The stranger did not move, nor did he reply; he simply raised his head slightly, which was shaded from Henri's eyes by his broad felt hat.
The king recoiled as he recognized the pale and dejected features of Gabriel. He said no more, but muttered to himself, lowering his head,—
"The Comte de Montgommery! Then I have nothing more to say."
And without another word, he put spurs to his horse and galloped off into the forest.
"He would not kill me," he said to himself, seized with a death-like tremor; "but it seems that he would let me die."
Gabriel, once more alone, repeated with a gloomy smile,—
"I feel that my prey is coming nearer, and the hour is approaching."
CHAPTER X
BETWEEN TWO DUTIES
The marriage contracts of Élisabeth and Marguerite de France were to be signed at the Louvre on the 28th of June, and the king returned to Paris on the 25th, more cast down and preoccupied than ever.