'You have not heard?' he exclaimed in astonishment.
'Not a tittle. Tell it me, my good fellow.'
'You have not heard that his Eminence is disgraced?'
I stared at him. 'Not a word,' I said.
He set down the pot.
'Then your Excellency must have made a very long journey indeed,'
he said with conviction. 'For it has been in the air a week or
more, and I thought that it had brought you back. A week? A
month, I dare say. They whisper that it is the old Queen's
doing. At any rate, it is certain that they have cancelled his
commissions and displaced his officers. There are rumours of
immediate peace with Spain. Everywhere his enemies are lifting
up their heads; and I hear that he has relays of horses set all
the way to the coast that he may fly at any moment. For what I
know he may be gone already.'
'But, man--' I said, surprised out of my composure. 'The King!
You forget the King. Let the Cardinal once pipe to him and he
will dance. And they will dance too!' I added grimly.
'Yes,' Frison answered eagerly. 'True, your Excellency, but the
King will not see him.
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