"Yes, indeed, I will carry them!" cried Mary, eagerly. "Leave them here! Why, they might fall into the hands of these miscreants, might they not, Sire? I am quite sure I will carry them." "It will be a wise precaution," said François, with a slight smile. "I think I have omitted nothing else of consequence, my dear Dayelle?" continued Mary, looking around the room. "Madame will remember her 'Book of Hours,' I trust," said the maid-of-honor, rather affectedly. "Ah, I should have forgotten them," said Mary, ingenuously. "Let me have the finest ones,--the one which my uncle the cardinal gave me and the scarlet velvet one with the gold ornaments. Madame Dayelle, I leave you to look after all this. You see how preoccupied the king and myself are by the disagreeable necessity for this sudden departure." "Madame has no need to quicken my zeal," said the duenna. "How many chests and trunks must I order to carry everything! Five will suffice, I should think." "Order six, and go now!" replied the queen. "We must not fall short in this deplorable extremity,--six, without counting those of my women, remember! But let them make their own arrangements, for I haven't the heart to attend to all these details. Yes, François, I am like you; I can think of nothing but these Huguenots, alas! You may go now, Dayelle." "Any orders for the footmen and coachmen, Madame?" "Let them wear simply their cloth coats," said the queen. "Go, dear Dayelle, without further loss of time." Dayelle bowed and had taken three or four steps toward the door, when Mary called her back. "Dayelle," said she, "when I said that our people should wear only their cloth coats, you understand that I meant for the journey. Let them not fail to take with them their capes of violet velvet and their violet cloaks lined with yellow velvet. Do you understand?" "Yes, Madame. Has Madame any other orders to give?" "No, nothing more," said Mary. "But see that everything is done promptly; we have only about three hours. Don't forget the footmen's cloaks." Dayelle left the room without further hindrance. Mary then turned to the king. "You approve of these cloaks for our people, Sire, do you not?" she asked. "The Reformers will surely allow us to dress our household as we think fitting. We must not humiliate royalty too much before the rebels. I even venture to hope, Sire, that we may find it possible to give a little fête in their faces at Amboise, though it be such a detestable place." François shook his head rather gloomily. "Oh, don't you sneer at the idea!" said Mary. "That would intimidate them more than you think, by letting them see that, after all, we are not much afraid of them. A ball under such circumstances would be most excellent politics, I am not afraid to say; and even your mother, capable woman that she is, could suggest nothing better. But no matter! For all that I say, my heart is none the less torn, my poor, dear Sire. Ah, the villanous Huguenots!" CHAPTER XXII