y will have come at night, and the shutters will be closed._

"_You will pass by the Alley of the Violettes, at the end of which
I shall be watching; at the right of this alley in an open space
will be Messieurs de la Mole and Coconnas, with two horses. These
horses are intended to replace yours and that of her majesty the
Queen of Navarre, if necessary._

"_Adieu, sire; be ready, as we shall be._"

"You will be," said Marguerite, uttering after sixteen hundred years the
same words that Caesar spoke on the banks of the Rubicon.

"Be it so, madame," replied Henry; "I will not fail you."

"Now, sire, be a hero; it is not difficult. You have but to follow the
path that is indicated, and make a beautiful throne for me," said the
daughter of Henry II.

An imperceptible smile rose to the thin lips of the Bearnais. He kissed
Marguerite's hand, and went out to explore the corridor, whistling the
refrain of an old song:

"_Cil qui mieux battit la muraille_
_N'entra pas dedans le chasteau._"[17]

The precaution was wise, for just as he opened the door of his
sleeping-room the Duc d'Alencon opened that of his antechamber. Henry
motioned to Marguerite, and then, aloud, said:

"Ah! is it you, brother? Welcome."

At the sign from her husband the queen had understood everything, and
stepped hurriedly into a dressing-closet, in front of the door of which
hung a thick tapestry. The Duc d'Alencon entered with a timorous step
and looked around him.

"Are we alone, brother?" asked he in a whisper.

"Entirely. But what is the matter? You seem disturbed."

"We are discovered, Henry."

"How?--discovered?"

"Yes, De Mouy has been arrested."

"I know it."

"Well, De Mouy has told the King all."

"What has he told him?"

"He has told him that I desire the throne of Navarre, and that I have
conspired to obtain it."

"Ah, the stupid!" cried Henry, "so that now you are compromised, my poor
brother! How is it, then, that you have not been arrested?"

"I do not know. The King joked with me by pretending to offer me the
throne of Navarre. He hoped, no doubt, to draw some confession from me,
but I said nothing."

"And you did well, _ventre saint gris_!" said the Bearnais. "Stand firm,
for our lives depend on that."

"Yes," said Francois, "the position is unsafe, I know. That is why I
came to ask your advice, brother; what do you think I ought to do--run
or stay?"

"Y