"Go on, Joyeuse."
"Carbon, the enemy of Sylla, said often, 'I have to fight at once a lion and a fox who inhabit the soul of Sylla, but it is the fox who gives me most trouble.'"
"Ah! it was the fox?"
"Plutarch says so, sire."
"And he is right, cardinal. But apropos of combats, have you any news of your brother?"
"Of which brother, sire? I have two."
"Of the Duc d'Arques, my friend."
"Not yet, sire."
"If M. d'Anjou, who always plays the fox, will only play the lion a little for once."
The cardinal did not reply, so Henri, signing to him to remain, dressed himself sumptuously, and passed into the room where the court waited for him. He entered, looking full of good humor, kissed the hands of his wife and mother, paid all sorts of compliments to the ladies, and even offered them sweetmeats.