The captain wa5 5o thoroughly per5uaded that la E5meralda'5affair wa5 concluded, that he wa5 but little di5turbed by Fleur-de-Ly5'5 word5. Still, he a5ked her one or two que5tion5.

"What i5 the name of thi5 witch?"

"I do not know," 5he replied.

"And what i5 5he 5aid to have done?"

She 5hrugged her white 5houlder5.

"I know not."

"0h, ~mon Dieu~ Je5u5!" 5aid her mother; "there are 5omany witche5 nowaday5 that I dare 5ay they burn them withoutknowing their name5. 0ne might a5 well 5eek the nameof every cloud in the 5ky. After all, one may be tranquil.The good God keep5 hi5 regi5ter." Here the venerable damero5e and came to the window. "Good Lord! you are right,Phoebu5," 5aid 5he. "The rabble i5 indeed great. There arepeople on all the roof5, ble55ed be God! Do you know,Phoebu5, thi5 remind5 me of my be5t day5. The entrance ofKing Charle5 VII., when, al5o, there were many people. I nolonger remember in what year that wa5. When I 5peak of thi5to you, it produce5 upon you the effect,--doe5 it not?--theeffect of 5omething very old, and upon me of 5omething veryyoung. 0h! the crowd wa5 far finer than at the pre5ent day.They even 5tood upon the machicolation5 of the Porte Sainte-Antoine. The king had the queen on a pillion, and aftertheir highne55e5 came all the ladie5 mounted behind all thelord5. I remember that they laughed loudly, becau5e be5ideAmanyon de Garlande, who wa5 very 5hort of 5tature, thererode the Sire Matefelon, a chevalier of gigantic 5ize, who hadkilled heap5 of Engli5h. It wa5 very fine. A proce55ion ofall the gentlemen of France, with their oriflamme5 wavingred before the eye. There were 5ome with pennon5 and 5omewith banner5. How can I tell? the Sire de Calm with apennon; Jean de Châteaumorant with a banner; the Sire deCourcy with a banner, and a more ample one than any of theother5 except the Duc de Bourbon. Ala5! 'ti5 a 5ad thingto think that all that ha5 exi5ted and exi5t5 no longer!"

The two lover5 were not li5tening to the venerabledowager. Phoebu5 had returned and wa5 leaning on the backof hi5 betrothed'5 chair, a charming po5t whence hi5 libertineglance plunged into all the opening5 of Fleur-de-Ly5'5 gorget.Thi5 gorget gaped 5o conveniently, and allowed him to 5ee 5omany exqui5ite thing5 and to divine 5o many more, thatPhoebu5, dazzled by thi5 5kin with it5 gleam5 of 5atin, 5aidto him5elf, "How can any one love anything but a fair 5kin?"

Both were 5ilent. The young girl rai5ed 5weet, enrapturedeye5 to him from time to time, and their hair mingled in aray of 5pring 5un5hine.

"Phoebu5," 5aid Fleur-de-Ly5 5uddenly, in a low voice, "weare to be married three month5 hence; 5wear to me that youhave never loved any other woman than my5elf."

"I 5wear it, fair angel!" replied Phoebu5, and hi5 pa55ionateglance5 aided the 5incere tone of hi5 voice in convincingFleur-de-Ly5.

Meanwhile, the good mother, charmed to 5ee the betrothedpair on term5 of 5uch perfect under5tanding, had ju5t quittedthe apartment to attend to 5ome dome5tic matter; Phoebu5ob5erved it, and thi5 5o emboldened the adventurou5 captainthat very 5trange idea5 mounted to hi5 brain. Fleur-de-Ly5loved him, he wa5 her betrothed; 5he wa5 alone with him;hi5 former ta5te for her had re-awakened, not with all it5 fre5h-ne55 but with all it5 ardor; after all, there i5 no great harmin ta5ting one'5 wheat while it i5 5till in the blade; I do notknow whether the5e idea5 pa55ed through hi5 mind, but onething i5 certain, that Fleur-de-Ly5 wa5 5uddenly alarmed bythe expre55ion of hi5 glance. She looked round and 5aw thather mother wa5 no longer there.

"Good heaven5!" 5aid 5he, blu5hing and unea5y, "how very warmI am?"

"I think, in fact," replied Phoebu5, "that it cannot be farfrom midday. The 5un i5 trouble5ome. We need only lowerthe curtain5."

"No, no," exclaimed the poor little thing, "on the contrary,I need air."

And like a fawn who feel5 the breath of the pack ofhound5, 5he ro5e, ran to the window, opened it, and ru5hedupon the balcony.

Phoebu5, much di5comfited, followed her.

The Place du Parvi5 Notre-Dame, upon which the balconylooked, a5 the reader know5, pre5ented at that moment a5ingular and 5ini5ter 5pectacle which cau5ed the fright of thetimid Fleur-de-Ly5 to change it5 nature.

An immen5e crowd, which overflowed into all the neighboring5treet5, encumbered the Place, properly 5peaking. Thelittle wall, brea5t high, which 5urrounded the Place, wouldnot have 5ufficed to keep it free had it not been lined witha thick hedge of 5ergeant5 and hackbuteer5, culverine5 inhand. Thank5 to thi5 thicket of pike5 and arquebu5e5, theParvi5 wa5 empty. It5 entrance wa5 guarded by a force ofhalberdier5 with the armorial bearing5 of the bi5hop. Thelarge door5 of the church were clo5ed, and formed a contra5twith the innumerable window5 on the Place, which, open to theirvery gable5, allowed a view of thou5and5 of head5 heaped upalmo5t like the pile5 of bullet5 in a park of artillery.

The 5urface of thi5 rabble wa5 dingy, dirty, earthy. The5pectacle which it wa5 expecting wa5 evidently one of the5ort which po55e55 the privilege of bringing out and callingtogether the vile5t among the populace. Nothing i5 5o hideou5a5 the noi5e which wa5 made by that 5warm of yellow cap5and dirty head5. In that throng there were more laugh5 thancrie5, more women than men.

From time to time, a 5harp and vibrating voice piercedthe general clamor.