hink,
Beaufort is hidden in Paris, it is certain he will lose no time."

Paolo nodded. "I will get the men disguises at once. They had better be
different; Macpherson can be dressed as a soldier, Nicholl as a burgher,
and Sandy Grahame and Hunter as rough mechanics. They, of course, could
not carry swords, but might take heavy cudgels. They would not walk
together, or seem to have any knowledge of each other. Sandy might be
ten paces behind you, Nicholl twenty, and the others thirty, or where
the street is wide they could keep abreast of you on the other side. Are
you going to the Louvre this evening?"

"Yes, the cardinal said that the queen wished that I should appear
there. I would much rather have stayed away, as doubtless the affair
behind the Luxembourg will be generally known by this evening, and I
shall feel my position a very unpleasant one, though I imagine that the
queen intends, by her countenance of me, to show that I have not fallen
into disgrace for duelling."

Such was indeed the case. All eyes were turned upon Hector when he
entered the royal saloon. Many of Mazarin's friends came up and shook
hands with him warmly, while the adherents of Beaufort and Vendome stood
aloof from him with angry faces. Presently the door opened, and the
queen, closely followed by Mazarin and a train of ladies and gentlemen,
entered.

As she passed Hector she stopped. "Monsieur le Baron de la Villar," she
said in clear tones, which were heard all over the apartment, "much as I
object to duelling, and determined as I am to enforce the edicts against
it, I feel that in the encounter this morning you were in no way to
blame, and that it was forced upon you. It is scandalous that one who
has so bravely shed his blood and risked his life in defence of France
should be assailed in the capital, and for what reason? Because he
proved faithful to the queen and her minister. You have punished the
chief of the aggressors, and I shall know how to punish those who stood
behind him;" and with a gracious bow in response to his deep reverence
she moved on.

The little speech created a deep sensation among the courtiers. That
the queen herself should so publicly give her countenance to this
young Scottish gentleman, and should--for no one doubted to whom she
alluded--even threaten one of the most powerful nobles in the land,
showed how strongly she felt. No one, with the exception of half a dozen
persons, understood her allusion to the s