"Pooh! a fool who speaks to me cap in hand!" replied the duke. "The
coquetries of that Florentine woman seem to blind your eyes--"
"Oh! as for that," exclaimed the priest, "if I do play the gallant
with her it is only that I may read to the bottom of her heart."
"She has no heart," said the duke, sharply; "she is even more
ambitious than you and I."
"You are a brave soldier," said the cardinal; "but, believe me, I
distance you in this matter. I have had Catherine watched by Mary
Stuart long before you even suspected her. She has no more religion
than my shoe; if she is not the soul of this plot it is not for want
of will. But we shall now be able to test her on the scene itself, and
find out then how she stands by us. Up to this time, however, I am
certain she has held no communication whatever with the heretics."
"Well, it is time now to reveal the whole plot to the king, and to the
queen-mother, who, you say, knows nothing of it,--that is the sole
proof of her innocence; perhaps the conspirators have waited till the
last moment, expecting to dazzle her with the probabilities of
success.
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