The Suitors of Yvonne

le, and his head rested against the chair from which he had slipped; his long black hair was tosse

Lord Cardinal keeps a most unworthy table for me. Faugh! Uncle Giulio is a Hebrew-if not by birth, by instinct. He carries his purse-strings in a knot which it would break his heart to unfasten. But there! some day my Lord Ca

thin the walls of the Palais Mazarin, where there existed, albeit the law books made no reference to it, th

pology," I answered carelessly. "Your

who seeks my interest with my Lord Cardinal to obtain for him an appointment in his Eminence's household, and thus thinks to earn my good will. He's a pestilent creature, this la Motte," he added,

with one hand on the table and the other on the back of his chair. I

"May not a gentleman sit

. That gesture cost him his balance. He staggered, toppled backward, and clutched madly at the tablecloth as he fell,

overheard the thunder of his fall, the fool sat up amidst the

g towards him. "Silence! or we shall

ensively I turned, and sickened to see that that which I had dreaded most was come to pass. A tall, imposing figure in

e, then died out, and with gaping mouth and

ght count mayhap a dozen; then the Cardi

fulfil your trust, M.

carce knowing what I should

stepped up to Andrea, and surveyed him for a moment

ce he had been more successful. As it was, he had got no farther than his knees when his right leg slid f

in Italian. What he said I know not, being ignorant of their mother tongue; but from the fierceness of his utt

st him to get my nephew to bed. M. de Luynes, be good enough

e Dame, and in my heart the profound conviction that I was about to have a bad quarter of an hour with his Eminence. Nor was I w

the and feed you and give you a lieutenancy in my guards, I should endure so foul an abuse as this? Think you that I entrusted M. de Mancini's training in arms to you so that you might

tly. "'T is no fault of mine. Some fool ha

I make no doubt but that he would become a gamester and a duellist as well. I was mad, perchance, to give him into your care; but I have the good for

ence does

lf a mile of it, I will do that which out of a misguided sense of compassion I do not do now-I will have you flung into an oubliette of

t, and scarce crediting that such was indeed t

ain enough?" he ans

es and lost. That recklessness it was that caused me to shrug my shoulders with a laugh. I was a soldier of fortune-or should I say a soldier of misfortune?-as r

hinks that for one who has shed his blood for France as fr

s, and his lips curle

ing shed the blood of others for France more freely than its own. You are, I

er hot in my face as I

use to blush for the families they spring from-

his own obscure and dubious origin. He grew livid, and for a moment methought he would have struck me: had he done so, then, indeed, the history of Europe would h

Monsieur. Go quickly, while my clemency endures. Go before I

he firm tread of defiance, I stalked out of his apartment, along the corridor, down the great staircase,

eep in thought I wended my way home, oblivious of all

n. A week ago that was indeed what he had done. He had taken pity on Gaston de Luynes, the nephew of that famous Albert de Luynes who had been Constable of France in the early days of the late king's reign; he had made me lieut

fortune) had been opened to me anew, and now-before I had fairly passed that gate I had been thrust rude

With ruin itself, howbeit, there comes a prosaic dispel

carve upon the tombstone of a reckless, god

moment pluck you; back, from the morning of hope to the night of despair; back, t