monly engaged him. He carried on this conversation in
a very free way, studiously ignoring our presence; but it was plain he
remained aware of it, and even that he was uneasy under the cold and
severe gaze which the Marquis, who seemed in nowise affrighted by his
reception, bent upon him.

I, for my part, had no longer any confidence. Nay, I came near to
regretting that I had persevered in an attempt so useless. The warrant
which awaited me at the gates seemed less formidable than his Majesty's
growing displeasure; which I saw I was incurring by remaining where
I was. It needed not the insolent glance of Marshal Retz, who lounged
smiling by the king's hand, or the laughter of a couple of pages who
stood at the head of the chamber, to deprive me of my last hope; while
some things which might have cheered me--the uneasiness of some
about the king, and the disquietude which underlay Marshal Retz's
manner--escaped my notice altogether.

What I did see clearly was that the king's embarrassment was fast
changing to anger. The paint which reddened his cheeks prevented tiny
alteration in his colour being visible, but his frown and the nervous
manner in which he kept taking off and putting on his jewelled cap
betrayed him. At length, signing to one of his companions to follow,
he moved a little aside to a window, whence, after a few moments, the
gentleman came to us.

'M. de Rambouillet,' he said, speaking coldly and formally, 'his Majesty
is displeased by this gentleman's presence, and requires him to withdraw
forthwith.'

'His Majesty's word is law,' my patron answered, bowing low, and
speaking in a clear voice audible throughout; the chamber, 'but the
matter which brings this gentleman here is of the utmost importance, and
touches his Majesty's person.'

M. de Retz laughed jeeringly. The other courtiers looked grave. The
king shrugged his shoulders with a peevish gesture, but after a moment's
hesitation, during which he looked first at Retz and then at M. de
Rambouillet, he signed to the Marquis to approach.

'Why have you brought him here?' he muttered sharply, looking askance at
me. 'He should have been bestowed according to my orders.'

'He has information for your Majesty's private ear,' Rambouillet
answered. And he looked so meaningly at the king that Henry, I think,
remembered on a sudden his compact with Rosny, and my part in it; for
he started with the air of a man suddenly awakened. 'To prevent that
informat