Again the princess repeated her former phrase: "Such things have been said."
Now Gonzague questioned her directly: "And you believed the accusation?"
The princess inclined her head: "I believed it."
At this reply a murmur not to be repressed ran through the assembly. Those that sympathized with Gonzague before now sympathized more deeply on hearing such an answer come so coldly from his wife’s lips. Gonzague allowed himself the luxury of a little, patient sigh, the privileged protest of the good and just under an intolerable suspicion.
"I am not surprised. The princess does not know me. For seventeen years the princess and I have been strangers. Now, for the first time, I can show myself to my wife as I am." He addressed himself directly to the princess: "Through all these seventeen years I, too, have been seeking what you sought; but, more fortunate than you, I have succeeded where you have failed."
He turned to Peyrolles, who was standing close to his master’s side, and commanded: "Bring in Mademoiselle Gabrielle de Nevers."
In a moment Peyrolles had vanished from the room, leaving every man in the assembly impressed and startled by Gonzague’s statement. The king looked from Gonzague, whose face he had been studying while he spoke with admiration and approval, and fixed his keen gaze upon the princess. She alone, of all those in the room, seemed unmoved by the momentous tidings that her husband had communicated. The younger men whispered among themselves, the elders kept silence, but it was plain that their curiosity was very great.
In a few moments Peyrolles returned to the room escorting Flora, now very beautifully attired in a dress of simple richness.
Chavernay could not restrain his surprise as she entered. "The little dancing-girl," he whispered to his right-hand neighbor, Choisy, but he said no more. Even his airy nature was impressed by the stillness of the company and the gravity of the situation.
Gonzague took the hand of Flora and conducted her across the room to the princess. "Madame," he said, "I restore your child."