Henri III and Catherine de Médicis recruit an assassin (Onslow, Guise ou les États de Blois, II, 5)

During the Estates General in Blois, dominated by League supporters, Henri III and his mother Catherine de Médicis decide to assassinate their leader, the Duc de Guise. Here, Loignac, a Gascon matamore who hates the Duc de Guise, is introduced before the King and Queen by Larchant (in the background of the print): the aim is to recruit him for the assassination, which is to take place the following day. Loignac, frightened out of his wits, fears that he himself has fallen into a trap, and is literally pushed onto the stage by Larchant, prostrating himself before Henri III and the elderly Catherine de Médicis.
The scene is played out in a half-comic, half-sordid register.