f France where
they could gather a hundred men together, and now they are
everywhere in arms."

"I think," Maignan said, "that you need not be uneasy about the
Queen of Navarre. I am not at liberty to say what I have heard; but
I fancy that, before many hours, she will be on her way to Paris,
willingly or unwillingly. As for the seneschal, he and the others
will be hunted down, as soon as this matter is settled. A day or
two, sooner or later, will make no difference there and, until the
queen is taken, the troops will have to stay in their present
stations.

"My only fear is that, seeing she can have no hope of making her
way north, she will slip away back to Navarre again. Once there,
she could not be taken without a deal of trouble. Whatever is to be
done must be done promptly. Without direct orders from the court,
no step can be taken in so important a matter. But the orders may
arrive any hour, and I think you will see that there will be no
loss of time in executing them."

"And Nerac could not stand a long siege, even if it were strongly
garrisoned; and the handful of men she has got with her could not
defend the walls for an hour. I hope she may not take the alarm too
soon; for as you say, once back in Navarre it would be difficult,
indeed, to take her. It is no joke hunting a bear among the
mountains; and as her people are devoted to her, she could play
hide and seek among the valleys and hills for weeks--ay, or
months--before she could be laid hold of.

"It is well for our cause, Maignan, that she is not a man. She
would be as formidable a foe as the Admiral himself. Huguenot as
she is, one can't help respecting her. Her husband was a poor
creature, beside her. He was ready to swallow any bait offered him;
while, even if it would seat her son on the throne of France, she
would not stir a hand's breadth from what she thinks right."

Philip finished his meal, and then went out into the square. The
news was satisfactory. No order had yet arrived for the seizure of
the queen; and though one was evidently looked for, to arrive in
the course of a few hours, it would then be too late to take any
steps until nightfall, at the earliest; and by nine o'clock the
queen would have left Nerac.

No movement was intended at present against the seneschal, nor did
the idea that the queen might attempt to join him seem to be
entertained. It was possible, however, that such a suspicion might
have occurred to the governor,