hort,
for that the first words of the Prince de Conde Francois II. interrupted
him, with threatening looks:

"Messieurs, my cousins, I had supposed the affair of Amboise over; I
find it is not so, and you are compelling us to regret the indulgence
which we showed."

"It is not the king so much as the Messieurs de Guise who now address
us," replied the Prince de Conde.

"Adieu, monsieur," cried the little king, crimson with anger. When he
left the king's presence the prince found his way barred in the great
hall by two officers of the Scottish guard. As the captain of the French
guard advanced, the prince drew a letter from his doublet, and said to
him in presence of the whole court:--

"Can you read that paper aloud to me, Monsieur de Maille-Breze?"

"Willingly," said the French captain:--

"'My cousin, come in all security; I give you my royal word that
you can do so. If you have need of a safe conduct, this letter
will serve as one.'"

"Signed?" said the shrewd and courageous hunchback.

"Signed 'Francois,'" said Maille.

"No, no!" exclaimed the prince, "it is signed: 'Your good cousin and
friend, Francois,'--Messieurs," he said to the Scotch guard, "I follow
you to the prison to which you are ordered, on behalf of the king, to
conduct me. There is enough nobility in this hall to understand the
matter!"

The profound silence which followed these words ought to have
enlightened the Guises, but silence is that to which all princes listen
least.

"Monseigneur," said the Cardinal de Tournon, who was following the
prince, "you know well that since the affair at Amboise you have made
certain attempts both at Lyon and at Mouvans in Dauphine against the
royal authority, of which the king had no knowledge when he wrote to you
in those terms."

"Tricksters!" cried the prince, laughing.

"You have made a public declaration against the Mass and in favor of
heresy."

"We are masters in Navarre," said the prince.

"You mean to say in Bearn. But you owe homage to the Crown," replied
President de Thou.

"Ha! you here, president?" cried the prince, sarcastically. "Is the
whole Parliament with you?"

So saying, he cast a look of contempt upon the cardinal and left the
hall. He saw plainly enough that they meant to have his head. The next
day, when Messieurs de Thou, de Viole, d'Espesse, the procureur-general
Bourdin, and the chief clerk of the court du Tillet, entered his
presence, he kept them standing,