She and her companions saw that there had been a catastrophe; a plot discovered.

There was bitter disappointment and deep dismay upon their faces.

The plot had been an excellent one.

De Coeuvres had arranged it all, especially instigated thereto by the father of the Princess acting in concurrence with the King.

That night when all was expected to be in accustomed quiet, the Princess, wrapped in her mantilla, was to have stolen down into the garden, accompanied only by her maid the adventurous and faithful Philipotte, to have gone through a breach which led through a garden wall to the city ramparts, thence across the foss to the counterscarp, where a number of horsemen under trustworthy commanders were waiting.