Mary Stuart, waiting breathlessly, did not dare to ask him a question, lest she might disturb the current of his thoughts; but she scanned his features in an anguish of suspense. What would be his decision?
The famous physician sadly shook his head; and the movement seemed to the distracted queen like a sentence of death.
"Oh!" she exclaimed at last, unable to control her anxiety any longer; "pray tell me, is there no chance of saving him?"
"There is but one, Madame," replied Ambroise Paré.
"Is there even one?" cried the queen.
"Yes, Madame; and although, alas! it is not an absolutely certain one, still it exists, and I should be very hopeful if—"
"If?" asked Mary.
"If the man to be saved were not the king, Madame."
"Oh, that indeed!" cried Mary; "treat him, and save him as if he were the meanest of his subjects!"
"But suppose I fail?" demanded Ambroise; "for God alone is master. Shall I not be accused of having caused his death, being, as I am, a Huguenot? Might not such an awfully heavy responsibility unnerve me and make my hand tremble, when I should be in need of such absolute calmness and self-confidence?"