"And when you do not see?"
"Doubt is then natural."
"Do you know that in that murder Queen Imma's accomplice was her lover Adalberon, bishop of Laon?"
"It was a great scandal to the church!"
"After the poisoning of Lothaire, the Queen and the bishop, finally delivered from the eyes of her husband, indulged their love more freely."
"A double and horrible sacrilege!" cried the Count of Paris with indignation. "A bishop and a Queen adulterers and homicides!"
Blanche seemed astonished at the indignation of Hugh the Capet and again contemplated him attentively. She then proceeded with her interrogatory:
"Are you aware, Count of Paris, that King Lothaire's death is a happy circumstance for you—provided you were ambitious? Bishop Adalberon, the accomplice and lover of the Queen, that bishop, expert in poisons, was your friend!"
"He was my friend before his crime."
"You repudiate his friendship, but you profit by his crime. That is high statecraft."