er for an instant and shook his head.

"What does Pardaillan want?" said the duke, observing the approach of
the young nobleman who was later to become celebrated by his encounter
with La Renaudie, in which they both lost their lives.

"Monseigneur, a man sent by the queen's furrier is at the gate, and says
he has an ermine suit to convey to her. Am I to let him enter?"

"Ah! yes,--the ermine coat she spoke of yesterday," returned the
cardinal; "let the shop-fellow pass; she will want the garment for the
voyage down the Loire."

"How did he get here without being stopped until he reached the gate?"
asked the duke.

"I do not know," replied Pardaillan.

"I'll ask to see him when he is with the queen," thought the Balafre.
"Let him wait in the _salle des gardes_," he said aloud. "Is he young,
Pardaillan?"

"Yes, monseigneur; he says he is a son of Lecamus the furrier."

"Lecamus is a good Catholic," remarked the cardinal, who, like his
brother the duke, was endowed with Caesar's memory. "The rector of
Saint-Pierre-aux-Boeufs relies upon him; he is the provost of that
quarter."

"Nevertheless," said the duke, "make the son talk with the captain of
the Scotch guard," laying an emphasis on the verb which was readily
understood. "Ambroise is in the chateau; he can tell us whether the
fellow is really the son of Lecamus, for the old man did him good
service in times past. Send for Ambroise Pare."

It was at this moment that Queen Catherine went, unattended, toward the
two brothers, who hastened to meet her with their accustomed show of
respect, in which the Italian princess detected constant irony.

"Messieurs," she said, "will you deign to inform me of what is about
to take place? Is the widow of your former master of less importance in
your esteem than the Sieurs Vieilleville, Birago, and Chiverni?"

"Madame," replied the cardinal, in a tone of gallantry, "our duty as
men, taking precedence of that of statecraft, forbids us to alarm the
fair sex by false reports. But this morning there is indeed good reason
to confer with you on the affairs of the country. You must excuse
my brother for having already given orders to the gentlemen you
mention,--orders which were purely military, and therefore did not
concern you; the matters of real importance are still to be decided. If
you are willing, we will now go the _lever_ of the king and queen; it is
nearly time."

"But what is all this, Monsieur le duc?" cried Cathe