64 TEN" YEAES LATEE. firm as the pillar of a cathedral, replied, in his usual tran- quil tone of voice: ""And you, monsieur?" "I, monsieur, am His Grace the Duke of Buckingham; I have hired all the houses which surround the Hotel de Ville, where I have business to transact; and as these houses are let, they belong to me, and as 1 hired them in order to preserve the right of free access to the Hotel de Ville, you are not justified in preventing me passing to it." "But who prevents you passing, monsieur?" inquired Manicamp. "Your sentinels." "Because you wish to pass on horseback, and orders have been given to let only persons on foot pass." "No one has any right to give orders here, except my- self," said Buckingham. "On what grounds?" inquired Manicamp, with his soft tone. "Will you do me the favor to explain this enigma to me?" "Because, as I have already told you, I have hired all the houses looking on the square." "We are very -well aware of that, since nothing but the square itself has been left for us." "You are mistaken, monsieur; the square belongs to me, as well as the houses in it." "Forgive me, monsieur, but you are mistaken there. In our country, we say the highway belongs to the king, there- fore this square is his majesty's; and, consequently, as we are the king's ambassadors, the square belongs to us." "I have already asked you who you are, monsieur," ex- claimed Buckingham, exasperated at the coolness of his interlocutor. "My name is Manicamp," replied the young man, in a voice whose tones were as harmonious and sweet as the notes of an ^olian harp. Buckingham shrugged his shoulders contemptuously, and said: "When I hired these houses which surround the H6tel de Ville the square was unoccupied; these barracks obstruct my sight; let them be removed." A hoarse and angry murmur ran through the crowd of listeners at these words. De Guiche arrived at this mo- ment; he pushed through the crowd which separated him from Buckingham, and, followed by Eaoul, arrived on the scene of action from one side just as De Wardes arrived from the other.
