"I know not what the king wishes," replied Lorenzo, "or how long he may detain me--not long, I hope."
Those words bound him to nothing in the common eye of the world; but, as he pondered them while riding on his way, he felt that they implied a promise to return as soon as the king left him free to do so. And yet he hesitated, and yet he doubted, and yet he asked himself, "Can she make my happiness, or can I make hers?"
"It is well to be off with the old love
Before we are on with the new,"
says an old song, and Lorenzo had reason to regret that he did not apply the maxim it contains to his own heart.
After traversing one half of France, and at Blois increasing his retinue by a number of his servants from Paris, he rode on to fair Amboise, where the king was then engaged in erecting those splendid buildings which since his day have been the scene of so many tragical events. He arrived at the castle early in the morning, and was immediately admitted to Charles's presence. The monarch received him kindly, saying,
"So, my good cousin, you have come at length; your illness must have been severe and tedious. What was its nature?"
"Some broken bones, may it please your Majesty, and a body all bruised and shaken by my horse falling down a hill and rolling over me," replied Lorenzo.
"By my faith! it does not please my Majesty at all," said the king, laughing. "Odds life! dear Lorenzo, if your horse had served you so at Fornovo, I should have been at the tender mercies of the Venetians, most likely. But they tell me you found consolation in a fair lady's society, and had plenty of it."
"Mademoiselle de Chaumont attended me most kindly, and gave me as much of her time as she could spare," replied Lorenzo, gravely.
"She gave you a little of her reputation too, I am told," answered the king, "and this is a subject on which I must speak to you seriously, my cousin. You are perhaps not aware that idle and malicious tongues have been busy with your name and that of Eloise de Chaumont. They say that she would pass more than one half the night in your chamber."