"Monseigneur," he whispered to him, "his
majesty is awaiting your eminence's immediate appearance in the
cabinet."
The cardinal broke off abruptly his conversation with Lord Conti,
hurried through the hall and entered the cabinet.
No one was there except the king and queen, and in the background of
the apartment, in the recess formed by a window, the premier, Baron
Breteuil, the old and irreconcilable enemy of the proud cardinal,
who in this hour would have his reward for his year long and
ignominious treatment of the prince.
The cardinal had entered with a confident, dignified bearing; but
the cold look of the king and the flaming eye of the queen appeared
to confuse him a little, and his proud eye sank to the ground.
"You have been buying diamonds of Bohmer?" asked the king,
brusquely.
"Yes, sire," answered the cardinal.
"What have you done with them? Answer me, I command you."
"Sire," said the cardinal, after a pause, "I supposed that they were
given to the queen."
"Who intrusted you with this commission?"
"Sire, a lady named Countess Lamotte-Valois. She gave me a letter
from her majesty, and I believed that I should be doing the queen a
favor if I should undertake the care of the commission which the
queen had the grace to intrust to me."
"I!" cried the queen, with an expression of intense scorn, "should I
intrust you with a commission in my behalf? I, who for eight years
have never deigned to bestow a word upon you? And I should employ
such a person as you, a beggar of places?"
"I see plainly," cried the cardinal, "I see plainly that some one
has deceived you grievously about me.
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