"
"Am I a king?" he said bitterly.
"Cannot you be one? What did Charles VII. do? He listened to his
mistress, monseigneur, and he reconquered his kingdom, invaded by the
English as yours is now by the enemies of our religion. Your last
/coup d'Etat/ showed you the course you have to follow. Exterminate
heresy."
"You blamed the Saint-Bartholomew," said Charles, "and now you--"
"That is over," she said; "besides, I agree with Madame Catherine that
it was better to do it yourselves than let the Guises do it."
"Charles VII. had only men to fight; I am face to face with ideas,"
resumed the king. "We can kill men, but we can't kill words! The
Emperor Charles V. gave up the attempt; his son Philip has spent his
strength upon it; we shall all perish, we kings, in that struggle. On
whom can I rely? To right, among the Catholics, I find the Guises, who
are my enemies; to left, the Calvinists, who will never forgive me the
death of my poor old Coligny, nor that bloody day in August; besides,
they want to suppress the throne; and in front of me what have I?--my
mother!"
"Arrest her; reign alone," said Marie in a low voice, whispering in
his ear.
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