“Ah, a bad habit! And what did I say?”
“It was something about a blind search.”
“Ah, yes; and you guessed at once what I meant?”
“Why, yes, sir. I immediately thought that you meant the—”
With a quick movement, accompanied by a smile, Leoni’s long, thin, brown fingers were laid upon Denis’s lips.
“Hist, boy! We are in King Henry’s palace, where walls may have ears. Speak it not. We understand one another, and know what in our master’s service we have come to seek. Denis, you are a boy in years, but I find you in many things a man at heart, and there should be no half confidences between us two. I like you, my boy, and always have, stern and cold and severe as I may have seemed. My face may have been hard, but there are moments when my heart is soft. Denis, my son, we are working for the King and for France, and so far I am at fault. I thought my task would be so easy that, once here, that which we seek would be within my grasp; and so far it seems beyond me, while the golden hours glide swiftly away, and before many days have passed our visit with all its risks must have an end. I shiver sometimes, boy, as I stand close by and listen to our master’s careless, light-hearted speech. Again and again he has been within an ace of betraying who he is, and at any moment some of the sharper-witted of the courtiers by whom we are surrounded may grasp the truth, and then, Denis, as Francis has said, we are in the lion’s den and the risk is great.”
“Yes, sir; I see all that,” said Denis, in a low earnest whisper. “Then you have no idea where the jewel of France is kept?”
“Not the slightest, boy, and I want you to use your eyes and ears to help me all you can. There is that young English esquire. You are great friends; perhaps he might know. I don’t like asking you to play the spy and betray your friend, but the English are our natural enemies. We are here upon a sacred mission, and we must quiet our consciences with the recollection that what we seek was torn by conquest from the Valois diadem.”
“Yes, I know, sir,” whispered Denis eagerly, influenced as he was by the masterful spirit and words of his tutor.
“Then try, boy; try your best to help me, while we have time. You promise me this?”