"Well—did she die feared?"
"So much so that she would not have died had not your majesty feared her. Then—As a queen thou shalt be greater; or, Thou shalt be greater than thou hast been as a queen. This is equally true, madame; for in exchange for a terrestrial crown she has doubtless, as a queen and martyr, a celestial crown; and, besides, who knows what the future may reserve for her posterity?"
Catharine was excessively superstitious; she was even more alarmed at Réné's coolness than at the steadfastness of the auguries, and as in her case any scrape was a chance for her boldly to master the situation, she said suddenly to him, without any other transition than the working of her own thoughts:
"Are any perfumes come from Italy?"
"Yes, madame."
"Send me a boxful."
"Of which?"
"Of the last, of those"—
Catharine stopped.
"Of those the Queen of Navarre was so fond of?" asked Réné.