sieur Philip. That is just the way I
look at it. Marguerite of Valois is, indeed, a very big fish
compared with the Prince of Bearn; and it is not only she who would
pull, but there are others, and even bigger fish, who would pull
with her. My good mother has fears that, if I once tasted the
gaieties of the court of France, I should be ruined, body and soul.

"Now I have rather an inclination for the said gaieties, and that
prospect does not terrify me as it does her. But there are things
which alarm me, more than gaieties. There is the king who, except
when he occasionally gets into a rage, and takes his own course, is
but a tool in the hands of Catharine de Medici. There is Anjou, who
made a jest of the dead body of my uncle Conde. There are Lorraine
and the Guises, there are the priests, and there is the turbulent
mob of Paris. It seems to me that, instead of being the fisherman,
I should be like a very small fish, enclosed in a very strong net."

And he looked thoughtfully into the fire.

"The king is, at present, with us; but his plighted word is worth
nothing."

"But once married," Francois said, "you would have the princess on
your side, and being then brother-in-law to the king, you would be
safe from attack."

"The king has no great love for his own brothers," Henri said; "but
I am not supposing that even Charles would lay hands on me, after
inviting me to his court to marry his sister. He would not venture
upon that, before the eyes of all Europe. It is the strain and the
pressure that I fear. A girl who is sent to a nunnery, however much
she may hate becoming a nun, can no more escape than a fly from the
meshes of a spider. I doubt not that it seems, to all the Huguenots
of France, that for me to marry Marguerite of Valois would be more
than a great victory won for their cause; but I have my doubts.
However, in a matter like this I am not a free agent.

"The Huguenot lords are all delighted at the prospect. My mother is
still undecided. You see, I am practically as much in a net, here,
as I shall be at Paris, if this marriage is made. I am rather glad
the decision does not rest with me. I shall simply go with the
stream; some day, perhaps, I shall be strong enough to swim against
it. I hope that, at any rate, if I ride to Paris to marry
Marguerite of Valois, you will both accompany me."

Chapter 19: In A Net.

After their return from hunting, they remained for another
fortnight at Bearn; and