"Where did you see him, Diane?" asked the king.
"At the Louvre, Sire, in this very room."
"About a fortnight ago, was it not?"
"I should think it was about that time, Sire," replied Madame de Castro.
"I suspected as much," returned the king.
He paused a moment, as if to rearrange his ideas.
Diane observed him attentively and fearfully, trying to divine the purpose of his unexpected question.
But Henri's serious expression seemed impenetrable.
"Excuse me, Sire," she said, mustering all her courage. "May I venture to ask your Majesty why, after your long silence as to him who saved me from disgrace at Calais, you have done me the honor to pay me this visit to-day, and at this hour, expressly, I should judge, to interrogate me about him?"
"Do you wish to know, Diane?" asked the king.