to make a public renunciation of hisreligion; but he had formally recanted in the presence of the king'sconfessor, and every morning he listened to the mass performed at theLouvre. At night he made a show of going to his wife's rooms, entered bythe principal door, talked a few minutes with her, and then took hisdeparture by the small secret door, and went up to Madame de Sauve, whohad duly informed him of the queen mother's visit as well as theunquestionable danger which threatened him. Warned on both sides, Henryredoubled his watchfulness against the queen mother and felt alldistrust of her because little by little her face began to unbend, andone morning Henry detected a friendly smile on her bloodless lips. Thatday he had the greatest difficulty to bring himself to eat anything elsethan eggs cooked by himself or to drink anything else than water whichhis own eyes had seen dipped up from the Seine.

  The massacres were still going on, but nevertheless were diminishing inviolence. There had been such a wholesale butchery of the Huguenots thattheir number was greatly reduced. The larger part were dead; many hadfled; a few had remained in concealment. Occasionally a great outcryarose in one district or another; it meant that one of these wasdiscovered. Then the execution was either private or public according asthe victim was driven into a corner or could escape. In suchcircumstances it furnished great amusement for the neighborhood wherethe affair took place; for instead of growing calmer as their enemieswere annihilated, the Catholics grew more and more ferocious; the fewerthe remaining victims, the more bloodthirsty they seemed in theirpersecution of the rest.

  Charles IX. had taken great pleasure in hunting the Huguenots, and whenhe could no longer continue the chase himself he took delight in thenoise of others hunting them.

  One day, returning from playing at mall, which with tennis and huntingwere his favorite amusements, he went to his mother's apartments in highspirits, followed by his usual train of courtiers.

  "Mother," he said, embracing the Florentine, who, observing his joy, wasalready trying to detect its cause; "mother, good news! _Mort de tousles diables!_ Do you know that the admiral's illustrious carcass whichit was said was lost has been found?"

  "Aha!" said Catharine.

  "Oh, heavens! yes. You thought as I did, mother, the dogs had eaten awedding dinner off him, but it was not so. My people, my dear people, mygood people, had a clever idea and have hung the admiral up at thegibbet of Montfaucon.

  "_Du haut en bas Gaspard on a jete,_ _Et puis de bas en haut on l'a monte_."[3]

  "Well!" said Catharine.

  "Well, good mo
ther," replied Charles IX., "I have a strong desire tosee him again, dear old man, now I know he is really dead. It is veryfine weather and everything seems to be blooming to-day. The air is fullof life and perfume, and I feel better than I ever did. If you like,mother, we will get on horseback and go to Montfaucon."

  "Willingly, my son," said Catharine, "if I had not made an appointmentwhich I cannot defer; and beside, to pay a visit to a man of suchimportance as the admiral, we should invite the whole court. It will bean occasion for observers to make curious observations. We shall see whocomes and who stays away."

  "Faith, you are right, mother, we will put it off till to-morrow; thatwill be better, so send out your invitations and I will send mine; orrather let us not invite any one. We will only say we are going, andthen every one will be free. Good-by, mother! I am going to play on thehorn."

  "You will exhaust yourself, Charles, as Ambroise Pare is always tellingyou, and he is right. It is too severe an exercise for you."

  "Bah! bah! bah!" said Charles; "I wish I were sure nothing else would bethe cause of my death. I should then bury every one here, includingHarry, who will one day succeed us all, as Nostradamus prophesies."

  Catharine frowned.

  "My son," she said, "mistrust especially all things that appearimpossible, and meanwhile take care of yourself."

  "Only two or three blasts to rejoice my dogs, poor things; they arewearied to death with doing nothing. I ought to have let them loose onthe Huguenots; that would have done them good!"

  And Charles IX. left his mother's room, went into his armory, took downa horn, and played on it with a vigor that would have done honor toRoland himself. It was difficult to understand how so weak a frame andsuch pale lips could blow a blast so powerful.

  Catharine, in truth, was awaiting some one as she had told her son. Amoment after he had left her, one of her women came and spoke to her ina low voice. The queen smiled, rose, and saluting the persons who formedher court, followed the messenger.

  Rene the Florentine, the man to whom on the eve of Saint Bartholomewthe King of Navarre had given such a diplomatic reception, had justentered her oratory.

  "Ah, here you are, Rene," said Catharine, "I was impatiently waiting foryou."

  Rene bowed.

  "Did you receive the note I wrote you yesterday?"

  "I had that honor."

  "Did you make another trial, as I asked you to do, of the horoscope castby Ruggieri, and agreeing so well with the prophecy of Nostradamus,which says that all my three sons shall reign? For several days past,affairs have decidedly changed, Rene, and it has occurred to me thatpossibly fate has become less threatening."

