“In that case, Heaven preserve me from excusing any one!” exclaimed Saint-Aignan. “Your majesty commanded me to speak, and I spoke accordingly.”
“Tell me, then, in what way the Comte de Guiche has been wounded?”
“Sire, it is said to have been at a boar-hunt.”
“This evening?”
“Yes, sire.”
“One of his hands shattered, and a hole in his breast. Who was at the hunt with M. de Guiche?”
“I do not know, sire; but M. de Manicamp knows, or ought to know.”
“You are concealing something from me, Saint-Aignan.”
“Nothing, sire, I assure you.”
“Then, explain to me how the accident happened; was it a musket that burst?”