“‘Oh! impregnable! But if I had an army, which I have not—’
“‘Listen, Sire. We are not here to flatter each other. To take Cahors, which is held by M. de Vezin, one must be a Hannibal or a Cæsar; and your Majesty—’
“‘Well?’ said Henri, with a smile.
“‘Has just said you do not like war.’...
“‘Cahors is so well guarded, because it is the key of the south.’”
Chapter fifty-three of the above book recounts the siege itself,—as we know it in history,—but with all that added picturesqueness which Dumas commanded.
“‘Henri will not pay me his sister’s dowry, and Margot cries out for her dear Cahors. One must do what one’s wife wants, for peace’s sake; therefore I am going to try to take Cahors.’...
“Henri set off at full gallop, and Chicot followed him. On arriving in front of his little army, Henri raised his visor, and cried:
“‘Out with the banner! out with the new banner!’
“They drew forth the banner, which had the double scutcheon of Navarre and Bourbon; it was white, and had chains of gold on one side, and fleurs-de-lis on the other.