  "Madame," replied Rene, shaking his head, "your majesty knows well thataffairs do not change fate; on the contrary, fate controls affairs."

  "Still, you have tried the sacrifice again, have you not?"

  "Yes, madame," replied Rene; "for it is my duty to obey you in allthings."

  "Well--and the result?"

  "Still the same, madame."

  "What, the black lamb uttered its three cries?"

  "Just the same as before, madame."

  "The sign of three cruel deaths in my family," murmured Catharine.

  "Alas!" said Rene.

  "What then?"

  "Then, madame, there was in its entrails that strange displacement ofthe liver which we had already observed in the first two--it was wrongside up!"

  "A change of dynasty! Still--still--still the same!" muttered Catharine;"yet we must fight against this, Rene," she added.

  Rene shook his head.

  "I have told your majesty," he said, "that fate rules."

  "Is that your opinion?" asked Catharine.

  "Yes, madame."

  "Do you remember Jeanne d'Albret's horoscope?"

  "Yes, madame."

  "Repeat it to me, I have quite forgotten it."

  "_Vives honorata_," said Rene, "_morieris reformidata, reginaamplificabere_."

  "That means, I believe," said Catharine, "_Thou shalt live honored_--andshe lacked common necessaries, poor thing! _Thou shalt die feared_--andwe laughed at her. _Thou shalt be greater than thou hast been as aqueen_--and she is dead, and sleeps in a tomb on which we have not evenengraved her name."

  "Madame, your majesty does not translate the _vives honorata_ rightly.The Queen of Navarre lived honored; for all her life she enjoyed thelove of her children, the respect of her partisans; respect and love allthe more sincere in that she was poor."

  "Yes," said Catharine, "I grant you the _vives honorata_; but _morierisreformidata_: how will you explain that?"

  "Nothing more easy: _Thou shalt die feared_."

  "Well--did she die feared?"

  "So much so that she would not have died had not your majesty fearedher. Then--_As a queen thou shalt be greater_; or, _Thou shalt begreater than thou hast been as a queen_. This is equally true, madame;for in exchange for a terrestrial crown she has doubtless, as a queenand martyr, a celestial crown; and, besides, who knows what the futuremay reserve for her posterity?"

  Catharine was excessively superstitious; she was even more alarmed atRene's coolness than at the steadfastness of the auguries, and as in hercase any scrape was a chance for her boldly to master the situation, shesaid suddenly to him, without any other transition than the working ofher own thoughts:

  "Are any perfumes come from Italy?"

  "Yes, madame."

  "Send me a boxful."

  "Of which?"

  "Of the last, of those"--

  Catharine stopped.

  "Of those the Queen of Navarre was so fond of?" asked Rene.

  "Exactly."

  "I need not prepare them, for your majesty is now as skilful at them asI am."

  "You think so?" said Catharine. "They certainly succeed."

  "Has your majesty anything more to say to me?" asked the perfumer.

  "Nothing," replied Catharine, thoughtfully; "at least I think not, onlyif there is any change in the sacrifices, let me know it in time. By theway, let us leave the lambs, and try the hens."

  "Alas, madame, I fear that in changing the victim we shall not changethe presages."

  "Do as I tell you."

  The perfumer bowed and left the apartment.

  Catharine mused for a short time, then rose and returning to herbedchamber, where her women awaited her, announced the pilgrimage toMontfaucon for the morrow.

  The news of this pleasure party caused great excitement in the palaceand great confusion in the city: the ladies prepared their most eleganttoilets; the gentlemen, their finest arms and steeds; the tradesmenclosed their shops, and the populace killed a few straggling Huguenots,in order to furnish company for the dead admiral.

  There was a tremendous hubbub all the evening and during a good part ofthe night.

  La Mole had spent a miserable day, and this miserable day had followedthree or four others equally miserable. Monsieur d'Alencon, to pleasehis sister, had installed him in his apartments, but had not seen himsince. He felt himself like a poor deserted child, deprived of thetender care, the soothing attention of two women, the recollection ofone of whom occupied him perpetually. He had heard of her through thesurgeon Ambroise Pare, whom she had sent to him, but what he heard froma man of fifty who was ignorant or pretended to be ignorant of theinterest felt by La Mole in everything appertaining to Marguerite wasvery fragmentary and insufficient. Gillonne, indeed, had come once, ofher own accord, be it understood, to ask after him, and the visit was tohim like a sunbeam darting into a dungeon, and La Mole had remaineddazzled by it, and had expected a second visit, and yet two days passedand she had not appeared.

  As soon, therefore, as the convalescent heard of this magnificentreunion of the whole court for the following day he sent to ask Monsieurd'Alencon the favor of accompanying it.

  The duke did not even inquire whether La Mole was able to bear thefatigue, but merely answered:

  "Capital! Let him have one of my horses."

