mistrust; in vain I have combated this
influence, and if it grow upon him, mistrust will ripen into hate. He
regrets that great master-stroke of policy, which, by destroying all
those cursed Huguenots, delivered us at one blow from our most deadly
enemies. He has spoken of it with horror. He has dared to blame me. He
has taken Henry of Navarre, the recusant Huguenot, the false wavering
Catholic, to his counsels lately. He is my son no longer, since he no
longer acknowledges his mother's will: and he can be spared! But when
he is gone, what shall be the issue, Ruggieri? how stand the other
horoscopes?"

"The stars of the two Henrys rise together in the heavens" replied the
Queen's astrologer and confidant. "Before them stands a house of
double glory, which promises a double crown; but the order of the
heavens is not such that I can read as yet, which of the two shall
first enter it, or enter it alone."

"A double crown!" said the Queen musingly. "Henry of Anjou, my son, is
king of Poland, and on his brother's death is rightful king of France.
Yes, and he _shall_ be king of France, and wear its crown. Henry never
thwarted his mother's will, he was ever pliant as a reed to do her
bidding; and when he is king, Catherine of Medicis may again resume
the reins of power. You had predicted that he would soon return to
France; and I promised him he should return, when unwillingly he
accepted that barbarian crown, which Charles' selfish policy forced
upon him, in order to rid himself of a brother whom he hated as a
rival--hated because I loved him. Yes, he shall return to resume his
rightful crown--a double crown! But Henry of Navarre also wears a
crown, although it be a barren one--although the kingdom of Navarre
bestow upon him a mere empty title. Shall it be his--the double crown?
Oh! no! no! The stars cannot surely say it. Should all my sons die
childless, it is his by right. But they shall not die to leave _him_
their heir. No! sooner shall the last means be applied, and the
detested son perish, as did his hated mother, by one of those
incomprehensible diseases for which medicine has no cure. A double
crown! Shall his be the crown of France also? Never! Ah! little did I
think, Ruggieri, when I bestowed upon him my daughter Margaret's hand,
and thus lured him and his abhorred party to the court to finish them
with one blow, that Margaret of Valois would become a traitress to her
own mother, and protect a husband whom she ac