I rejoiced, however a moment later that he had uttered them; for
without them I might never have known, or known so early, the
kindness of heart and singular quickness of apprehension which
ever distinguished the king, my master. So, in my heart, I began
to call him from that hour.

The King of Navarre was at this time thirty-five years old, his
hair brown, his complexion ruddy, his moustache, on one side at
least, beginning to turn grey. His features, which Nature had
cast in a harsh and imperious mould, were relieved by a constant
sparkle and animation such as I have never seen in any other man,
but in him became ever more conspicuous in gloomy and perilous
times. Inured to danger from his earliest youth, he had come to
enjoy it as others a festival, hailing its advent with a reckless
gaiety which astonished even brave men, and led others to think
him the least prudent of mankind. Yet such he was not: nay, he
was the opposite of this. Never did Marshal of France make more
careful dispositions for a battle--albeit once in it he bore
himself like any captain of horse--nor ever did Du Mornay himself
sit down to a conference with a more accurate knowledge of
affairs. His prodigious wit and the affability of his manners,
while they endeared him to his servants, again and again blinded
his adversaries; who, thinking that so much brilliance could
arise only from a shallow nature, found when it was too late that
they had been outwitted by him whom they contemptuously styled
the Prince of Bearn, a man a hundredfold more astute than
themselves, and master alike of pen and sword.

Much of this, which all the world now knows, I learned
afterwards. At the moment I could think of little save the