第86章 CATHERINE IN POWER(5)

"No, but to bring them to repentance," whispered the Cardinal de Lorraine in his ear; "we want to coax them by a little sugar.""Do you know what I should have done under the late king?" said the Connetable, angrily. "I'd have called in the provost and hung those two knaves, then and there, on the gallows of the Louvre.""Well, gentlemen, who are the learned men whom you have selected as our opponents?" inquired the queen, imposing silence on the Connetable by a look.

"Duplessis-Mornay and Theodore de Beze will speak on our side,"replied Chaudieu.

"The court will doubtless go to Saint-Germain, and as it would be improper that this /colloquy/ should take place in a royal residence, we will have it in the little town of Poissy," said Catherine.

"Shall we be safe there, madame?" asked Chaudieu.

"Ah!" replied the queen, with a sort of naivete, "you will surely know how to take precautions. The Admiral will arrange all that with my cousins the Guises and de Montmorency.""The devil take them!" cried the Connetable, "I'll have nothing to do with it.""How do you contrive to give such strength of character to your converts?" said the queen, leading Chaudieu apart. "The son of my furrier was actually sublime.""We have faith," replied Chaudieu.

At this moment the hall presented a scene of animated groups, all discussing the question of the proposed assembly, to which the few words said by the queen had already given the name of the "Colloquy of Poissy." Catherine glanced at Chaudieu and was able to say to him unheard:--"Yes, a new faith!"

"Ah, madame, if you were not blinded by your alliance with the court of Rome, you would see that we are returning to the true doctrines of Jesus Christ, who, recognizing the equality of souls, bestows upon all men equal rights on earth.""Do you think yourself the equal of Calvin?" asked the queen, shrewdly. "No, no; we are equals only in church. What! would you unbind the tie of the people to the throne?" she cried. "Then you are not only heretics, you are revolutionists,--rebels against obedience to the king as you are against that to the Pope!" So saying, she left Chaudieu abruptly and returned to Theodore de Beze. "I count on you, monsieur," she said, "to conduct this colloquy in good faith. Take all the time you need.""I had supposed," said Chaudieu to the Prince de Conde, the King of Navarre, and Admiral Coligny, as they left the hall, "that a great State matter would be treated more seriously.""Oh! we know very well what you want," exclaimed the Prince de Conde, exchanging a sly look with Theodore de Beze.

The prince now left his adherents to attend a rendezvous. This great leader of a party was also one of the most favored gallants of the court. The two choice beauties of that day were even then striving with such desperate eagerness for his affections that one of them, the Marechale de Saint-Andre, the wife of the future triumvir, gave him her beautiful estate of Saint-Valery, hoping to win him away from the Duchesse de Guise, the wife of the man who had tried to take his head on the scaffold. The duchess, not being able to detach the Duc de Nemours from Mademoiselle de Rohan, fell in love, /en attendant/, with the leader of the Reformers.

"What a contrast to Geneva!" said Chaudieu to Theodore de Beze, as they crossed the little bridge of the Louvre.

"The people here are certainly gayer than the Genevese. I don't see why they should be so treacherous," replied de Beze.

"To treachery oppose treachery," replied Chaudieu, whispering the words in his companion's ear. "I have /saints/ in Paris on whom I can rely, and I intend to make Calvin a prophet. Christophe Lecamus shall deliver us from our most dangerous enemy.""The queen-mother, for whom the poor devil endured his torture, has already, with a high hand, caused him to be appointed solicitor to the Parliament; and solicitors make better prosecutors than murderers.

Don't you remember how Avenelles betrayed the secrets of our first uprising?""I know Christophe," said Chaudieu, in a positive tone, as he turned to leave the envoy from Geneva.