The Strangled Queen Read Online Free Page A

staircase at i ncredible speed. Until that day Bersumee had always considered himself a tall man, now he felt a dwarf.
    Artois had only asked one question concerning the Princesses "How are they?"
    And Be rsumee cursing himself for his stupidity had replied,
    "They are very well, thank you, Monseigneur."
    At a sign Sergeant Lalaine unlocked the door with trembling hands.
    Marguerite and Blanche were wai ting, standing in the middle of the round chamber. They were both pale and, with the opening of the door, with a single, instinctive impulse for mutual, support, reached for each other's hands.
    Artois looked them up and down. His eyes blinked. He had halted in the doorway, completely filling it.
    "You, Cousin! " said Marguerite.
    And, as he did not reply, gazing intently at these two women to whose distress he had so greatly contributed, she went on in a voice grown quickly firmer, "Look at us, yes, look at us! See the misery to which we are reduced. It must offer a fine contrast the spectacle presented by the Court, and to the memory you had of us. We have no linen. No dresses. No food. And no chair to offer so great a lord as you! "
    "Do they know? " Artois wondered as he, went slowly; forward. Had they learnt the part he had played in their disaster, out of revenge, ou t of hate for Blanche's mother, that he had helped the Queen of England to lay the trap into which they had fallen?'
    "Robert, are you bringing us our freedom?"
    It was Blanche who said this and now went towards the, Count, her hands extended before her, her eyes bright with hope.
    "No, they, know nothing," he thought. "It will make my mission the easier."
    He did not reply and turned; upon his heel. "Bersumee," he said, -"is there no fire here?" "No, Monseigneur; the orders I received . . . " "Light one! And is there no furnitur e?" "No, Monseigneur, but I .. "
    "Bring furniture! Take away this pallet! Bring a b ed, chairs to sit on, hangings, torches. Don't tell me you haven't them! I saw everything necessary in your lodging. Fetch them at once! "
    He took the Captain of the Fortress by the arm and pushed him out of the room as if he were a servant.
    "And something to eat, said Marguerite. "You might also t ell our good gaoler, who daily gives us food that pigs would leave at the bottom of their trough, to give us a proper meal for once."
    "And food, of course, Madam!-" said Artois. "Bring, pastries and roasts. Fresh vegetables. Good winter pears and, preserves.' And wine, Bersumee, plenty of wine! "
    "But, Monseigneur . . " groaned, the Captain.
    "Don't you dare talk to me,' s h outed Artois. "Your breath stinks like a horse ! "
    He threw him out, and banged the door shut with a kick of his boot.
    "My good Cousins," went on Artois, "I was expecting the worst indeed; but I see with relief that this sad time has not marked the two most beautiful faces in France."
    It was only now that he took off his hat and bowed low.
    "We still manage to wash," said Marguerite. "Provided we break the ice on the basins they bring us, we have sufficient water."
    Artois sat down on the bench and continued to ga ze at them. "Well, my girls," h e murmured to himself, "that's what comes of trying to carve yourselves the destinies of queens from the inheritance of Robert of Artois!" He tried to guess whether, beneath the rough serge of their dresses, the two young women's bodies had lost the soft curves of the past. He was like a great cat making ready to play with caged mice.
    " How is your hair, Marguerite? " he asked. "Has it grown properly?"
    Marguerite of Burgundy started as if she had been pricked with a needle. Her cheeks grew pale.
    "Get up, Monseigneur of Artois!" she cried furiously. "However reduced you may find me here, I will still not tolerate that a man should be seated in my presence when I am standing!"
    He leapt to hi s feet, and for a moment their eyes confronted each other. She did not flinch.
    In the pale light from the window he was better able to see this