"Where are we going?" asked Henry.
"We are going to see if the Duc d'Anjou returned for Madame de Condé alone," replied Charles, "and if there is as much ambition as love in his heart, which I greatly doubt."
Henry did not understand the answer, but followed Charles in silence.
They reached the Marais, and as from the shadow of the palisades they could see all which at that time was called the Faubourg Saint Laurent, Charles pointed out to Henry through the grayish mist of the morning some men wrapped in great cloaks and wearing fur caps. They were on horseback, and rode ahead of a wagon which was heavily laden. As they drew near they became outlined more clearly, and one could see another man in a long brown cloak, his face hidden by a French hat, riding and talking with them.
"Ah! ah!" said Charles, smiling, "I thought so."
"Well, sire," said Henry, "if I am not mistaken, that rider in the brown cloak is the Duc d'Anjou."
"Yes," said Charles IX. "Turn out a little, Henriot, I do not want him to see us."
"But," asked Henry, "who are the men in gray cloaks with fur caps?"
"Those men," said Charles, "are Polish ambassadors, and in that wagon is a crown. And now," said he, urging his horse to a gallop, and turning into the road of the Porte du Temple, "come, Henriot, I have seen all that I wanted to see."