"That's subtle ... but be careful; the minutes are precious; your message is certainly important.... Its success may be endangered by a prolonged silence."
"Sire, I came to you, if not as a friend, still as an ally. You treat me like an enemy. Master Marcel will be thankful for my reserve——"
"Very well," said Charles the Wicked, ringing a bell. The call was forthwith answered by the equerry. "Let this man be taken outside of the town, and the gates closed after him. Do not allow him in again."
After a brief struggle with himself, Jocelyn resumed: "However outrageous be the reception you give an envoy of Marcel, I shall speak and fulfill my mission."
At another sign from the King of Navarre, the equerry stepped out again and the former said to Jocelyn: "What is your message?"
"Master Marcel charged me to say to you, Sire, that it was time to open the campaign; the Regent's army is marching upon Paris; all the vassals are up in arms; numerous troops of Jacques must be approaching Clermont to join you. Indeed, I am astonished at not having met any Jacques."
"By what gate did you enter Clermont? From what side did you cross the walls?"
"By the gate of the Paris road. It was dark when I arrived and sent you one of the archers who arrested me."
"You spoke with no soldier?"
"I was locked up alone in one of the turrets of the rampart. I could speak with nobody. I communicated only with your archers."