ir of the Louvre is not good for you this evening, the devil!
you must believe me!"

"_Ventre saint gris!_" murmured Henry; "and what will De Mouy do all
alone in my room? I trust the air which is not good for me may be no
worse for him!"

"Ah!" exclaimed the King, when Henry and he had crossed the drawbridge,
"does it suit you, Henry, to have the gentlemen of Monsieur d'Alencon
courting your wife?"

"How so, sire?"

"Truly, is not this Monsieur de Coconnas making eyes at Margot?"

"Who told you that?"

"Well," said the King, "I heard it."

"A mere joke, sire; Monsieur de Coconnas does make eyes at some one, but
it is at Madame de Nevers."

"Ah, bah."

"I can answer to your Majesty for what I tell you."

Charles burst into laughter.

"Well," said he, "let the Duc de Guise come to me again with his gossip,
and I will gently pull his mustache by telling him of the exploits of
his sister-in-law. But after all," said the King, thinking better of it,
"I do not know whether it was Monsieur de Coconnas or Monsieur de la
Mole he referred to."

"Neither the one more than the other, sire, and I can answer to you for
the feelings of my wife."

"Good, Henriot, good!" said the King. "I like you better now than the
way you were before. On my honor, you are such a good fellow that I
shall end by being unable to get along without you."

As he spoke the King gave a peculiar whistle, whereupon four gentlemen
who were waiting for him at the end of the Rue de Beauvais joined him.
The whole party set out towards the middle of the city.

Ten o'clock struck.

"Well!" said Marguerite, after the King and Henry had left, "shall we go
back to table?"

"Mercy, no!" cried the duchess, "I have been too badly frightened. Long
live the little house in the Rue Cloche Percee! No one can enter that
without regularly besieging it, and our good men have the right to use
their swords there. But what are you looking for under the furniture and
in the closets, Monsieur de Coconnas?"

"I am trying to find my friend La Mole," said the Piedmontese.

"Look in my room, monsieur," said Marguerite, "there is a certain
closet"--

"Very well," said Coconnas, "I will go there."

He entered the room.

"Well!" said a voice from the darkness; "where are we?"

"Oh! by Heaven! we have reached the dessert."

"And the King of Navarre?"

"He has seen nothing. He is a perfect husband, and I wish my wife had
one like him. But I fear she never w