"Ma foi! yes; I confess it, my dear friend. This country is so fine, and its women so beautiful."
"Oh! sire, you forget the queen; can the Navarrese women be more pleasing and beautiful than she is? If they are, I compliment them."
"Ventre St. Gris, you are right, Chicot; and I, who forgot that you are an ambassador, and represent King Henri III., and that he is the brother of Marguerite, and that consequently, before you, I ought to place her before every one—but you must excuse my imprudence, I am not accustomed to ambassadors."
At this moment the door of the room opened, and D'Aubiac announced, "The ambassador from Spain."
Chicot gave a start which made the king smile.
"Ma foi!" said Henri, "that is a contradiction that I did not expect. And what the devil can he want here?"
"Yes," said Chicot, "what the devil does he want here?"
"We shall soon know; perhaps our Spanish neighbor has some frontier dispute to settle with us."
"I will retire," said Chicot. "This is doubtless a real ambassador from his majesty Philippe II., while I—"
"Open that library door, Chicot, and go in there."