abide by her original intention, believing that she should never feel
safe until Andre was far away from a court in appearance so friendly but
in reality so treacherous. The person who seemed most disturbed by the
departure, and tried to hinder it by every means in his power, was Friar
Robert. Immersed in his political schemes, bending over his mysterious
plans with all the eagerness of a gambler who is on the point of
gaining, the Dominican, who thought himself on the eve of a tremendous
event, who by cunning, patience, and labour hoped to scatter his enemies
and to reign as absolute autocrat, now falling suddenly from the edifice
of his dream, stiffened himself by a mighty effort to stand and resist
the mother of his pupil. But fear cried too loud in the heart of
Elizabeth for all the reasonings of the monk to lull it to rest: to
every argument he advanced she simply said that while her son was not
king and had not entire unlimited power, it was imprudent to leave him
exposed to his enemies. The monk, seeing that all was indeed lost and
that he could not contend against the fears of this woman, asked only
the boon of three days' grace, at the end of which time, should a reply
he was expecting have not arrived, he said he would not only give up his
opposition to Andre's departure, but would follow himself, renouncing
for ever a scheme to which he had sacrificed everything.

Towards the end of the third day, as Elizabeth was definitely making
her preparations for departure, the monk entered radiant. Showing her a
letter which he had just hastily broken open, he cried triumphantly--

"God be praised, madam! I can at last give you incontestable proofs of
my active zeal and accurate foresight."

Andre's mother, after rapidly running through the document, turned her
eyes on the monk with yet some traces of mistrust in her manner, not