ys and grooms, was a dark wilderness, in which half a dozen links
trembled mournfully. Passing through the doors I found things within in
the same state: the hall ill lit and desolate; the staircase manned
only by a few whispering groups, who scanned me as I passed; the
ante-chambers almost empty, or occupied by the grey uniforms of the
Switzer guards. Where I had looked, to see courtiers assembling to meet
their sovereign and assure him of their fidelity, I found only gloomy
faces, watchful eyes, and mouths ominously closed. An air of constraint
and foreboding rested on all. A single footstep sounded hollowly. The
long corridors, which had so lately rung with laughter and the rattle
of dice, seemed already devoted to the silence, and desolation which
awaited them when the Court should depart. Where any spoke I caught the
name of Guise; and I could have fancied that his mighty shadow lay upon
the place and cursed it.

Entering the chamber, I found matters little better there. His Majesty
was not present, nor were any of the Court ladies; but half a dozen
gentlemen, among whom I recognised Revol, one of the King's secretaries,
stood near the alcove. They looked up on my entrance, as though
expecting news, and then, seeing who it was, looked away again
impatiently. The Duke of Nevers was walking moodily to and fro before
one of the windows, his hands clasped behind his back: while Biron and
Crillon, reconciled by the common peril, talked loudly on the hearth. I
hesitated a moment, uncertain how to proceed, for I was not yet; so old
at Court as to feel at home there. But, at last making up my mind, I
walked boldly up to Crillon and requested his good offices to procure me
an immediate audience of the king.

'An audience? Do you mean you want to see him alone?' he said, raising
his eyebrows and looking whimsically at Biron.

'That is my petition, M. de Crillon,' I answered firmly, though my heart
sank. 'I am here on M. de Rambouillet's business, and I need to see his
Majesty forthwith.'

'Well, that is straightforward,' he replied, clapping me on the
shoulder. 'And you shall see him. In coming to Crillon you have come
to the right man. Revol,' he continued, turning to the secretary, 'this
gentleman bears a message from M. de Rambouillet to the king. Take him
to the closet without delay, my friend, and announce him. I will be
answerable for him.'

But the secretary shrugged his shoulders up to his ears. 'It is quite
im