As he was going towards the little passage where the Comte was
waiting, the Princess who was somewhat embarrassed at being alone
with the Duc de Guise, asked the latter several times to come
into the room. He refused to do so and as she continued to press
him and as he was furiously angry he answered her so loudly that
he was heard by the Prince de Montpensier, but so indistinctly
that the Prince heard only a man's voice without being able to
recognise it as that of the Comte.

These events would have infuriated a character more placid and
less jealous than the Prince de Montpensier. He hurled himself
against the door, calling for it to be opened, and cruelly
surprising the Princess, the Duc de Guise and the Comte de
Chabannes. This last, hearing the Prince's voice, saw immediately
that it was impossible to prevent him from believing that there
was someone in his wife's room, and that he was in such a state
that if he found that it was the Duc de Guise he might kill him
before the eyes of the Princess and that even her life might be
at risk. He decided, in an act of extraordinary generosity, to
sacrifice himself to save a successful rival and an ungrateful
mistress.

While the Prince was battering on the door, he went to the Duc,
who had no idea what to do, put him in the care of the woman who
had arranged his entry by the bridge and told her to show him the
way out. Scarcely had he left when the Prince having broken down
the door entered the room like a man possessed. However when he
saw only the Comte de Chabanne, motionless, leaning on a table
with a look of infinite sadness on his face, he stopped short.