And Catharine, as agile as if she were only twenty years old, pushed open a door of her cabinet, and pointed to an ink-stand, pen, parchment, the seal, and a lighted candle.
The king took the parchment and read it through hastily.
"Order, etc., etc., to arrest and conduct to the Bastille our brother Henry of Navarre."
"Good, that is done!" he exclaimed, signing hurriedly. "Adieu, mother."
He hastened from the room, followed by his dogs, greatly pleased to have gotten rid of Catharine so easily.
Charles IX. had been waited for with impatience, and as his promptness in hunting matters was well known, every one wondered at the delay. So when he finally appeared, the hunters welcomed him by shouts of "Long live the King!" the outriders by a flourish of trumpets, the horses by neighing, the dogs by barking. All this noise and hubbub brought a flush to his pale cheeks, his heart swelled, and for a moment Charles was young and happy.
The King scarcely took the time to salute the brilliant company gathered in the court-yard. He nodded to the Duc d'Alençon, waved his hand to his sister Marguerite, passed Henry without apparently seeing him, and sprang upon the fiery Barbary horse, which started off at once. But after curvetting around three or four times, he realized what sort of a rider he had to deal with and quieted down. The trumpets again sounded, and the King left the Louvre followed by the Duc d'Alençon, the King of Navarre, Marguerite, Madame de Nevers, Madame de Sauve, Tavannes, and the principal courtiers.
It goes without saying that La Mole and Coconnas were of the number.
As to the Duc d'Anjou, he had been at the siege of La Rochelle for three months.
While waiting for the King, Henry had spoken to his wife, who in returning his greeting had whispered,