d until she has seen the king, trust no one,
suspect everyone, fear all things. Consider the battle won only when the
king says, "I am satisfied."'

Much more he told me, which served its purpose and has been forgotten.
Finally he honoured me by bidding me share his pallet with him, that we
might talk without restraint, and that if anything occurred to him in
the night he might communicate it to me.

'But will not Bruhl denounce me as a Huguenot?' I asked him.

'He will not dare to do so,' M. de Rosny answered, 'both as a Huguenot
himself, and as his master's representative; and, further, because it
would displease the king. No, but whatever secret harm one man can
do another, that you have to fear. Maignan, when he returns with
mademoiselle, will leave two men with you; until they come I should
borrow a couple of stout fellows from Rambouillet. Do not go out alone
after dark, and beware of doorways, especially your own.'

A little later, when I thought him asleep, I heard him chuckle; and
rising on my elbow I asked him what it was. 'Oh, it is your affair,'
he answered, still laughing silently, so that I felt the mattress shake
under him. 'I don't envy you one part of your task, my friend.'

'What is that?' I said suspiciously.

'Mademoiselle,' he answered, stifling with difficulty a burst of
laughter. And after that he would not say another word, bad, good, or
indifferent, though I felt the bed shake more than once, and knew that
he was digesting his pleasantry.

CHAPTER XVI. IN THE KING'S CHAMBER.

M. de Rosny had risen from my side and started on his journey when I
opened my eyes in the morning, and awoke to the memory of the task which
had been so strangely imposed upon me; and which might, according as
the events of the next fortnight shaped themselves, raise me to high
position or put an end to my career. He had not forgotten to leave
a souvenir behind him, for I found beside my pillow a handsome
silver-mounted pistol, bearing the letter 'R.' and a coronet; nor had
I more than discovered this instance of his kindness before Simon Fleix
came in to tell me that M. de Rosny had left two hundred crowns in his
hands for me.

'Any message with it?' I asked the lad.

'Only that; he had taken a keepsake in exchange,' Simon answered,
opening the window as he spoke.

In some wonder I began to search, but I could not discover that anything
was missing until I came to put on my doublet, when I found that the