the Admiral Coligni upon fields of battle, where all
the malignity of the human heart had been aroused, and he had often
been compelled to fly before the strong arm of his powerful adversary.
He felt that now the hour of revenge had come, and with an assassin's
despicable heart he thirsted for the blood of his noble foe. It was
one of his paid agents who fired upon the admiral from the window,
and, mounted upon one of the fleetest chargers of the Duke of Guise,
the wretch made his escape.

The conspiracy had been kept a profound secret from Marguerite, lest
she should divulge it to her husband. The Duchess of Lorraine,
however, was in all their deliberations, and, fully aware of the
dreadful carnage which the night was to witness, she began to feel, as
the hour of midnight approached, very considerable anxiety in
reference to the safety of her sister. Conscious guilt magnified her
fears; and she was apprehensive lest the Protestants, when they should
first awake to the treachery which surrounded them, would rush to the
chamber of their king to protect him, and would wreak their vengeance
upon his Catholic spouse. She did not dare to communicate to her
sister the cause of her alarm; and yet, when Marguerite, about 11
o'clock, arose to retire, she importuned her sister, even with tears,
not to occupy the same apartment with her husband that night, but to
sleep in her own private chamber. Catharine sharply reproved the
Duchess of Lorraine for her imprudent remonstrances, and bidding the
Queen of Navarre good-night, with maternal authority directed her to
repair to the room of her husband. She departed to the nuptial
chamber, wondering what could be the cause of such an unwonted display
of sisterly solicitude and affection.

When she entered her room, to her great surprise she found thirty or
forty gentlemen assembled there. They were the friends and the
supporters of Henry, who had become alarmed by the mysterious rumors
which were floating from ear to ear, and by the signs of agitation,
and secrecy, and strange preparation which every where met the eye. No
one could imagine what danger was impending. No one knew from what
quarter the storm would burst. But that some very extraordinary event
was about to transpire was evident to all. It was too late to adopt
any precautions for safety. The Protestants, unarmed, unorganized, and
widely dispersed, could now only practice the virtue of heroic
fortitude in meeting their doo