Paris: The Novel

François. As well as the roadway, its high arches also supported a line of tall, gabled houses that acted like a curtain, blocking off the view downstream. This was the way to Notre Dame.
    But when they reached it, they found that the press of people was so great that it was impossible to cross. Simon was disappointed. He wanted to see the wedding. Guy was secretly glad. If there was going to be trouble, he’d sooner be here on the open Right Bank than trapped in the narrow confines of the city’s central island.
    “We’ll try the next bridge,” he suggested.
    But the Pont au Change, also covered with houses, was blocked too. And further downstream, the untidy old bridge of watermills—most of which had been converted into private houses now—had been sealed off to all traffic.
    “I’m afraid we can’t get across,” Guy said. “And if we want to watch the nobles riding back afterward, we’d do better to find some open space. Let’s walk a bit farther.
    Downstream from the bridges the view opened out a bit. Ahead, thetowers of the old Louvre fort rose over an unfinished collection of royal buildings that seemed still to be struggling against each other to form a cohesive royal palace.
    Simon wanted to run ahead a little way. The two men did not stop him.
    They were coming level with the downstream tip of the island when Pierre turned to Guy and asked him quietly: “You seem uneasy. Why is that?”
    “This wedding frightens me.”
    “You don’t think it may bring peace to France?”
    “No.” Guy glanced bleakly at Pierre. “I don’t think it’s intended to.”
    “Explain to me. You know I am not worldly.”
    “Who arranged this wedding?”
    “The king and his mother, I suppose.”
    “Forget the king. His mother. Catherine de Médicis. She was the one who was so determined on this marriage. When her daughter tried to refuse to marry a Protestant, she whipped her soundly. That’s the word I hear. Even tore out the poor girl’s hair.”
    “That is terrible.”
    “Now consider something else. For the last year or so, Catherine and her inner council have been courting Admiral Coligny, the Protestants’ great commander. Inviting him to visit them. Flattering him. And what does Coligny want?”
    “He wants freedom for Protestants to worship.”
    “Yes, certainly. He also wants to help the Protestants in the Netherlands against their Catholic oppressors, the mighty Hapsburgs. Quite apart from the fact that I am a Catholic, I happen to think it’s madness. The last thing we need is to put ourselves at war with the Hapsburg king of Spain.”
    “God forbid.”
    “Indeed. Yet now, to please Coligny, Catherine has even sent some troops to the Netherlands to support the Protestants. What do you make of that?”
    “To me, it is very strange.”
    “Well, I think it’s more than strange. I think it’s unbelievable. Are we really suggesting that an Italian Médicis, the kinswoman of popes, is going to tolerate Protestants in her realm?” He paused. “There is one more person to consider. Who is Catherine’s greatest supporter?”
    “I should say the Duke of Guise.”
    “Indeed. The mighty house of Guise. Her closest counselors. The duke’s uncle is a cardinal in Rome. And let us not forget Mary, Queen of Scots. Devout Catholic. Rightful Queen of Scotland. Claimant to the throne of England. Elizabeth of England holds her in captivity now, and fears her. And who was the mother of Mary, Queen of Scots? The cardinal’s sister, Mary of Guise.”
    “Unlikely sponsors of Protestants.”
    “Exactly. Now I have one last question. Knowing what we do of Catherine de Médicis, by what principles will she be guided in all her actions?”
    “By her faith, surely.”
    “I said in her actions.”
    “I do not understand.”
    “You have heard of the great Machiavelli, I am sure.”
    “Who has not? An evil man.”
    “He merely described the ruthless cunning, the cold calculation, the poisonings and murders that he saw all around him among the rulers of Italy—the Florence of the Médicis in particular. Our queen mother will act exactly like that.”
    “And so this wedding …?”
    “Is a diabolical trap. Think of it. Coligny is here. Almost every leading Protestant in France has come into Paris for this wedding, along with their followers. What a chance.”
    “I don’t understand.”
    “She’s going to kill them all. She and the Guises.”
    “But there are hundreds of them.”
    “Thousands.