"What sister-in-law?" asked Charles. "I know none except Queen Elizabeth."
"Pardon, sire! it was your sister I should have said—Madame Marguerite, whom we saw pass in her litter as we came by here half an hour ago. She was accompanied by two courtiers who rode on either side of her."
"Indeed!" said Charles. "What do you say to that, Henry?"
"That the Queen of Navarre is perfectly free to go where she pleases, but I doubt if she has left the Louvre."
"Well, I am sure she did," said the Duc de Guise.
"And I too," said the Duc d'Anjou, "from the fact that the litter stopped in the Rue Cloche Percée."
"Your sister-in-law, not this one," said Henry, pointing to the Hôtel de Condé, "but that one," turning in the direction of the Hôtel de Guise, "must also be of the party, for we left them together, and, as you know, they are inseparable."
"I do not know what your majesty means," replied the Duc de Guise.
"On the contrary," said the king, "nothing is simpler. That is why a courtier was riding at either side of the litter."
"Well!" said the duke, "if there is any scandal concerning my sisters-in-law, let us beg the King to withhold justice."