'Yes, now.'
'Your Majesty, it is not now possible!'
'Ventre St. Gris!—not possible!'
'Permit me, Sire—the only way is by this window. If your Majesty will step here, you will see the risk of it. I will go and see if they have met; but I conjure you not to make the attempt. The slightest accident would be fatal.'
'Do you think I have never scaled a rock before?' he said, craning out of the window. 'Am I a child, M. d'Auriac, or mille tonnerres! because my beard is grey, am I in my dotage? I will go, sir, and thank God that for this moment I can drop the King and be a simple knight. You can stay behind, monsieur, if you like. I go to test the truth of your words.'
'Your Majesty might save yourself the trouble. I again entreat you; your life belongs to France.'
'I know that,' he interrupted haughtily. 'No more prating, please. Will you go first, or shall I?'
There was no answer to this. It flashed on me to call to de Vitry for aid to stop the King, but one look at those resolute features before me convinced me that such a course would be useless. I lowered the light, and then testing the ends of the ladder again and again, made the ascent as before. Leaning through the embrasure, I saw the dark figure of the King already holding on to the ladder, and he followed me, as agile as a cat. Making a long arm, I seized him by the shoulder, and with this assistance he clambered noiselessly over the parapet and lay beside me.
'Cahors over again,' he whispered; 'and that is the skylight. They burn bright lamps.'
'The easier for us to see, Sire. Creep forward softly and look.'