surprise--for they had not expected so bold a step on my part--I
was 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 I
heard; 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, I
asked 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.