Summary

Alain wakes Pierre by telling him there is an emergency meeting of the Privy Council. Pierre hates surprise meetings and asks Alain what else he knows. Alain says he got a message from d’O, a name given to King Henri III’s financial advisor, and wants to make sure that both Pierre and the Duke of Guise attend. It is two days before Christmas in 1588, and they are in a huge palace southwest of Paris almost as large as the king’s own palace. Pierre was surrounded by luxurious furniture and a pair of silver pistols given to him by King Henri. He also has a group of servants led by they twenty-eight year old Alain and Pierre’s mistress Louise. Pierre had made Duke Henri of Guise the most important man in Europe, even more than the King of...