Had you kept a close tongue in your foolish head--but
there! you did not, and so by a thoughtless word you undid all that you had
done so well. You may go, M. de Luynes. I have no further need of you--
and thank Heaven that you leave the Palais Royal free to go whither your
fancy takes you, and not to journey to the Bastille or to Vincennes. I am
merciful, M. de Luynes--as merciful as you are brave; more merciful than
you are prudent. One word of warning, M. de Luynes: do not let me learn
that you are in my nephew's company, if you would not make me regret my
clemency and repair the error of it by having you hanged. And now, adieu!"
I stood aghast. Was I indeed dismissed? Albeit naught had been said, I
had not doubted, since my interview with him that morning, that did I
succeed in saving Andrea my rank in his guards--and thereby a means of
livelihood--would be restored to me. And now matters were no better than
they had been before. He dismissed me with the assurance that he was
merciful. As God lives, it would have been as merciful to have hanged me!
He met my astonished look with an eye that seemed to ask me why I lingered.
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