"Well, well," said Charles, turning to his brother-in-law, "since there is no escape, the sooner the better."
"I will leave you, sire," said Henry.
"Yes, yes, leave us," replied Charles; "and as you are a Catholic, Henriot, go and hear a mass for me while I stay for the sermon."
Henry bowed and withdrew.
Charles IX. went directly to the point.
"Well, madame," said he, trying to make a joke of the affair. "By Heaven! you are waiting to scold me, are you not? I wickedly upset your little plan. Well, the devil! I could not let the man who had just saved my life be arrested and taken to the Bastille. Nor did I want to quarrel with my mother. I am a good son. Moreover," he added in a low tone, "the Lord punishes children who quarrel with their mothers. Witness my brother François II. Forgive me, therefore, frankly, and confess that the joke was a good one."
"Sire," said Catharine, "your Majesty is mistaken; it is not a joke."
"Yes, yes! and you will end by looking at it in that way, or the devil take me!"
"Sire, by your blunder you have baffled a project which would have led to an important discovery."
"Bah! a project. Are you embarrassed because of a baffled project, mother? You can make twenty others, and in those,—well, I promise I will second you."