s of the poisoning, but the author of it?"

"Yes, and it is for this reason that he wished to ask you if you would
use over the Prince of Porcian the remains of that influence and have
the murderer pardoned for the death of his brother."

"Unfortunately," replied Henry, "still being half Huguenot, I have no
influence over Monsieur le Prince de Porcian; your friend therefore
would have done wrong in speaking to me."

"But what do you think of the intentions of Monsieur le Prince de Conde
and of Monsieur de Porcian?"

"How should I know their intentions, Rene? God, whom I may know, has not
given me the privilege of reading their hearts."

"Your majesty must ask yourself," said the Florentine calmly. "Is there
not in the life of your majesty some event so gloomy that it can serve
as a test of clemency, so painful that it is a touchstone for
generosity?"

These words were uttered in a tone which made Charlotte herself tremble.
It was an allusion so direct, so pointed, that the young woman turned
aside to hide her blush, and to avoid meeting Henry's eyes. Henry made a
supreme effort over himself; his forehead, which during the words of the
Florentine wore threatening lines, unbent, and he changed the dignified,
filial grief which tightened his heart into vague meditation.

"In my life," said he, "a gloomy circumstance--no, Rene, no; I remember
in my youth only folly and carelessness mingled with more or less cruel
necessity imposed on every one by the demands of nature and the proofs
of God."

Rene in turn became constrained as he glanced from Henry to Charlotte,
as though to rouse the one and hold back the other; for Charlotte had
returned to her toilet to hide the anxiety caused by their conversation,
and had again extended her hand towards the opiate box.

"But, sire, if you were the brother of the Prince of Porcian or the son
of the Prince of Conde, and if they had poisoned your brother or
assassinated your father"--Charlotte uttered a slight cry and raised the
opiate to her lips. Rene saw the gesture, but this time he stopped her
neither by word nor gesture; he merely exclaimed:

"In Heaven's name, sire, answer! Sire, if you were in their place what
would you do?"

Henry recovered himself. With trembling hand he wiped his forehead, on
which stood drops of cold perspiration, and rising to his full height,
replied in the midst of the silence which until then had held Rene and
Charlotte:

"If I were in their