Episode 3

Upon the instant,and before I could make up my mind how to take this,a second tripped forward,and saluting me,said,'M.de Marsac,I think?'

'At your service,sir,'I rejoined.In my eagerness to escape the gaze of all those eyes,and the tittering which was audible behind me,I took a step forward to be in readiness to follow him.But he gave no sign.'M.de Marsac to see the King of Navarre'was all he said,speaking as the other had close to those behind.And with that he too wheeled round and went back.

to the fire.

I stared,a first faint suspicion of the truth aroused in my mind.Before I could act upon it,however--in such a situation it was no easy task to decide how to act--a third advanced with the same measured steps.'By appointment I think,sir?'he said,bowing lower than the others.

'Yes,'I replied sharply,beginning to grow warm,'by appointment at noon.'

'M.de Marsac,'he announced in a sing-song tone to those behind him,'to see the King of Navarre by appointment at noon.'And with a second bow--while I grew scarlet with mortification he too wheeled gravely round and returned to the fireplace.

I saw another preparing to advance,but he came too late.

Whether my face of anger and bewilderment was too much for them,or some among them lacked patience to see the end,a sudden uncontrollable shout of laughter,in which all the room joined,cut short the farce.God knows it hurt me:I winced,I looked this way and that,hoping here or there to find sympathy and help.But it seemed to me that the place rang with gibes,that every panel framed,however I turned myself,a cruel,sneering face.One behind me cried 'Old Clothes,'and when I turned the other hearth whispered the taunt.It added a thousandfold to my embarrassment that there was in all a certain orderliness,so that while no one moved,and none,while I looked at them,raised their voices,I seemed the more singled out,and placed as a butt in the midst.

One face amid the pyramid of countenances which hid the farther fireplace so burned itself into my recollection in that miserable moment,that I never thereafter forgot it;a small,delicate woman's face,belonging to a young girl who stood boldly in front of her companions.It was a face full of pride,and,as I saw it then,of scorn--scorn that scarcely deigned to laugh;while the girl's graceful figure,slight and maidenly,yet perfectly proportioned,seemed instinct with the same feeling of contemptuous amusement.

The play,which seemed long enough to me,might have lasted longer,seeing that no one there had pity on me,had I not,in my desperation,espied a door at the farther end of the room,and concluded,seeing no other,that it was the door of the king's bedchamber.The mortification I was suffering was so great that I did not hesitate,but advanced with boldness towards it.On the instant there was a lull in the laughter round me,and half a dozen voices called on me to stop.

'I have come to see the king,'I answered,turning on them fiercely,for I was by this time in no mood for browbeating,'and I will see him!'

'He is out hunting,'cried all with one accord;and they signed imperiously to me to go back the way I had come.

But having the king's appointment safe in my pouch,I thought Ihad good reason to disbelieve them;and taking advantage of their surprise--for they had not expected so bold a step on my part--Iwas at the door before they could prevent me.I heard Mathurine,the fool,who had sprung to her feet,cry 'Pardieu!he will take the Kingdom of Heaven by force!'and those were the last words Iheard;for,as I lifted the latch--there was no one on guard there--a sudden swift silence fell upon the room behind me.

I pushed the door gently open and went in.There were two men sitting in one of the windows,who turned and looked angrily towards me.For the rest the room was empty.The king's walking-shoes lay by his chair,and beside them the boot-hooks and jack.A dog before the fire got up slowly and growled,and one of the men,rising from the trunk on which he had been sitting,came towards me and asked me,with every sign of irritation,what I wanted there,and who had given me leave to enter.

I was beginning to explain,with some diffidence the stillness of the room sobering me--that I wished to see the king,when he who had advanced took me up sharply with,'The king?the king?He is not here,man.He is hunting at St.Valery.Did they not tell you so outside?'

I thought I recognised the speaker,than whom I have seldom seen a man more grave and thoughtful for his years,which were something less than mine,more striking in presence,or more soberly dressed.And being desirous to evade his question,Iasked him if I had not the honour to address M.du Plessis Mornay;for that wise and courtly statesman,now a pillar of Henry's counsels,it was.

'The same,sir,'he replied,abruptly,and without taking his eyes from me.'I am Mornay.What of that?'

'I am M.de Marsac,'I explained.And there I stopped,supposing that,as he was in the king's confidence,this would make my errand clear to him.

But I was disappointed.'Well,sir?'he said,and waited impatiently.

So cold a reception,following such treatment as I had suffered outside,would have sufficed to have dashed my spirits utterly had I not felt the king's letter in my pocket.Being pretty confident,however,that a single glance at this would alter M.

du Mornay's bearing for the better,I hastened,looking on it as a kind of talisman,to draw it out and present it to him.

He took it,and looked at it,and opened it,but with so cold and immovable an aspect as made my heart sink more than all that had gone before.'What is amiss?'I cried,unable to keep silence.

''Tis from the king,sir.'

'A king in motley!'he answered,his lip curling.

