"It has fallen!" said the king. "Thank God, it is all over!" cried the cardinal. "Ah, let us leave the place, Sire; it makes me ill," said Mary, drawing the king away from the window. "Yes," said François, "I can feel nought but pity now." He left the cardinal standing alone at the window in great exultation; but he soon turned away too, as he heard the voice of the Duc de Guise. Le Balafré entered, proud and unmoved, accompanied by the Prince de Condé, who, for his part, had much ado to hide his grief and shame. "Sire, it is all over," said the Duc de Guise to the king; "and the rebels have paid the penalty of their crime. I render thanks to God, who has delivered your Majesty from this peril; for from what I have seen, I conclude it was greater than I supposed. We have traitors among us." "Can it be?" cried the cardinal. "Yes," replied Le Balafré; "when they made their first assault, they were seconded by the men-at-arms who came hither with Lamothe. They attacked us in flank, and for a moment were masters of the town." "That is terrible!" said Mary, pressing close to the king. "It would have been much more so, Madame," continued the duke, "if the rebels had also been seconded, as they hoped to be, by an attack which Chaudieu, brother of the minister, was to make upon the Porte des Bons Hommes." "Did the attack fail?" asked the king. "It did not take place, Sire. Captain Chaudieu, thank Heaven! was delayed, and will arrive only to find his friends annihilated. Now let him come at his leisure! he will find everything ready for him both within and without the walls. And, to give him food for reflection, I have ordered that twenty or thirty of his accomplices should be hanged on top of the battlements of Amboise. The spectacle will prove a sufficient warning to him, I fancy." "That was well thought of!" said the cardinal. "I thank you, my cousin," said the king to Le Balafré; "but I see that God's merciful protection has been most bountifully shown in this affair, since to Him alone we must attribute the confusion that prevailed in the counsels of our enemies. Let us in the first place, then, repair to the chapel to return thanks to Him." "After that," said the cardinal, "we will issue orders for the punishment of the surviving culprits. Sire, you will be present at their execution with the queen and queen-mother, will you not?" "Why, will that be necessary, pray?" asked the youthful king, walking toward the door, much annoyed. "Sire, it is indispensable," urged the cardinal, following him. "The glorious King François I. and your father, of illustrious memory, Sire, never failed to be present at the burning of heretics. As for the King of Spain, Sire--" "Other kings may do as they please," said François, still going toward the door, "and I, too, propose to have my own way."