"Do you, then, continue to mistrust me?"
"Always, more than ever."
"I love frankness."
"Come, to the point, direct, and without mental reservation."
For a moment Charles the Wicked remained silent; then boldly fixing his viper's eyes upon the provost, he answered, slowly weighing each word:
"What do I wish, Marcel? I wish to be King of the French.... This astonishes you!"
"No," answered the provost with a coolness that stupefied Charles the Wicked; "sooner or later you were bound to make the disclosure."
"You foresaw things from a great distance.... How long is it since you foresaw it?"
"Since I saw your creature Robert le Coq, Bishop of Laon, throw himself with ardor on the side of the popular party, and show himself one of the most violent enemies of King John, whose daughter you married—"
"Nevertheless, if my memory does not fail me, you made good use of the influence of the Bishop of Laon in the States General to induce them to accept your famous ordinance of reforms."