"To supplement the present you have given to the Queen with
this," he blurted out, his face pale with emotion; and he
stealthily held out to me a green silk purse, through the meshes
of which I saw the glint of gold. "M. de Sully," he continued,
observing my hasty movement, "do not be offended! I know that
you have done all that hospitality required. But I see that the
Queen has already lost your gift, and that--"
She is playing on credit?"
"Yes, Monsieur."
He said it simply, and as he spoke, he again pressed on me the
purse. I took and weighed it, and calculated at a guess that it
held fifty crowns. The sum astonished me. "Why, man," I said,
"you are not mad enough to be in love with her Majesty?"
"No!" he cried, vehemently, yet with a gleam of humour in his
eye. "I swear that it is not so. If you will do me this favour
--"
It was a mad impulse that took me, but I nodded, and resolving to
make good the money out of my own pocket should the case, when
all was clear, seem to demand it, I went straight from him, and,
crossing the floor, laid the purse near her Majesty's hand, with
a polite word of regret that fortune had used her so ill, and a
hope that this might be the means of recruiting her forces.
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