"I did not intend to go, Sire," replied the Duke, "till somewhere about twelve on Christmas-day, which would give me the opportunity of being present at two councils; and I shall be also absent so short a space of time--certainly not longer than three whole days--that the interruption will not be great."
"Well, be it so; be it so," replied the King. "We know that your activity makes rapidly up for time lost. As to the marriage, I will sign the contract in the revestry, where I meet you; and I think that, notwithstanding the poverty of my treasury, I have a jewel yet of some price to give the bride."
"I beseech your Majesty think not of it," replied the Duke of Guise. "She and her good husband will be equally devoted to your service without such a mark of your condescension."
After a few more words of the same kind, the Duke took leave, and Henry remained in the garden walking to and fro, and growing every moment more and more impatient for the arrival of Villequier.
"Where can he be?" he muttered to himself. "He promised to be back before nine o'clock this morning. What can detain him? By Heavens! he will lose the best part of our enterprise if he stays. Can he have met with some mishap by the way--or has some lady poisoned him with champignons or with Cyprus wine--or tried cold steel upon him--or shot him with a silver bullet in honour of his great master. No steel would touch him, I should think, if all tales are true. But here he comes; here he comes, alive and well, with the eye of a wolf and the footfall of a cat.--He is a handsome animal notwithstanding, even now, if he would but paint his lips a little, for they are too pale. Something has gone wrong. He seems agitated; and to see Villequier moved by any thing is indeed a wonder. Why, how now, dear friend? What is it that affects you? I declare your lip quivers, and your cheek is red. What is the meaning of this?"
"Why, Sire," replied Villequier, "I just met the Duke of Guise in the hall of the château, and he not only tells me that the marriage of his niece goes forward, but that your Majesty has promised to sign the contract, and to be present at the ceremony. How you intend to withdraw yourself, I do not know: but to throw, at least, some obstacle in the way, I said that my signature had not been asked; and while my application was before the Parliament of Paris, the marriage could not take place without that signature. He answered haughtily, Sire, not by requesting, but by commanding, me to be in the revestry of the chapel at the hour of half-past eleven; and he added, with a significant tone, that he would teach me the use of pen and ink."
Henry showed no wrath: his mind was made up to his proceedings; his dark determination taken; and utterly remorseless himself, he sported in his own imagination with the idea of Guise's death, and only smiled at his conduct to Villequier, as the skilful angler sees amused the large trout dash at the gilded fly, knowing that a moment after he will have the tyrant of the stream upon his own hook, and panting on the bank.
"You shall be in the revestry, Villequier," said the King; "you shall sign the marriage contract, for the King commands you as well as the Duke of Guise; and surely two such potent voices must be obeyed."
Villequier paused for a minute or two ere he replied, calculating what might be the King's motives in his present conduct. He knew Henry well, and knew his vacillating changeable disposition; and he suspected that he was determined to violate his promise to Gaspar de Montsoreau upon some inducement, either of hope or fear, held out to him by the Duke of Guise. He was well aware, however, that if the means taken had been disagreeable, the King, though he might have endured them smilingly in the presence of the Duke, would have burst forth into passion, almost frantic, when conversing with him. He therefore replied straightforwardly, "I suppose, Sire, the younger brother has outbid the elder."
"Wrong, wrong, good friend," replied the King. "Your hawk has missed its stroke, Villequier. The Duke of Guise wills it so! Is not that quite sufficient in France?"