“I am not so sure of that.”
M. de Monsoreau was thoroughly bewildered; for if M. d’Anjou were in the Louvre, his absence on such a day was unaccountable.
Immediately after the sitting, Quelus, Maugiron, Schomberg, and D’Epernon, in spite of the ennui they experienced there, were so anxious to be disagreeable to the duke that they returned to him. He, on his part, was mortally ennuyé, as well as anxious, which, it must be confessed, the conversation of these gentlemen was not calculated to remove.
“Do you know, Quelus,” said Maugiron, “that it is only now I begin to appreciate our friend Valois; really he is a great politician.”
“Explain yourself,” said Quelus, who was lounging on a chair.
“While he was afraid of the conspiracy, he kept it quiet; now he speaks of it openly, therefore he is no longer afraid of it.”
“Well?”
“If he no longer fears it, he will punish it; you know Valois, he has certainly many good qualities, but clemency is not one of them.”
“Granted.”
“Then if he punishes these conspirators there will be a trial, and we shall have a fine spectacle.”