“I shall be ready against your return; here is a crown meanwhile.”
Gorenflot went off quite happy, and then Chicot made, with a gimlet, a hole in the partition at about the height of his eye. Through this, he could hear distinctly all that passed, and he could just see the host talking to Nicolas David, who was professing to have been sent on a mission by the king, to whom he professed great fidelity. The host did not reply, but Chicot fancied he could see an ironical smile on his lip whenever the king’s name was mentioned.
“Is he a leaguer?” thought Chicot; “I will find out.”
When the host left David he came to visit Chicot, who said, “Pray sit down, monsieur; and before we make a definitive arrangement, listen to my history. You saw me this morning with a monk?”
“Yes, monsieur.”
“Silence! that monk is proscribed.”
“What! is he a disguised Huguenot?”
Chicot took an offended air. “Huguenot, indeed! he is my relation, and I have no Huguenot relations. On the contrary, he is so fierce an enemy of the Huguenots, that he has fallen into disgrace with his majesty Henri III., who protects them, as you know.”
The host began to look interested. “Silence,” said he.
“Why, have you any of the king’s people here?”