"Sire," rejoined Catherine, "I am accustomed to give way to your will, and to-day again I resign myself, but with grief and alarm at my heart."
"You will come to the Tournelles, Madame, will you not?" said the king, kissing Catherine's hand,—"were it for no other object than to applaud my prowess with the lance and convince yourself of the absurdity of your fears."
"I will obey you to the end," replied the queen, as she withdrew.
Along with all the court, except Diane de Castro, Catherine was present at the first day's tilting, where throughout the day the king crossed lances with all comers.
"Well, Madame, the stars seem to have been mistaken," he said jokingly to the queen in the evening.
Catherine sadly shook her head.
"Alas!" said she, "the month of June is not yet at an end."
The second day, the 29th, likewise passed off equally uneventfully. Henri did not leave the lists; and his good fortune was in proportion to his daring.
"You see, Madame, that the stars proved deceptive as to this day also," he again observed to Catherine, when they returned to the Louvre.
"Ah, Sire, now I only dread the third day!" cried the queen.