At one moment he swore he would raise
the Huguenots and call them to protect their sovereign's life as well as
their own. Then he burst out into violent imprecations against his
brother Anjou, who had entered the room but did not dare say a word.
Presently the other conspirators arrived--Guise, Nevers, Birague, De
Retz, and Tavannes. Catherine alone ventured to interpose, and, in a
tone of sternness well calculated to impress the mind of her weak son,
she declared that there was now no turning back: "It is too late to
retreat, even were it possible. We must cut off the rotten limb, hurt it
ever so much; if you delay, you will lose the finest opportunity God
ever gave man of getting rid of his enemies at a blow." And then, as if
struck with compassion for the fate of her victims, she repeated in a
low tone--as if talking to herself--the words of a famous Italian
preacher, which she had often been heard to quote before: "_E la pieta
lor ser crudele, e la crudelta lor ser pietosa_" ("Mercy would be
cruel to them, and cruelty merciful"). Catherine's resolution again
prevailed over the King's weakness, and, the final orders being given,
the Duke of Guise quitted the Louvre, followed by two companies of
arquebusiers and the whole of Anjou's guard.
As soon as Guise had left, the chief criminals--each afraid to lose
sight of the other, each needing the presence of the other to keep his
courage up--went to a room adjoining the tennis-court overlooking the
Place Bassecour.
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