"Now I will take my leave," said Gabriel, rising.
"What, already!" exclaimed the duke.
"Yes, Monseigneur, I have learned what I desired to know. I will remember your words; they are safely buried in my heart, yet I will remember them. Excuse me, but it was essential for me to ascertain whether the royal ambition of the Duc de Guise was still slumbering. Adieu, Monseigneur."
"Au revoir, my friend."
Gabriel left the Tournelles even more gloomy and anxious than when he had entered there.
"So," said he to himself, "both the human auxiliaries upon whom I thought I could rely have failed me. I have none but God to look to now!"
CHAPTER VII
A PERILOUS STEP
Diane de Castro in her apartments in the royal palace was meanwhile leading a miserable existence of grief and mortal terror.
Yet every tie was not broken that bound her to him who had loved her so dearly. Almost every week André the page was sent to the Rue des Jardins St. Paul, to make inquiries of Aloyse concerning Gabriel's welfare.