"Who goes there?" he cried, in his surprise, which was much increased
when he saw M. de Launay, who, hat in hand, advanced toward him, and said
to him, with embarrassment:

"Monsieur, it is with a heart pierced with grief that I am forced to tell
you that the King has commanded me to arrest you. A carriage awaits you
at the gate, attended by thirty of the Cardinal-Duke's musketeers."

Bassompierre had not risen: and he still held the medallion in his right
hand, and the sword in the other. He tendered it disdainfully to this
man, saying:

"Monsieur, I know that I have lived too long, and it is that of which I
was thinking; in the name of the great Henri, I restore this sword
peacefully to his son. Follow me."

He accompanied these words with a look so firm that De Launay was
depressed, and followed him with drooping head, as if he had himself been
arrested by the noble old man, who, seizing a flambeau, issued from the
court and found all the doors opened by horse-guards, who had terrified
the people of the chateau in the name of the King, and commanded silence.
The carriage was ready, and departed rapidly, followed by many horses.
The Marechal, seated beside M. de Launay, was about to fall asleep,
rocked by the movement of the vehicle, when a voice cried to the driver,
"Stop!" and, as he continued, a pistol-shot followed. The horses
stopped.

"I declare, Monsieur, that this is done without my participation," said
Bassompierre. Then, putting his head out at the door, he saw that they