"Oh!" said La Mole, "he is so anxious to become the elder one that perhaps Heaven will work some miracle in his favor."
"So you do not know where you will be this evening?"
"No."
"Go to the devil, then,—I mean good-by!"
"That La Mole is a terrible fellow," thought Coconnas, "always wanting me to tell him where I am going to be! as if I knew. Besides, I believe I am sleepy." And he threw himself on the bed again.
La Mole betook himself to the apartments of the queen. In the corridor he met the Duc d'Alençon.
"Ah! you here, Monsieur la Mole?" said the prince.
"Yes, my lord," replied La Mole, bowing respectfully.
"Are you going away from the Louvre?"
"No, your highness. I am on my way to pay my respects to her Majesty the Queen of Navarre."