from the edifice of his dream, stiffened himself by a mighty effort to stand and resist the mother of his pupil.  But fear cried too loud in the heart of Elizabeth for all the reasonings of the monk to lull it to rest:  to every argument he advanced she simply said that while her son was not king and had not entire unlimited power, it was imprudent to leave him exposed to his enemies.  The monk, seeing that all was indeed lost and that he could not contend against the fears of this woman, asked only the boon of three days’ grace, at the end of which time, should a reply he was expecting have not arrived, he said he would not only give up his opposition to Andre’s departure, but would follow himself, renouncing for ever a scheme to which he had sacrificed everything.

Towards the end of the third day, as Elizabeth was definitely making her preparations for departure, the monk entered radiant.  Showing her a letter which he had just hastily broken open, he cried triumphantly—­

“God be praised, madam!  I can at last give you incontestable proofs of my active zeal and accurate foresight.”

Andre’s mother, after rapidly running through the document, turned her eyes on the monk with yet some traces of mistrust in her manner, not venturing to give way to her sudden joy.

“Yes, madam,” said the monk, raising his head, his plain features lighted up by his glance of intelligence—­“yes, madam, you will believe your eyes, perhaps, though you would never believe my words:  this is not the dream of an active imagination, the hallucination of a credulous mind, the prejudice of a limited intellect; it is a plan slowly conceived, painfully worked out, my daily thought and my whole life’s work.  I have never ignored the fact that at the court of Avignon your son had powerful enemies; but I knew also that on the very day I undertook a certain solemn engagement in the prince’s name, an engagement to withdraw those laws that had caused coldness between the pope and Robert; who was in general so devoted to the Church, I knew very well that my offer would never be rejected, and this argument of mine I kept back for the last.  See, madam, my calculations are correct; your enemies are put to shame and your son is triumphant.”

Then turning to Andre, who was just corning in and stood dumbfounded at the threshold on hearing the last words, he added—­

“Come, my son, our prayers are at last fulfilled:  you are king.”

“King!” repeated Andre, transfixed with joy, doubt, and amazement.

“King of Sicily and Jerusalem:  yes, my lord; there is no need for you to read this document that brings the joyful, unexpected news.  You can see it in your mother’s tears; she holds out her arms to press you to her bosom; you can see it in the happiness of your old teacher; he falls on his knees at your feet to salute you by this title, which he would have paid for with his own blood had it been denied to you much longer.”