"And you think they were wrong to fire on men doing that?" returned the sovereign, with kindling eye.
"I believe it better to argue with them than shoot them."
"Argue about what?"
"The King's sincerity."
"But the King is sincere!"
"Excuse me, madam: three days ago, I spent the evening trying to convince the King that his worst enemies were his brothers and the fugitive nobles abroad. On my knees I entreated him to break off dealings with them and frankly adopt the Constitution, with revision of the impracticable articles. I thought the King persuaded, for he kindly promised that all was ended between him and the nobles who fled: but behind my back he signed, and induced you to sign, a letter which charged his brother to get the aid of Prussia and Austria."
The Queen blushed like a schoolboy caught in fault; but such a one would have hung his head—she only held hers the stiffer and higher.
"Have our enemies spied in our private rooms?" she asked.
"Yes, madam," tranquilly replied the doctor, "which is what makes such double-dealing on the King's part so dangerous."
"But, sir, this letter was written wholly by the royal hand, after I signed it, too, the King sealed it up and handed it to the messenger."