"I will neither take you nor your guards," was the abrupt reply; "I
want no one near me."

And upon this command the disappointed courtier was compelled to
withdraw.

"Drive from the palace," shouted the monarch in a tone of excitement;
"in the direction of the Hôtel de Longueville." The carriage started at
a rapid pace, and it had no sooner reached the spot indicated, than he
again exclaimed, "And now to the Cross of Trahoir." [18] Arrived at this
wretched nook, he next desired to be driven to the Cemetery of the
Innocents, for which purpose it was necessary to pass from the Rue St.
Honoré into that of La Ferronnerie, which was at that period extremely
narrow, and rendered still more so by the numerous shops built against
the cemetery wall. On reaching this point the progress of the royal
carriage was impeded by two heavily-laden waggons, and the footmen who
had hitherto run beside it pressed forward towards the end of the
thoroughfare in order to rejoin it at the other extremity of the street.
Two attendants only remained at their station, one of whom was employed
in hastening the movements of the embarrassed waggoners, while the other
was engaged in arranging some portion of his dress which had become
displaced. At this moment a man advanced towards the King's equipage,
wrapped in a wide mantle, and carefully picked his way between the
trading-booths and the carriage, which he had no sooner reached than,
placing one of his feet on a spoke of the wheel, and the other on a
doorstep, he plunged a knife into the side of the King, who was at that
moment engaged in reading a letter.

As he felt the blow Henry exclaimed, "I am stabbed!" While he uttered