place beside
his mother's maids. Already full of antipathy for the adherents of the
house of Guise, he replied coldly to the remarks of the duchess and
leaned his arm on the back of the chair of the Comtesse de Fiesque. His
governor, Monsieur de Cypierre, one of the noblest characters of that
day, stood beside him like a shield. Amyot (afterwards Bishop of Auxerre
and translator of Plutarch), in the simple soutane of an abbe, also
accompanied the young prince, being his tutor, as he was of the two
other princes, whose affection became so profitable to him.

Between the "chimney of honor" and the other chimney at the end of
the hall, around which were grouped the guards, their captain, a few
courtiers, and Christophe carrying his box of furs, the Chancellor
Olivier, protector and predecessor of l'Hopital, in the robes which the
chancellors of France have always worn, was walking up and down with the
Cardinal de Tournon, who had recently returned from Rome. The pair were
exchanging a few whispered sentences in the midst of great attention
from the lords of the court, massed against the wall which separated the
_salle des gardes_ from the royal bedroom, like a living tapestry backed
by the rich tapestry of art crowded by a thousand personages. In spite
of the present grave events, the court presented the appearance of all
courts in all lands, at all epochs, and in the midst of the greatest
dangers. The courtiers talked of trivial matters, thinking of serious
ones; they jested as they studied faces, and apparently concerned
themselves about love and the marriage of rich heiresses amid the
bloodiest catastrophes.

"What did you think of yesterday's fete?" asked Bourdeilles, seigneur of
Brantome, approaching Mademoiselle de Piennes, one of the queen-mother's
maids of honor.

"Messieurs du Baif et du Bellay were inspired with delightful ideas,"
she replied, indicating the organizers of the fete, who were standing
near. "I thought it all in the worst taste," she added in a low voice.

"You had no part to play in it, I think?" remarked Mademoiselle de
Lewiston from the opposite ranks of Queen Mary's maids.

"What are you reading there, madame?" asked Amyot of the Comtesse de
Fiesque.

"'Amadis de Gaule,' by the Seigneur des Essarts, commissary in ordinary
to the king's artillery," she replied.

"A charming work," remarked the beautiful girl who was afterwards so
celebrated under the name of Fosseuse when she was lady of