“Let me say to you,” he continued, in a low, earnest voice, “that there is nothing you can ask of the king which he will not grant, in return for this one act of devotion to the woman he loves better than anything on earth. I was told, last night, that some friend or relative of yours is in the Bastille, and that your object in coming here was to ask mercy for him. There is nothing, perhaps, that the king shrinks from so much as this subject of the Bastille. The clamors of the people have only made him regard it more resolutely as one of the royal appendages, which they threaten to destroy, and he is bound to defend. Say as little as possible of the horrors of that terrible prison, but confine yourself entirely to pleading the cause of this one man, be he friend or relative.” Tears came into Marguerite’s eyes; she lifted them to his face with an expression of gentle thankfulness that went to the young man’s heart. “You are kind,” she said; “I will not forget what you have suggested, and I shall always be thankful that you have remembered my mournful errand with interest.” “Who could look on that lovely face and not be interested. Surely, surely, you are not related to that stalwart man, who——” “Who saved the queen,” said Marguerite, quickly. “No, he is no relative of mine; only the very best man that ever lived.” “I hope you will not always think so,” was the gentle reply. “But now I come to say, that the queen will expect you two hours hence.” Marguerite gave him a quick, frightened look. “But Monsieur Jacques may not be here,” she said, anxiously. “Then I will escort you,” said the duke. Then, with a smile and a wave of the hand, he left the room. CHAPTER XXVII. DAME TILLERY PIQUED. Marguerite was still at the Swan, waiting with great anxiety for the appearance of Jacques, for the landlady of the hotel had so often repeated and improved upon the exploits of the day before, that she was getting weary of the subject and almost ashamed of the whole affair. She had noticed that the chamber which she occupied was by no means exclusive to herself. Dame Tillery not only kept coming and going, but now and then other persons would drop in with her, and remain to listen while she related the wonderful exploits which had lifted her into sudden notoriety. But in this she satisfied her conscience by mystifying the position, and speaking of the queen as if she were some court lady walking by the place where Dame Tillery was milking quite by chance.