his out to Cinq-Mars.

"Hark ye!" he said in a low voice. "Believe me, I have carefully studied
conspiracies and assemblages; there are certain purely mechanical means
which it is necessary to adopt. Follow my advice here; I know a good
deal of this sort of thing. They want something more. Give them a little
contradiction; that always succeeds in France. You will quite make them
alive again. Seem not to wish to retain them against their will, and
they will remain."

The grand ecuyer approved of the suggestion, and advancing toward those
whom he knew to be most deeply compromised, said:

"For the rest, gentlemen, I do not wish to force any one to follow me.
Plenty of brave men await us at Perpignan, and all France is with us. If
any one desires to secure himself a retreat, let him speak. We will give
him the means of placing himself in safety at once."

Not one would hear of this proposition; and the movement it occasioned
produced a renewal of the oaths of hatred against the minister.

Cinq-Mars, however, proceeded to put the question individually to some
of the persons present, in the election of whom he showed much judgment;
for he ended with Montresor, who cried that he would pass his sword
through his body if he had for a moment entertained such an idea, and
with Gondi, who, rising fiercely on his heels, exclaimed:

"Monsieur le Grand Ecuyer, my retreat is the archbishopric of Paris and
L'Ile Notre-Dame. I'll make it a place strong enough to keep me from
being taken."

"And yours?" he said to De Thou.

"At your side," murmured De Thou, lowering his eyes, unwilling to give
importance to his resolution by the directness of his look.

"You will have it so? Well, I accept," said Cinq-Mars; "and my sacrifice
herein, dear friend, is greater than yours." Then turning toward the
assembly:

"Gentlemen, I see in you the last men of France, for after the
Montmorencys and the Soissons, you alone dare lift a head free and
worthy of our old liberty. If Richelieu triumph, the ancient bases of
the monarchy will crumble with us. The court will reign alone, in the
place of the parliaments, the old barriers, and at the same time the
powerful supports of the royal authority. Let us be conquerors, and
France will owe to us the preservation of her ancient manners and her
time-honored guarantees. And now, gentlemen, it were a pity to spoil the
ball on this account. You hear the music. The ladies await you. Let us
go and dance.