Episodes
1 Episode 1
2 Episode 2
3 Episode 3
4 Episode 4
5 Episode 5
6 Episode 6
7 Episode 7
8 Episode 8
9 Episode 9
10 Episode 10
11 Episode 11
12 Episode 12
13 Episode 13
14 Episode 14
15 Episode 15
16 Episode 16
17 Episode 17
18 Episode 18
19 Episode 19
20 Episode 20
21 Episode 21
22 Episode 22
23 Episode 23
24 Episode 24
25 Episode 25
26 Episode 26
27 Episode 27
28 Episode 28
29 Episode 29
30 Episode 30
31 Episode 31
32 Episode 32
33 Episode 33
34 Episode 34
35 Episode 35
36 Episode 36
37 Episode 37
38 Episode 38
39 Episode 39
40 Episode 40
41 Episode 41
42 Episode 42
43 Episode 43
44 Episode 44
45 Episode 45
46 Episode 46
47 Episode 47
48 Episode 48
49 Episode 49
50 Episode 50
51 Episode 51
52 Episode 52
53 Episode 53
54 Episode 54
55 Episode 55
56 Episode 56
57 Episode 57
58 Episode 58
59 Episode 59
60 Episode 60
61 Episode 61
62 Episode 62
63 Episode 63
64 Episode 64
65 Episode 65
66 Episode 66
67 Episode 67
68 Episode 68
69 Episode 69
70 Episode 70
71 Episode 71
72 Episode 72
73 Episode 73
74 Episode 74
75 Episode 75
76 Episode 76
77 Episode 77
78 Episode 78
79 Episode 79
80 Episode 80
81 Episode 81
82 Episode 82
83 Episode 83
84 Episode 84
85 Episode 85
86 Episode 86
87 Episode 87
88 Episode 88
89 Episode 89
90 Episode 90
91 Episode 91
92 Episode 92
93 Episode 93
94 Episode 94
95 Episode 95
96 Episode 96
97 Episode 97
98 Episode 98
99 Episode 99
100 Episode 100
101 Episode 101
102 Episode 102
103 Episode 103
104 Episode 104
105 Episode 105
106 Episode 106
107 Episode 107
108 Episode 108
109 Episode 109
110 Episode 110
111 Episode 111
112 Episode 112
113 Episode 113
114 Episode 114
115 Episode 115
116 Episode 116
117 Episode 117
118 Episode 118
119 Episode 119
120 Episode 120
121 Episode 121
122 Episode 122
123 Episode 123
124 Episode 124
125 Episode 125
126 Episode 126
127 Episode 127
128 Episode 128
129 Episode 129
130 Episode 130
131 Episode 131
132 Episode 132
133 Episode 133
134 Episode 134
135 Episode 135
136 Episode 136
137 Episode 137
138 Episode 138
139 Episode 139
140 Episode 140
141 Episode 141
142 Episode 142
143 Episode 143
144 Episode 144
145 Episode 145
146 Episode 146
147 Episode 147
148 Episode 148
149 Episode 149
150 Episode 150
Episodes

Updated 150 Episodes

1
Episode 1
2
Episode 2
3
Episode 3
4
Episode 4
5
Episode 5
6
Episode 6
7
Episode 7
8
Episode 8
9
Episode 9
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Episode 10
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Episode 11
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Episode 12
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Episode 19
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Episode 20
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24
Episode 24
25
Episode 25
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Episode 26
27
Episode 27
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Episode 28
29
Episode 29
30
Episode 30
31
Episode 31
32
Episode 32
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Episode 33
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Episode 34
35
Episode 35
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Episode 36
37
Episode 37
38
Episode 38
39
Episode 39
40
Episode 40
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Episode 41
42
Episode 42
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Episode 43
44
Episode 44
45
Episode 45
46
Episode 46
47
Episode 47
48
Episode 48
49
Episode 49
50
Episode 50
51
Episode 51
52
Episode 52
53
Episode 53
54
Episode 54
55
Episode 55
56
Episode 56
57
Episode 57
58
Episode 58
59
Episode 59
60
Episode 60
61
Episode 61
62
Episode 62
63
Episode 63
64
Episode 64
65
Episode 65
66
Episode 66
67
Episode 67
68
Episode 68
69
Episode 69
70
Episode 70
71
Episode 71
72
Episode 72
73
Episode 73
74
Episode 74
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Episode 75
76
Episode 76
77
Episode 77
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Episode 78
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Episode 80
81
Episode 81
82
Episode 82
83
Episode 83
84
Episode 84
85
Episode 85
86
Episode 86
87
Episode 87
88
Episode 88
89
Episode 89
90
Episode 90
91
Episode 91
92
Episode 92
93
Episode 93
94
Episode 94
95
Episode 95
96
Episode 96
97
Episode 97
98
Episode 98
99
Episode 99
100
Episode 100
101
Episode 101
102
Episode 102
103
Episode 103
104
Episode 104
105
Episode 105
106
Episode 106
107
Episode 107
108
Episode 108
109
Episode 109
110
Episode 110
111
Episode 111
112
Episode 112
113
Episode 113
114
Episode 114
115
Episode 115
116
Episode 116
117
Episode 117
118
Episode 118
119
Episode 119
120
Episode 120
121
Episode 121
122
Episode 122
123
Episode 123
124
Episode 124
125
Episode 125
126
Episode 126
127
Episode 127
128
Episode 128
129
Episode 129
130
Episode 130
131
Episode 131
132
Episode 132
133
Episode 133
134
Episode 134
135
Episode 135
136
Episode 136
137
Episode 137
138
Episode 138
139
Episode 139
140
Episode 140
141
Episode 141
142
Episode 142
143
Episode 143
144
Episode 144
145
Episode 145
146
Episode 146
147
Episode 147
148
Episode 148
149
Episode 149
150
Episode 150

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