“The rest of the blows which I have owed you on account of the Duc de Mayenne, since that day when you jumped so quickly out of the window.”
“No, monsieur; I know the number, and will return them. Be easy. What I have come for is a certain genealogy which M. Pierre de Gondy took to Avignon, without knowing what he carried, and, equally in ignorance, brought back to you just now.”
David turned pale. “What genealogy?” he said.
“That of M. de Guise, who descends, as you know, in a direct line from Charlemagne.”
“Ah, you are a spy! I thought you only a buffoon.”
“Dear M. David, I will be both if you wish it: a spy to hang you, and a buffoon to laugh at it after.”
“To hang me!”
“High and dry, monsieur; I hope you do not lay claim to be beheaded like a gentleman.”
“And how will you do it?”
“Oh, very easily; I will relate the truth, for I must tell you, dear M. David, that I assisted last month at the meeting held in the convent of St. Geneviève.”