"I was wrong," said he, cordially. "Pray, attribute my angry impulse to my chagrin at finding you, upon whom I have relied so confidently, among my enemies." "Your enemy!" exclaimed Gabriel. "Ah, no!--I am not and never can be that, Monseigneur. Because I have declared myself more openly than they, am I any more your enemy than the Prince de Condé and Monsieur de Coligny, who are, as I am, Protestants, and not under arms?" "Under arms! I beg your pardon, but they are," returned Le Balafré. "I know it,--I know all! But their arms are hidden. Nevertheless, if we should meet, it is certain that I should dissimulate even as they do, should call them my friends, and in case of need officially bear witness to their entire innocence,--a comedy, it is true, but a necessary one." "Well, then, Monseigneur," said Gabriel, "since you are so kind as sometimes to lay aside conventionalities in dealing with me, tell me, I beg you, that when politics are not in question, you can still believe in my devotion to you, and my honor, Huguenot though I be; above all things, assure me that if a foreign war should break out some day, you would do me the favor to remind me of my word, and give me an opportunity to die for my king and country." "Yes, Gabriel," said the duke, "while I deplore the difference in faith which now separates us, I trust you and shall always trust you the same; and in order to prove it to you and to redeem the momentary suspicion which I so deeply regret, take this and make such use of it as you please." He sat down at a table and wrote a line which he signed and handed to the young count. "It is an order allowing you to leave Amboise, wherever you may wish to go," said he. "With this paper you are entirely at liberty. And you may be sure that I would not give any such mark of esteem and confidence to the Prince de Condé, whom you just mentioned, and that the moment he sets foot in this château he will be watched from a distance like an enemy, and guarded unknowingly as closely as a prisoner." "In that case, I refuse this mark of your confidence and esteem, Monseigneur," said Gabriel. "What! Why so?" asked the amazed duke. "Monseigneur, do you know whither I shall go at once, if you allow me to leave Amboise?" "That is your affair, and I do not even ask to know," rejoined Le Balafré. "But I propose to tell you," said Gabriel. "When I leave you, Monseigneur, I shall go to fulfil my other duty: I shall go at once among the rebels, and shall seek for one of them at Noizai." "At Noizai? Castelnau is in command there," remarked the duke. "Yes, he is; you are indeed well informed in every detail, Monseigneur." "What do you propose to do at Noizai, my unfortunate friend?" Le Balafré asked him.