ambition bound them together, and for a long time they both
adhered loyally to the treaty of political alliance they had
drawn up for their mutual advantage. Dumas died on December 5,
1870, after experiencing many changes of fortune. His son also
won considerable reputation as a dramatist and novelist.

_I.--Henry of Navarre and Marguerite_

On Monday, August 18, 1572, a great festival was held in the palace of
the Louvre. It was to celebrate the marriage of Henry of Navarre and
Marguerite de Valois, a marriage that perplexed a good many people, and
alarmed others.

For Henry de Bourbon, King of Navarre, was the leader of the Huguenot
party, and Marguerite was the daughter of Catherine de Medici, and the
sister of the king, Charles IX., and this alliance between a Protestant
and a Catholic, it seemed, was to end the strife that rent the nation.
The king, too, had set his heart on this marriage, and the Huguenots
were somewhat reassured by the king's declaration that Catholic and
Huguenot alike were now his subjects, and were equally beloved by him.
Still, there were many on both sides who feared and distrusted the
alliance.

At midnight, six days later, on August 24, the tocsin sounded, and the
massacre of St. Bartholomew began.

The marriage, indeed, was in no sense a love match; but Henry succeeded
at once in making Marguerite his friend, for he was alive to the dangers
that surrounded him.

"Madame," he said, presenting himself at Marguerite's rooms on the night
of the wedding festival, "whatever many persons may have said, I think
our marriage is a good marriage. I stand well with you--you stand well
with me. Therefore, we ought to act towards each other like good allies,
since to-day we have been allied in the sight of God! Don't you think
so?"

"Without question, sir!"

"I know, madame, that the ground at court is full of dangerous abysses;
and I know that, though I am young and have never injured any person, I
have many enemies. The king hates me, his brothers, the Duke of Anjou
and the Duke D'Alencon, hate me. Catherine de Medici hated my mother too
much not to hate me. Well, against these menaces, which must soon become
attacks, I can only defend myself by your aid, for you are beloved by
all those who hate me!"

"I?" said Marguerite.

"Yes, you!" replied Henry. "And if you will--I do not say love me--but
if you will be my ally I can brave anything; while, if you beco