These agents had gone so far in
their utter disregard of Henry's own intentions as to propose to
the Council of Madrid that the alliance should be cemented by a
marriage between the Dauphin and the Infanta.
That letter sent Henry early one morning hot-foot to the Arsenal,
where Sully, his Minister of State, had his residence. Maximilien
de Bethune, Duke of Sully, was not merely the King's servant, he
was his closest friend, the very keeper of his soul; and the King
leaned upon him and sought his guidance not only in State affairs,
but in the most intimate and domestic matters. Often already had
it fallen to Sully to patch up the differences created between
husband and wife by Henry's persistent infidelities.
The King, arriving like the whirlwind, turned everybody out of
the closet in which the duke--but newly risen--received him in
bed-gown and night-cap. Alone with his minister, Henry came
abruptly to the matter.
"You have heard what is being said of me?" he burst out. He stood
with his back to the window, a sturdy, erect, soldierly figure, a
little above the middle height, dressed like a captain of fortune
in jerkin and long boots of grey leather, and a grey hat with a
wine-coloured ostrich plume.
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