  That
was all La Mole wanted. Maitre Ambroise Pare came as usual to dresshis wounds, and La Mole explained to him the necessity he was under ofmounting on horseback, and begged him to put on the bandages with doublecare.

  The two wounds, both that on the breast and that on the shoulder, wereclosed; the one on the shoulder only pained him. Both were rose-red incolor, which showed that they were in a fair way of healing. MaitreAmbroise Pare covered them with gummed taffetas, a remedy greatly invogue then, and promised La Mole that if he did not exert himself toomuch everything would go well.

  La Mole was at the height of joy. Save for a certain weakness caused byloss of blood and a slight giddiness attributable to the same cause, hefelt as well as could be. Besides, doubtless Marguerite would be in theparty; he should see Marguerite again. And when he remembered whatbenefit he had received from the sight of Gillonne, he had no doubt thather mistress would have a still more efficacious influence upon him.

  So La Mole spent a part of the money which he had received when he wentaway from his family in the purchase of the most beautiful white satindoublet and the finest embroidered mantle that could be furnished by afashionable tailor. The same tailor procured for him a pair of thoseperfumed boots such as were worn at that period. The whole outfit wasbrought to him in the morning only a half hour later than the time atwhich La Mole had ordered it, so that he had not much fault to find.

  He dressed himself quickly, looked in the glass, and found that he wassuitably attired, arranged, and perfumed. Then by walking up and downthe room several times, he assured himself that though it caused himsome sharp pangs, still the happiness which he felt in his heart wouldrender these physical inconveniences of no account. A cherry-coloredmantle of his own design, and cut rather longer than they were wornthen, proved to be very becoming to him.

  While he was thus engaged in the Louvre, another scene, of a similarkind, was going on at the Hotel de Guise. A tall gentleman, with redhair, was examining, before a glass, a reddish mark which went acrosshis face very disagreeably; he combed and perfumed his mustache, andwhile he was perfuming it, he kept spreading over that unfortunate markwhich, in spite of all the cosmetics then in use, persisted inreappearing, a three-fold layer of white and red; but as the applicationwas insufficient an idea came to him: a hot sun, an August sun, wasflashing its rays into the court-yard; he made his way down there, tookhis hat in his hand, and with his nose in the air and his eyes closed,he walked up and down for ten minutes, fully exposed to the devouringflame which fell from heaven like a torrent. At the end of these tenminutes, owing to the unexampled ardor of the sun, the gentleman's facehad acquired such a brilliant color that the red streak was now no morein harmony with the rest than it had been, but in comparison seemedyellow.

  Nevertheless, the gentleman did not seem much dissatisfied with thisrainbow effect which he did his best to bring into accord with the restof his face by spreading a layer of vermilion over it, after which heput on a magnificent suit which a tailor had brought to his room withoutany commands from him. Thus attired, scented, and armed from head tofoot, he again went down into the court-yard and began to pat a largeblack horse whose beauty would have been matchless but for a small cut,like his own, made by a reiter's sabre in one of the last civilconflicts.

  Yet, enchanted with the good steed as he was with himself, thegentleman, whom no doubt our readers have easily recognized, was on hisback a quarter of an hour before any of the others and making thecourt-yard of the Hotel de Guise resound with the whinnying of thecharger accompanied by exclamations of _mordi_, pronounced in everyvariety of accent according as he compelled the horse to submit to thisauthority. At the end of a moment the horse completely subdued,recognized by his obedience and subjection his master's legitimatecontrol, but the victory had not been obtained without noise, and thisnoise, which was perhaps the very thing our gentleman reckoned upon,this noise had attracted to the windows a lady whom our queller ofhorses saluted respectfully, and who smiled at him in the most agreeablemanner.

  Five minutes later Madame de Nevers summoned her steward.

  "Sir," said she, "has Monsieur le Comte Annibal de Coconnas beenfurnished a suitable breakfast?"

  "Yes, madame," replied the steward, "he ate this morning with a betterappetite than usual."

  "Very well, sir," said the duchess.

  Then addressing her first gentleman in waiting:

  "Monsieur d'Arguzon," she said, "let us set out for the Louvre, and keepan eye, I beg, on Monsieur le Comte Annibal de Coconnas, for he iswounded, and consequently still weak; and I would not for all the worldany accident should happen to him. That would make the Huguenots laugh,for they owe him a spite since the blessed night of Saint Bartholomew."

  And Madame de Nevers, mounting her horse, went joyfully towards theLouvre, which was the general rendezvous.

  It was two o'clock in the afternoon as a file of cavaliers, overflowingwith gold, jewels, and magnificent garments, appeared in the Rue SaintDenis, entering by the corner of the Cemetery of the Innocents andstretching itself out in the sunlight between the two rows of gloomylooking houses like an immense reptile with variegated rings.