“Shall I order them to be hanged?” said the king to his mistress. “But about my son, the Comte d’Auvergne?” he continued, going into the next room to fetch the child.
“Why did you tell him I should marry?” said Marie to the two brothers, the moment they were alone.
“Madame,” replied Lorenzo, with dignity, “the king bound us to tell the truth, and we have told it.”
“Is that true?” she exclaimed.
“As true as it is that the governor of the city of Orleans is madly in love with you.”
“But I do not love him,” she cried.
“That is true, madame,” replied Lorenzo; “but your horoscope declares that you will marry the man who is in love with you at the present time.”
“Can you not lie a little for my sake?” she said smiling; “for if the king believes your predictions—”
“Is it not also necessary that he should believe our innocence?” interrupted Cosmo, with a wily glance at the young favorite. “The precautions taken against us by the king have made us think during the time we have spent in your charming jail that the occult sciences have been traduced to him.”
“Do not feel uneasy,” replied Marie. “I know him; his suspicions are at an end.”