up his cards, and pursued his game,
which was only terminated at midnight by an intimation from the King
that it was time for her Majesty to retire. Henry then withdrew in his
turn; but before he left the room he turned towards the Marechal and
said with marked emphasis: "Adieu, _Baron de Biron_, you know what I
have told you." [190]

As the Duke, considerably startled by this extraordinary address, was
about to leave the antechamber, Vitry seized his right arm with one
hand, and with the other laid a firm grasp upon his sword, exclaiming:
"Monsieur, the King has confided the care of your person to me. Deliver
up your sword." A few of the gentlemen of the Duke's household who were
awaiting him made a show of resistance, but they were instantly seized
by the guard; upon which the Marechal demanded an interview with
the monarch.

"His Majesty has retired," replied Vitry. "Give me your sword."

"Ha! my sword," said Biron with a deep sigh of indignant mortification,
"that sword which has rendered him so much good service;" and without
further comment or expostulation he placed the weapon in the hands of
the captain of the guard, and followed him to the chamber in which he
was to pass the night.

The Comte d'Auvergne had meanwhile also been arrested at the gate of the
palace by M. de Praslin, and conducted to another apartment.

The criminals were no sooner secured than the King despatched a
messenger to Sully to inform him of the fact, and to desire his
immediate attendance at the palace; and on his arrival, after narrating
to him the mode of their capture, Henry desired him to mount his horse,
and to repair without delay to the Bastille, in order to prepare
apartments for them in that fortress. "I will forward them in boats to
the water-gate of the Arsenal," he pursued; "let them land there, but be
careful that they are seen by no one; and convey them thence to their
lodgings as quietly as possible across your own courts and gardens. So
soon as you have arranged everything for their landing, hasten to the
Parliament and to the Hotel-de-Ville; there explain all that has passed,
and say that on my arrival in the capital I will communicate my reasons
for what I have done, of which the justice will be at once
apparent." [191]

This arrangement was made upon the instant, and on the morrow the
prisoners were embarked in separate boats upon the Seine, under a strong
escort of the King's bodyguard; and on their arrival at