“À moi!” cried Concini, laying his hand on his sword; but before his train of startled courtiers knew what was happening, three of Vitry’s men had fired their pistols in his face; he fell dead, shot through the brain. Not a sword was drawn to avenge him; the words “By order of the King,” had suddenly recovered their old magic power, and the whole palace echoed with “Vive le Roi!” On that fatal morning, the Bishop of Luçon was paying an early visit to a distinguished doctor of the Sorbonne, one of the rectors of the University. The news reached the two theologians by means of a third, who brought it from the Palais de Justice. M. d’Ornano, one of the conspirators, had been sent there direct from the Louvre to inform the Parliament of what had happened: such a precaution was necessary, for Paris was already in an uproar. Rumour cried in the streets that the young King had been wounded, and by the hand of the Maréchal. The shops were hastily shut and crowds were pouring towards the Louvre, to meet the news that the King was well and the Maréchal dead. Then Paris burst into acclamations of joy. For the Bishop of Luçon the event was of the most serious consequence, but he wasted neither time nor words in lamenting his patron. “I was the more surprised,” he says, “as I had never foreseen that those who were near the King would be strong enough to design such an enterprise. I immediately quitted the company of that doctor, famous both for his teaching and his virtue, who did not forget to say quite _à propos_ what I might have expected from a man of his learning--as to the inconstancy of fortune and the uncertainty of all that may seem most settled in human life.” On the Pont Neuf, as he drove home, the Bishop met his friend M. du Tremblay, full of the news, who told him that the King was inquiring for him. Before presenting himself at the Louvre, he sought out his terrified colleagues, Mangot and Barbin, who feared the worst for themselves and for him. It was agreed that they should go one by one, the Bishop first, to receive His Majesty’s commands.