"He is a good adviser, madame," grinned De Mouchy; but she stamped her foot. "It looks like a devil. Away with it! else I shall ask Orrain to fling it through the window." Simon smiled grimly, and stretched out a long, thin arm; but with a sullen look on his face De Mouchy lifted his pet in his arms, and, opening the door of the adjoining room, thrust it therein, shutting the door upon it. It was, indeed, a lucky change of plan I had made. Had I been behind that door discovery was certain. The Duchess had seated herself in De Mouchy's chair, and coolly lifting up the tablets ran her eyes over them. Simon flung himself upon the coffer, his sword between his knees, and began gnawing at his long moustache, whilst De Mouchy stood between the two, his deep-set eyes shifting from one to the other. Suddenly Diane's red lips curved into a smile. "_Eh bien_, De Mouchy! But you are building fine castles in Spain here! See this, Orrain; he thinks to net Chatillon, the Admiral, and the First Prince of the Blood!" And she broke into merry laughter. "And why not, madame?" scowled De Mouchy. Diane de Poitiers checked her laugh. "For the simple reason that the house of Chatillon has become wise over D'Andelot's affair, and will not set foot in Paris. As for Vendome, he must be dealt with differently." And her dark eyes flashed ominously. "Put the tablets aside for the present," Simon cut in, "and let us not argue. We each form an angle of a triangle, and the triangle will be nothing at all if one of the angles is taken away. Let us discuss measures; we will take the names after. How did my proposal go at the council to-day?" "Approved," said De Mouchy. "And the Chambre Ardente can act whenever the said court thinks fit." "That is, when you, as president, think fit?" "Precisely, Monsieur le Vidame." "This, however, is not enough," Simon went on. "Another little suggestion of mine, the suspension of the edicts, made, possibly, by madame's merciful intercession with the King, has borne good fruit, and Paris is full of heretics. But I presume that it is neither their bodies nor their souls that we desire." And he looked at his two companions. De Mouchy preserved a scowling silence, but with a flush on her face the Duchess said: "I do not follow you, monsieur. We are good Christians, and we work for Holy Church." Simon leaned back, his knee between his clasped hands, and laughed a bitter, mocking laugh. "Eternal Blue! For Holy Church! Ha, ha, ha! Ho, ho, ho! Madame, those sweet lips of yours drop pearls of wisdom." And he rocked to and fro. Deeper grew the crimson on the Duchess' cheek, and she opened and shut her fan with an angry snap. She tried to say something; but her words died away in a stammer, and her eyes drooped before Simon's cold and mocking look.