But Gilles took him by the nape of his dirty neck and haled him back
into the room. In less time than it takes me to tell of it, he lay
beside his colleague, and was being asked whether he did not think
that he might also come to take the same view of the situation.
Overjoyed that we intended no worse by him, he swore by every saint
in the calendar that he would do our will, that he had reluctantly
undertaken the Chevalier's business, that he was no cut-throat, but
a poor man with a wife and children to provide for.
And that, in short, was how it came to pass that the Chevalier de
Saint-Eustache himself, by disposing for my destruction, disposed
only for his own. With these two witnesses, and Rodenard to swear
how Saint-Eustache had bribed them to cut my throat, with myself
and Gilles to swear how the attempt had been made and frustrated,
I could now go to His Majesty with a very full confidence, not only
of having the Chevalier's accusations, against whomsoever they
might be, discredited, but also of sending the Chevalier himself
to the gallows he had so richly earned.
CHAPTER XXI
LOUIS THE JUST
"For me," said the King, "these depositions were not necessary.
Your word, my dear Marcel, would have sufficed. For the courts,
however, perhaps it is well that you have had them taken;
moreover, they form a valuable corroboration of the treason which
you lay to the charge of Monsieur de Saint-Eustache."
We were standing - at least, La Fosse and I were standing, Louis
XIII sat - in a room, of the Palace of Toulouse, where I had had
the honour of being brought before His Majesty.
Pages:
257
258
259
260
261
262
263
264
265
266
267
268
269
270
271
272
273
274
275
276
277
278
279
280
281