e trembled.

The large reception-hall of the palace had been prepared, and as such
ceremonies were usually public, the guards and the sentinels had
received orders to admit with the ambassadors as many people as the
apartments and the courts would hold. As for Paris, it presented the
same aspect that every large city presents under similar circumstances;
that is, confusion and curiosity. But had any one looked closely at the
population that day, he would have noticed, among the groups of honest
bourgeois with smiling faces, a considerable number of men in long
cloaks, who exchanged glances and signs when at a distance, and when
they met, a few rapid words in a low tone. These men seemed greatly
occupied with the procession, followed it closely, and appeared to
receive their orders from an old man, whose sharp black eyes, in spite
of his white beard and grayish eyebrows, showed a vigorous activity.
This old man, either by his own efforts or by those of his companions,
was among the first to gain admission to the Louvre, and, thanks to the
kindness of the Swiss guard, succeeded in finding a place behind the
ambassadors, opposite Marguerite and Henry of Navarre.

Henry, informed by La Mole that De Mouy would be present in some
disguise or other, looked round on all sides. At last his eyes
encountered those of the old man and held them.

A sign from De Mouy had dispelled all doubt. He was so changed that
Henry himself was doubtful whether this old man with the white beard
could be the intrepid Huguenot chief who five or six days before had
made so desperate a defence.

A word from Henry whispered into Marguerite's ear called the attention
of the queen to De Mouy. Then her beautiful eyes wandered around the
great hall in search of La Mole; but in vain--La Mole was not there.

The speeches began. The first was to the King. Lasco, in the name of the
Diet, asked him to consent that the crown of Poland be offered to a
prince of the house of France.

Charles's reply was short and to the point. He presented his brother,
the Duc d'Anjou, whose courage he praised highly to the Polish
ambassadors. He spoke in French, and an interpreter translated his reply
at the end of each sentence. While the interpreter was speaking, the
King was seen applying a handkerchief to his lips, and each time he
removed it, it was covered with blood. When Charles's reply was
finished, Lasco turned to the Duc d'Anjou, bowed, and began a Latin
addres