These two great and superior women had, at this crisis, no
greater art of behavior than the vulgarest of their sex. Perhaps it is
always thus when circumstances arise which overwhelm the human being.
There is, inevitably, a moment when genius itself feels its littleness
in presence of great catastrophes.
As for Christophe, he was like a man in the act of rolling down a
precipice. Lewiston, the Scotch captain, listened to this silence,
watching the son of the furrier and the two queens with soldierly
curiosity. The entrance of the king and Mary Stuart's two uncles put
an end to the painful situation.
VIII
MARTYRDOM
The cardinal went straight to the queen-mother.
"I hold the threads of the conspiracy of the heretics," said
Catherine. "They have sent me this treaty and these documents by the
hands of that child," she added.
During the time that Catherine was explaining matters to the cardinal,
Queen Mary whispered a few words to the grand-master.
"What is all this about?" asked the young king, who was left alone in
the midst of the violent clash of interests.
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