Lagardere dismissed them. "Then, farewell, old friends, till to-night."

XXI

THE PRINCESS DE GONZAGUE

When Lagardere was left alone he placed himself at the table where
Gonzague had been sitting so short a time before, and, taking pen and
paper, wrote rapidly a short letter. When he had folded and sealed this,
he rose, and, crossing the room, went to the door which opened on the
antechamber to the princess's apartments. Here he found a servant
waiting, wearing the mourning livery of Nevers, to whom he gave the
letter, telling him that it was urgent, and that it should be delivered
to the princess at once. When he had done this he returned to the great
room and walked slowly up and down it, surveying in turn each of the
three pictures of the three friends who had been called the Three Louis.
He paused for a moment before the picture of Louis de Nevers. "Louis de
Nevers," he said, softly, "you shall be avenged to-night."

He moved a little away, and paused again before the portrait of the king.
"Louis of France," he said, "you shall be convinced to-night."

A third time he resumed his walk, and a third time he paused, this time
before the portrait of the Prince de Gonzague. Here he stood a little
while longer in silence, studying curiously the striking lineaments of
his enemy, that enemy who, through all the change of years, had retained
the grace and beauty represented on the canvas. "Louis de Gonzague," he
murmured, "you shall be judged to-night."

Then he resumed his steady pacing up and down the room, with his hands
clasped lightly behind his humped shoulders, busy in thought. For,
indeed, he had much to think of, much to plan, much to execute, and but
little time in which to do what he had to do. Fortune had greatly favored
him so far. The friends he had summoned had come at his call. One more of
his enemies had been swept from his path, and by the destruction of that
enemy he had been able, thanks to his old training as a play-actor, to
enter unsuspected into the household and the councils of the man who most
hated him, of the man whom he most hated. But, though much was done,
there was yet much to do, and it needed all his fortitude, all his
courage, and all his humor to face without hesitation or alarm the
problems that faced him.

His reflections were interrupted by the opening of a door, and, turning
rapidly, he found himself in the presence of a woman clad entirely in
black, whom he knew at