"Yes," I said; "Ferret."
"And if so?" Sillery asked, haughtily. "What do you mean?"
"Only this," I said. "That if his Majesty will summon him to the
queen's closet, without warning or delay, and ask him in her
presence how much Madame de Verneuil gave him for the King's
cipher, her Majesty, I think, will learn something which she
wishes to know."
"What?" the King cried. "You have discovered it? But he gave
you a receipt for the papers he took."
"For the papers he took with my knowledge--yes, sire."
"The rogue!" Sillery exclaimed viciously. "I will go and fetch
him."
"Not so--with your Majesty's leave," I said, interposing quickly.
"M. de Sillery may say too much or too little. Let a lackey take
a message, bidding him go to the queen's closet, and he will
suspect nothing."
The King assented, and bade me go and give the order. When I
returned, he asked me anxiously if I felt sure that the man would
confess.
"Yes, if you pretend to know all, sire," I answered. "He will
think that Madame has betrayed him.
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