cession to the crown, might be,
by the want of heirs, weakened or extinguished]

It was, perhaps, the recollection of his own filial ingratitude that
made the King pause as he uttered the last reflection, and which
converted the sneer that trembled on his lip into something resembling
an expression of contrition. But he instantly proceeded in another tone.

"Frankly, my Dunois, much as I revere the holy sacrament of matrimony"
(here he crossed himself), "I would rather the house of Orleans raised
for me such gallant soldiers as thy father and thyself, who share the
blood royal of France without claiming its rights, than that the country
should be torn to pieces, like to England, by wars arising from the
rivalry of legitimate candidates for the crown. The lion should never
have more than one cub."

Dunois sighed and was silent, conscious that contradicting his arbitrary
Sovereign might well hurt his kinsman's interests but could do him no
service; yet he could not forbear adding, in the next moment,

"Since your Majesty has alluded to the birth of my father, I must needs
own that, setting the frailty of his parents on one side, he might be
termed happier, and more fortunate, as the son of lawless love than of
conjugal hatred."

"Thou art a scandalous fellow, Dunois, to speak thus of holy wedlock,"
answered Louis jestingly. "But to the devil with the discourse, for the
boar is unharboured.--Lay on the dogs, in the name of the holy Saint
Hubert!--Ha! ha! tra-la-la-lira-la"--And the King's horn rang merrily
through the woods as he pushed forward on the chase, followed by two or
three of his guards, amongst whom was our friend Quentin Durward.
And here it was remarkable that, even in the keen prosecution of his
favourite sport, the King in indulgence of his caustic disposition,
found leisure to amuse himself by tormenting Cardinal Balue.

It was one of that able statesman's weaknesses, as we have elsewhere
hinted, to suppose himself, though of low rank and limited education,
qualified to play the courtier and the man of gallantry. He did not,
indeed, actually enter the lists of chivalrous combat, like Becket,
or levy soldiers, like Wolsey. But gallantry, in which they also were
proficients, was his professed pursuit; and he likewise affected great
fondness for the martial amusement of the chase. Yet, however well he
might succeed with certain ladies, to whom his power, his wealth, and
his influence as a statesman might