"Is it true that the Duke is dead?" asked Lucille, coming hastily into Christine's room.
"Who says so?" Christine asked, rising suddenly from her chair, the color going from her cheeks.
"They are saying so in the court-yard, mademoiselle."
"Go, Lucille, quickly, find de Bornais, and send him to me."
De Bornais came presently.
"Is it true?" she asked.
"I know nothing certainly," was the answer, "beyond the fact that there has been heavy fighting. There is no doubt of that, and Roger Herrick is not the man to stay in a place of safety."
"No. He would be in the front of it all. I am sure of that."
"Mademoiselle, may I urge that you should no longer delay the scheme we have decided upon? The people are always fickle; it is well to please them while they are in the humor."
"A few hours can make no difference, de Bornais; I will decide everything in a few hours."