"Ah! you have been listening?" said Marguerite.
"What else could I do in the cabinet?"
"And did you find that I behaved otherwise than the Queen of Navarre should behave?"
"No; but differently from the way in which the mistress of the Duc de Guise should behave."
"Sir," replied the queen, "I may not love my husband, but no one has the right to require me to betray him. Tell me honestly: would you reveal the secrets of the Princesse de Porcian, your wife?"
"Come, come, madame," answered the duke, shaking his head, "this is very well; I see that you do not love me as in those days when you disclosed to me the plot of the King against me and my party."
"The King was strong and you were weak; Henry is weak and you are strong. You see I always play a consistent part."
"Only you pass from one camp to another."
"That was a right I acquired, sir, in saving your life."
"Good, madame; and as when lovers separate, they return all the gifts that have passed between them, I will save your life, in my turn, if ever the need arises, and we shall be quits."