"Bravo! because he has defeated us?" said Catharine.
"Why should I not applaud? When we fence together and he touches me do I not say 'bravo'? Mother, you are wrong to hate this boy as you do."
"My son," said Catharine, pressing the hand of Charles IX., "I do not hate him, I fear him."
"Well, you are wrong, mother. Henriot is my friend, and as he said, had he been conspiring against me he had only to let the wild boar alone."
"Yes," said Catharine, "so that Monsieur le Duc d'Anjou, his personal enemy, might be King of France."
"Mother, whatever Henriot's motive in saving my life, the fact is that he saved it, and, the devil! I do not want any harm to come to him. As to Monsieur de la Mole, well, I will talk about him with my brother D'Alençon, to whom he belongs."
This was Charles IX.'s way of dismissing his mother, who withdrew endeavoring to fix her suspicions. On account of his unimportance, Monsieur de la Mole did not answer to her needs.
Returning to her rooms, Catharine found Marguerite waiting for her.
"Ah! ah!" said she, "is it you, my daughter? I sent for you last evening."
"I know it, madame, but I had gone out."