And as the door closed and a puff of air caused the lights on the table to dance, the King leaned back in his chair and just then caught his own reflection in a tall glass at the further end of the chamber. "Ah," he mused, "Leoni doubts of my address. Let him be quite assured. And this Henry who has ambitions on my land of France! Shortly I shall meet him, and my strength will be greater than his since I shall know who he is, and he--he will be ignorant as to who I am. "Never in France Shall England reign!" he hummed. "To-morrow I shall meet him, and then that stone--for Leoni must be right--that jewel will be mine, and the last link which binds us to the old invasion will be snapped." The King rose and took a turn up and down the apartment. "I must speak again with Leoni," he said. "Where has he gone?" And he lifted a _portiere_ and walked out of the apartment, entering a long corridor where a coloured lamp hung from the ceiling. "Our host is well lodged," he continued musingly, as he passed on, stopping at a door through which a stream of light issued forth. The King pushed the door, which swung back noiselessly on its hinges, and gazed inside, to see Leoni sitting at a table, studiously intent upon some work--lost in the depths. He called softly: "Leoni!" The doctor did not turn his head. "Leoni!" said the King once more, raising his voice; and the man of learning leaped to his feet and came towards his master. "My lord!" he ejaculated. The King stepped into the room, and the door closed behind him. "Busily engaged, Master Leoni?" he said bluffly. The doctor bowed. "In your service, sir," he replied humbly. CHAPTER NINETEEN. THE GLITTERING STONE. "You are satisfied, I trust, doctor, with our programme?" said the King, in a slightly ironical tone, as he passed to the window, humming an old hunting song as he tapped the panes, while Leoni remained standing near the table at which he had been busily engaged writing. "Sir--" he began. "Sit down, Master Leoni; sit down. You can respect my disguise better, and also more thoroughly please me. I was saying, you are satisfied?" "Everything, sir, that you order is the best. Of that I am convinced; and yet, sir, I am anxious about the Majesty of France. I am common clay, sir. I am nothing; I can die; whereas you--" "No, no, Leoni; not here, not here. We have left that in France. Do you not understand? Just at present we are travelling companions, and I look to you and to your great learning for assistance, just as I received it in the forest that night; and then it was timely indeed." "You are too indulgent, my lord, to any poor attainments that your servant may possess. Such as they are, they will always be at my lord's service," replied Leoni, and he slowly resumed his seat in the high-backed chair, in obedience to a commanding gesture from the King. Francis laughed lightly.