saw that he was in the wrong.

"Messieurs," said De Guiche, intuitively divining the general feeling,
"my discussion with Monsieur de Wardes refers to a subject so delicate in
its nature, that it is most important no one should hear more than you
have already heard. Close the doors, then, I beg you, and let us finish
our conversation in the manner which becomes two gentlemen, one of whom
has given the other the lie."

"Messieurs, messieurs!" exclaimed those who were present.

"Is it your opinion, then, that I was wrong in defending Mademoiselle de
la Valliere?" said De Guiche. "In that case, I pass judgment upon
myself, and am ready to withdraw the offensive words I may have used to
Monsieur de Wardes."

"The deuce! certainly not!" said Saint-Aignan. "Mademoiselle de la
Valliere is an angel."

"Virtue and purity itself," said Manicamp.

"You see, Monsieur de Wardes," said De Guiche, "I am not the only one who
undertakes the defense of
that poor girl. I entreat you, therefore,
messieurs, a second time, to leave us. You see, it is impossible we
could be more calm and composed than we are."

It was the very thing the courtiers wished; some went out at one door,
and the rest at the other, and the two young men were left alone.