Thereupon Catharine set out for the apartments of her son, whom she found holding a conference with D'Alençon.
"Ah! ah!" exclaimed Charles IX., frowning, "is it you, mother?"
"Why did you not say 'again'? The word was in your mind, Charles."
"What is in my mind belongs to me, madame," said the King, in the rough tone he sometimes used even when speaking to Catharine. "What do you want of me? Tell me quickly."
"Well, you were right, my son," said Catharine to Charles, "and you, D'Alençon, were wrong."
"In what respect, madame?" asked both princes.
"It was not Monsieur de la Mole who was in the apartments of the King of Navarre."
"Ah! ah!" cried François, growing pale.
"Who was it, then?" asked Charles.
"We do not know yet, but we shall know when Maurevel is able to speak. So let us drop the subject, which will soon be explained, and return to Monsieur de la Mole."