"Listen, M.de Pavannes," he continued, rising to his full height and waving his hand with a certain majesty towards the window--no one had spoken.

"The doors are open! Your mistress is at Caylus.

The road is clear, go to her; go to her, and tell her that I have saved your life, and that I give it to you not out of love, but out of hate! If you had flinched I would have killed you, for so you would have suffered most, M.de Pavannes.

As it is, take your life--a gift! and suffer as I should if I were saved and spared by my enemy!" Slowly the full sense of his words came home to me.

Slowly; not in its full completeness indeed until I heard Louis in broken phrases, phrases half proud and half humble, thanking him for his generosity.