"Oh!" exclaimed Mon. Devanne, laughing, "our worthy father is fond
of reading memoirs and delving into the musty archives of the
castle. Everything relating to Thibermesnil interests him greatly.
But the quotations that he mentions only serve to complicate the
mystery. He has read somewhere that two kings of France have known
the key to the puzzle."
"Two kings of France! Who were they?"
"Henry the Fourth and Louis the Sixteenth. And the legend runs
like this: On the eve of the battle of Arques, Henry the Fourth
spent the night in this castle. At eleven o'clock in the evening,
Louise de Tancarville, the prettiest woman in Normandy, was brought
into the castle through the subterranean passage by Duke Edgard,
who, at the same time, informed the king of the secret passage.
Afterward, the king confided the secret to his minister Sully, who,
in turn, relates the story in his book, "Royales Economies d'Etat,"
without making any comment upon it, but linking with it this
incomprehensible sentence: `Turn one eye on the bee that shakes,
the other eye will lead to God!'"
After a brief silence, Velmont laughed and said:
"Certainly, it doesn't throw a dazzling light upon the subject.
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