“I know what I say.”

“Sire, M. de Bussy has not been out of his hotel for two days. He is at home, ill in bed, burning with fever.”

The king turned to Schomberg, who said, “If he had fever, at all events he had it in the Rue Coquillière.”

“Who told you he was there?” said the duke.

“I saw him.”

“You saw Bussy out of doors?”

“Yes, looking well and happy, and accompanied by his ordinary follower, that Rémy.”

“Then I do not understand it; I saw him in bed myself; he must have deceived me.”

“It is well; he will be punished with the rest,” said the king.

“If M. de Bussy went out alone after refusing to go out with me——”