jennet. He was out of Paris almost
before pursuit was fairly undertaken. Subsequent investigation left no
doubt as to his identity. It was that same Maurevel of infamous memory,
who during the third civil war had traitorously shot De Mouy, after
insinuating himself into his friendship, and sharing his room and his bed.
The king's assassin, "le tueur du roi"--a designation he had obtained when
Charles or his advisers gave a special reward for that exploit[950]--had
been selected by Catharine, Anjou and the Guises, as possessing both the
nerve and the experience that were requisite to make sure of Coligny's
death. It was found that he had been placed in the house by De Chailly,
"maitre d'hotel" of the king, and that the horse by means of which he
effected his escape had been brought to the door by the groom of the Duke
of Guise.[951]

[Sidenote: Agitation of the king.]

Charles was still in the tennis-court, when De Piles came in, sent by
Coligny, to inform him of the bloody infraction of the Edict of
Pacification. On hearing the intelligence, the king was violently
agitated. Throwing down his racket, he exclaimed: "Am I, then, never to
have peace? What! always new troubles?" and retired to his room in the
Louvre, with a countenance expressive of great dejection.[952] And when,
later in the day, the King of Navarre, the Prince of Conde, and La
Rochefoucauld, after seeing Coligny's wounds dressed, came to the palace
and begged him for permission to leave a city in which there was no
security for their lives, Charles swore to them, with his accustomed
profanity, that he would inflict upon the author and abettors of the crime
so signal a punishment that Coligny and his friends would be satisfied,
and posterity have a warning example. Coligny had received the wound, he
said, but the smart was _his_. Catharine, who was present, chimed in, and
declared the outrage so flagrant, that just retribution must speedily be
meted out, or insolence would be pushed so far as that the king would be
attacked in his own palace.[953]

[Sidenote: Coligny courageous.]

Meantime the admiral bore his sufferings with serenity, and, far from
needing any comfort his friends could give him, himself administered
consolation to the noblemen around his bed. His sufferings were acute.
Amboise Pare, the famous surgeon of the king, himself a Huguenot, was
called in; but the instruments at hand were dull, and it was not until the
third attempt that he