the matter to him."

"When do you start, Albert?"

"To-morrow. I am ordered to accompany the king of Poland; and I expect
to join him in Venice, where the patricians have taken upon themselves
to amuse and delay him."

"You are prudence itself!"

"_Che bestia_! I swear to you there is not the slightest danger for
either of us in remaining at court. If there were, do you think I would
go away? I should stay by the side of our kind mistress."

"Kind!" exclaimed the Grand-master; "she is a woman to drop all her
instruments the moment she finds them heavy."

"_O coglione_! you pretend to be a soldier, and you fear death! Every
business has its duties, and we have ours in making our fortune. By
attaching ourselves to kings, the source of all temporal power which
protects, elevates, and enriches families, we are forced to give them
as devoted a love as that which burns in the hearts of martyrs toward
heaven. We must suffer in their cause; when they sacrifice us to
the interests of their throne we may perish, for we die as much for
ourselves as for them, but our name and our families perish not.
_Ecco_!"

"You are right as to yourself, Albert; for they have given you the
ancient title and duchy of de Retz."

"Now listen to me," replied his brother. "The queen hopes much from the
cleverness of the Ruggieri; she expects them to bring the king once
more under her control. When Charles refused to use Rene's perfumes any
longer the wary woman knew at once on whom his suspicions really rested.
But who can tell the schemes that are in his mind? Perhaps he is only
hesitating as to what fate he shall give his mother; he hates her, you
know. He said a few words about it to his wife; she repeated them to
Madame de Fiesque, and Madame de Fiesque told the queen-mother. Since
then the king has kept away from his wife."

"The time has come," said Charles de Gondi.

"To do what?" asked the marechal.

"To lay hold of the king's mind," replied the Grand-master, who, if
he was not so much in the queen's confidence as his brother, was by no
means less clear-sighted.

"Charles, I have opened a great career to you," said his brother
gravely. "If you wish to be a duke also, be, as I am, the accomplice
and cat's-paw of our mistress; she is the strongest here, and she will
continue in power. Madame de Sauves is on her side, and the king of
Navarre and the Duc d'Alencon are still for Madame de Sauves. Catherine
holds the pair in a leash