“Then, my lords, you appear to think that we must stand still and look on while Guise makes his last stroke! That we, Frenchmen, should sit in our balconies, while the Lorrainers keep our streets! You risk nothing by joining us. In any case, if Guise wins, it is ruin, if not death to us all. Let me tell you one thing more. It is possible that the Constable may move at once, and the Admiral is already raising Poitou; yet again, Catherine is now with us, and another still--the Queen herself.” “Mary of Scotland--the niece of Guise!” exclaimed Cipierre, while Sancerre smiled quietly, as he said: “You are well informed, Marcilly.” “You see,” continued Marcilly, taking no note of the interruptions, “that we still have some cards, and if we can save the Prince, the Guise lose their game totally. Vibrac and I are here to do that, and, my lords, we seek but your aid to see the Queen-Mother and the King to-night, for there is no time to lose.” He resumed his seat, and for the moment there was a silence. Cipierre toyed with his glass, and Sancerre leaned back, stroking his beard. All at once he rose, with a smile on his face, and, turning toward the vicomte, said: “Cipierre, old friend, will I tell you what we are going to do? We now go to take these two gentlemen to the palace. We now go to bear two good swords to the King. We now go to awake my friend. We have been asleep. We would be traitors to our blood and our honor if we refused our help, and if the worst comes to the worst, we are both old enough to have learned how to die. Gentlemen, I am with you,” and he turned to us. “Give me your hands.” “_Mordieu!_” burst out Cipierre, “and mine too. Come what may!” CHAPTER XIII HOW SIGNOR BENTIVOGLIO BURNED HIS ALOES MARCILLY was right when he said that if we once succeeded in enlisting the good wishes of Sancerre and his uncle, they would act for us with full hearts. He knew them better than I did, who had forebodings as to the result of his plan; but through the information he had received from Maligny, and, above all, from Marie, he was enabled to gauge the situation correctly, and he had brought home the fact that both Cipierre and Sancerre were doomed men in the case of the death of Condé. Events had so worked at that time, that this would leave the Guise without a rival in France, and they would certainly not hesitate to take their toll of vengeance from the vicomte, whose hatred to their house was known; and still less would they stay their hands against Sancerre, whose flat refusal to aid in the sham trial had so nearly scattered all the fine-spun schemes of Lorraine. While we were buckling on our swords, and awaiting the horses, Cipierre bluntly asked his nephew: “And what is your plan, Marcilly? You have not told us that.” Jean was about to answer, when Sancerre cut in with a laugh.