"I?"
"You, Monsieur. I believe that you slept in Fontainebleau. But who wore your grey cloak?"
"I can not say truthfully because I do not know."
"Take care!"
"I do not know who wore my cloak."
"A while back you said something about truth. You are not telling it now. I will know who killed De Brissac, an honored and respected gentleman, whatever his political opinions may have been in the past. It was an encounter under questionable circumstances. The edict reads that whosoever shall be found guilty of killing in a personal quarrel shall be subject to imprisonment or death. The name of the man who wore your cloak, or I shall hold you culpable and punish you in his stead."
The Chevalier stooped and recovered his hat, but he did not touch the sword.
"It is impossible for me to tell you, Monseigneur. I do not know. The cloak may have been stolen and worn by some one I never saw."
"To whom did you lend the cloak?"
"To tell that might bring another innocent man under a cloud. Besides, I have been absent thirty days; that is a long time to remember so trivial a thing."