amus waited impatiently till the court left Amboise,
being unable to find an opportunity to speak to either of the queens,
and hoping to put himself in their way as the court advanced along the
river-bank on its return to Blois. He disguised himself as a pauper,
at the risk of being taken for a spy, and by means of this travesty,
he mingled with the crowd of beggars which lined the roadway. After the
departure of the Prince de Conde, and the execution of the leaders, the
duke and cardinal thought they had sufficiently silenced the Reformers
to allow the queen-mother a little more freedom. Lecamus knew that,
instead of travelling in a litter, Catherine intended to go on
horseback, _a la planchette_,--such was the name given to a sort of
stirrup invented for or by the queen-mother, who, having hurt her leg on
some occasion, ordered a velvet-covered saddle with a plank on which she
could place both feet by sitting sideways on the horse and passing one
leg through a depression in the saddle. As the queen-mother had very
handsome legs, she was accused of inventing this method of riding, in
order to show them. The old furrier fortunately found a moment when
he could present himself to her sight; but the instant that the queen
recognized him she gave signs of displeasure.

"Go away, my good man, and let no one see you speak to me," she said
with anxiety. "Get yourself elected deputy to the States-general, by
the guild of your trade, and act for me when the Assembly convenes at
Orleans; you shall know whom to trust in the matter of your son."

"Is he living?" asked the old man.

"Alas!" said the queen, "I hope so."

Lecamus was obliged to return to Paris with nothing better than those
doubtful words and the secret of the approaching convocation of the
States-general, thus confided to him by the queen-mother.

X. COSMO RUGGIERO

The Cardinal de Lorraine obtained, within a few days of the events
just related, certain revelations as to the culpability of the court of
Navarre. At Lyon, and at Mouvans in Dauphine, a body of Reformers, under
command of the most enterprising prince of the house of Bourbon had
endeavored to incite the populace to rise. Such audacity, after the
bloody executions at Amboise, astonished the Guises, who (no doubt to
put an end to heresy by means known only to themselves) proposed the
convocation of the States-general at Orleans. Catherine de' Medici,
seeing a chance of support to her policy in