"You intended to give us warning of this horrible conspiracy?"
"No, I could not betray my patron, but I intended to save you and Monsieur Bellièvre. I felt sure you would not leave your leader; I should have despised you if you had."
"So," he continued, "I arranged to carry you off by force, and keep you shut up until the danger was past. Monseigneur, without intending it, disturbed my plans. Guessing you would return to Coligny's _hôtel_ I followed as quickly as possible with a few rascals who would do my bidding, and ask no questions. You were not there."
"The troopers reached the _hôtel_ before us," I explained.
"I guessed what had happened, and searched the streets. Finally I reached the house where you had taken refuge. I was too late for Monsieur Bellièvre; he was dead."
"As true a heart as beat in France!" I said.
"Yes," agreed L'Estang, "he was a gallant youngster. Turning from him I saw you fall, and ran across the room. The mob recognized me as Monseigneur's attendant, or it would have gone hard with you. Even as it was--but there, do the details matter? I got you away at last to the room I had prepared; then it was necessary to return to my patron."
I endeavoured to thank him, but he would hear nothing, saying, "A promise to the dead is sacred, monsieur."
"Charles may not be a strong king," I remarked some time later, "but he plays the hypocrite vastly well. One would have thought from his visit to the Admiral that he was devoured by grief."
"He was both sorry and angry at the attempt on Coligny's life; it was not his work."
"But surely he must have given orders for the massacre!"
"Afterwards, monsieur. At first I do not believe that even Guise meant to do more than kill Coligny and a few of the most powerful leaders. But they were blinded by panic; carried away by their own fears, and they swept Charles into the same stream."
"The world will say the horrible tragedy was planned from the beginning."
"The world may be right, but I hardly think so. No one, monsieur, can be more cruel than a panic-stricken man."
"Who was it," I asked, "that made the first attempt on the Admiral's life?"
"The same man; but he did not receive his orders from Charles; on that point I feel certain."