haracters."

"Very good," said Henry, "and these suspicious characters compromise me;
is that it, madame?"

"Yes, Henry."

"Give me their names! Give me their names! Who are they? Let me see
them!"

"Really," said Charles, "Henriot has the right to demand an
explanation."

"And I do demand it!" said Henry, realizing the superiority of his
position and anxious to make the most of it. "I ask it from my good
brother Charles, and from my good mother Catharine. Since my marriage
with Marguerite have I not been a kind husband? ask Marguerite. A good
Catholic? ask my confessor. A good relative? ask those who were at the
hunt yesterday."

"Yes, that is true, Henriot," said the King; "but what can you do? They
claim that you conspire."

"Against whom?"

"Against me."

"Sire, if I had been conspiring against you, I had merely to let events
take their course, when your horse broke his knee and could not rise, or
when the furious boar turned on your Majesty."

"Well, the devil! mother, do you know that he is right?"

"But who was in your rooms last night?"

"Madame," said Henry, "in times when so few dare to answer for
themselves, I should never attempt to answer for others. I left my rooms
at seven o'clock in the evening, at ten o'clock my brother Charles took
me away, and I spent the night with him. I could not be with your
Majesty and know what was going on in my rooms at the same time."

"But," said Catharine, "it is none the less true that one of your men
killed two of his Majesty's guards and wounded Monsieur de Maurevel."

"One of my men?" said Henry. "What man, madame? Name him."

"Every one accuses Monsieur de la Mole."

"Monsieur de la Mole is not in my suite, madame; Monsieur de la Mole
belongs to Monsieur d'Alencon, to whom he was recommended by your
daughter."

"But," said Charles, "was it Monsieur de la Mole who was in your rooms,
Henriot?"

"How can you expect me to know, sire? I can say neither yes nor no.
Monsieur de la Mole is an exceptional servant, thoroughly devoted to the
Queen of Navarre. He often brings me messages, either from Marguerite,
to whom he is grateful for having recommended him to Monsieur le Duc
d'Alencon, or from Monsieur le Duc himself. I cannot say that it was not
Monsieur de la Mole"--

"It was he," said Catharine. "His red cloak was recognized."

"Has Monsieur de la Mole a red cloak, then?"

"Yes."

"And the man who so cleverly disposed of two of my guards and