Gonzague turned to the king with an appealing gesture. "I implore your majesty to let no one leave this place. If Monsieur de Lagardere is desirous of darkness and mystery, I ask only for light and truth." The king spoke, decisively: "If the attack has been secret, the justification shall be public." Gonzague addressed Lagardere: "Where is the woman who calls herself the daughter of Louis de Nevers?" The king also questioned: "Why is she not with you?" Lagardere answered, composedly: "Mademoiselle de Nevers will be here at midnight, and will herself present to your Royal Highness the papers that prove her birth." "What papers?" asked the king. And Lagardere answered: "The pages torn from the parish register by her mother, and confided to me in the moat of Caylus Castle." The princess leaned forward. "What do you say?" she asked, eagerly, and the king echoed her question. Lagardere replied: "The princess gave those papers to me when she placed her child in my arms, believing that I was her husband, Louis de Nevers." Gonzague questioned, with a sneer: "Why should she think you were her husband?" Lagardere looked him full in the face. "Because, thanks to you, I gave the signal agreed upon--her husband's motto, 'I am here.'" The princess clasped her hands. "My God, sire, it is true." "And these papers are in your hands?" the king asked. Lagardere answered, quietly: "They are in the hands of Mademoiselle de Nevers." Gonzague looked triumphantly from Lagardere to the king. "Then why is this pretended Mademoiselle de Nevers not here?" Lagardere replied, composedly: "She is to be here at midnight." Gonzague looked at his watch. "It is midnight now--she is not here. Your majesty sees the worth of this man's word." Louis gazed curiously at Lagardere, whose bearing, in spite of the king's prejudices as a friend of Gonzague, impressed him as that of an honest man. "Had you not better send for this lady?" he questioned. On Lagardere's face now some anxiety was depicted, and he answered, anxiously: "She will be here; she must be here. Ah!" In the excitement consequent upon the extraordinary scene that was passing in the king's presence, the attention of all the guests was riveted upon their host and upon the amazing altercation between Louis of Gonzague and the unknown adventurer, and the entrance of the tent was left unheeded and unguarded. At this moment the curtains were parted, and the figure of Cocardasse appeared for a moment in the opening. As Lagardere saw him, Cocardasse lifted his glove in the air and let it fall to the ground. Then, in a moment, he had vanished before any one had noticed the episode. Lagardere gave a sharp cry of pain as he turned to the princess. "Madame, your child is not here; your child must be in danger!" he cried. The princess clasped her hands as she cried: "My child! My child!" Gonzague pointed mockingly at Lagardere. "The impostor is already exposed!" he cried, exultingly.