"I come, sire; I come!" Tavannes repeated, as he moved from Mademoiselle's side.
He shouldered his way through the circle of courtiers, who barred the road to the presence, and in part hid her from observation.

He pushed past the table at which Charles and the Comte de Rochefoucauld had been playing primero, and at which the latter still sat, trifling idly with the cards.

Three more paces, and he reached the King, who stood in the _ruelle_ with Rambouillet and the Italian Marshal.

It was the latter who, a moment before, had summoned his Majesty from his game.
Mademoiselle, watching him go, saw so much; so much, and the King's roving eyes and haggard face, and the four figures, posed apart in the fuller light of the upper half of the Chamber.

Then the circle of courtiers came together before her, and she sat back on her stool.