ntinued the King; "you have proved yourself a man brilliant,
courtly, and in every way fitted for the high position you held before
you stooped to the wretched chicanery and folly which brought you to
this pass. Now, sir, I tell you I am ready to be merciful and spare
your life, but upon conditions; and these stipulations which I shall
make, I tell you, you as my prisoner are bound to accept. You came here
under false pretences to steal a jewel that was England's by the right
of conquest, making to yourself the excuse that originally it belonged
to France. Is not this so?"

Denis raised his hand again.

"You do not speak," said the King. "Well, knowing as I do that you were
badly wounded by my faithful guards, and are now suffering severely for
your crime, I am willing to accept a motion of your hand, a gesture, as
your acceptation, as a reply. You see, sir, that all through this mad
escapade Providence was working a means of compassing its righteous
ends. You have fallen completely into my power, and either you submit
to my terms or die."

Denis raised his hand quickly.

"You mean an appeal for mercy," cried the King. "Wait till you have
heard my terms. They are these. I have here," he continued, unfolding
a paper, "a complete renunciation on the part of France of the city of
Bordeaux with the towns and territories embraced by Guienne, lands that
were won by the good sword of my predecessors, to have and hold for
three hundred years, but which you now occupy on sufferance and by the
magnanimity of the English throne, which has mercifully withheld itself
from seizing them by an act of war."

Denis's hand, now fully in the light, was extended for a moment, but
sharply withdrawn, for the fingers to begin tapping impatiently upon the
coverlet.

"Ah, you hesitate!" cried Henry. "Let me tell you that it is no time
for hesitation, and that I shall brook no argument, accept nothing but a
full and sufficient resignation made now upon this paper, which needs
but your act and deed made fully by the addition of your royal name."

Denis raised his hand slowly, and let it fall heavily upon the bed.

"Hah!" cried the King, in a tone which evinced triumph and intense
satisfaction, as he rose to his feet and walked slowly to a side-table
standing beneath one of the sconces, upon which were writing materials
ready to the visitor's hand. "I am glad," continued Henry, "that you
are acting so wise a part. I might call