"Pray go at once," she said; "I will not accompany you, for I have
other matters to attend to."
"Things are not going well," the count said when Guy entered the room;
"the Orleanists are discouraged and the butchers triumphant. At a meeting
last night they determined that a body of them should wait upon the Dukes
of Aquitaine and Burgundy to complain of the conduct of the knights who
fell upon them when attacking the silversmith's, and demand in the name of
Paris their execution."
"They would never dare do that!" Guy exclaimed indignantly.
"They will assuredly do it, and I see not how they can be refused. The
duke has no force that could oppose the Parisians. They might defend the
Louvre and one or two of the strongly fortified houses, but the butchers
would surround them with twenty thousand men. Burgundy's vassals might
come to his assistance, but the gates of Paris would be closed, and it
would need nothing short of an army and a long siege before they could
enter Paris. When they had done so they might punish the leaders, but
Burgundy would thereby lose for ever the support of the city, which is
all-important to him. Therefore if you would save your friends you must
warn them that it will be necessary for them to make their way out of
Paris as quickly and as quietly as may be. In the next place, and
principally, you yourself will assuredly be murdered. There was a talk of
the meeting demanding your execution and that of your four men; but it was
decided that there was no need to do this, as you could all be killed
without trouble, and that possibly the Duke of Aquitaine might refuse on
the ground that, as your lady had come here under safe-conduct as a royal
hostage, you were entitled to protection, and it would be contrary to his
honour to give you up.
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