Part 36 (1/2)
Chapter xxxV Fontainebleau
For four days, every kind of enchantardens of Fontainebleau had converted this spot into a place of the ifted with ubiquity In the ht's expenses to settle; during the day, programmes, essays, enrolments, payments M Colbert had amassed four millions of francs, and dispersed them with sleepless econoy involved; not a wood nymph, nor a dryad, that cost less than a hundred francs a day! The dress alone amounted to three hundred francs The expense of powder and sulphur for fireworks aht, to a hundred thousand francs In addition to these, the illuminations on the borders of the sheet of water cost thirty thousand francs every evening The fetes had been ht Fro forth on hunting expeditions, or preparing for the reception of different fantastic personages, soleht before, and in which Madanificence were equally well displayed
For Madame, the heroine of the fete, replied to the addresses of the deputations from unknown races-Garaonians, who see her with their congratulations; and upon every representative of these races the king bestowed a diamond, or some other article of value Then the deputies, in versesto the sun, Madame to Phoebe, the sun's sister, and the queen and Monsieur were no land, and not Maria Theresa of Austria The happy pair, hand in hand, iers, drank in deep draughts the sweet beverage of adulation, by which the attractions of youth, beauty, power and love are enhanced Every one at Fontainebleau was amazed at the extent of the influence which Mada themselves that Madame was, in point of fact, the true queen; and in effect, the king hiht, word, and look He formed his wishes, he drew his inspirations froht was unbounded when Madaned to smile upon him And was Madame, on her side, intoxicated with the power she wielded, as she beheld every one at her feet? This was a question she herself could hardly answer; but what she did knoas, that she could frame no wish, and that she felt herself to be perfectly happy The result of all these changes, the source of which emanated fro the second person in the kingdom, had, in reality, become the third And it was now far worse than in the tiuitars were heard in Madame's apartments; for, then, at least, Monsieur had the satisfaction of frightening those who annoyed him Since the departure, however, of the enemy, who had been driven away by , Monsieur had to submit to a burden, heavier, but in a very different sense, to his for Mada in the Seine, spectacles, dinners under the leafy covert of the trees, balls on the banks of the grand canal, concerts, etc, etc; all this would have been sufficient to have killed, not a slight and delicate woest porter in the chateau It is perfectly true that, with regard to dancing, concerts, and proer than the thunder such a system As for Monsieur, he had not even the satisfaction of witnessing Mada, for she lived in the royal pavilion with the young queen and the queen-mother As a matter of course, the Chevalier de Lorraine did not quit Monsieur, and did not fail to distil drops of gall into every wound the latter received The result was, that Monsieur-who had at first been in the highest spirits, and completely restored since Guiche's departure-subsided into his melancholy state three days after the court was installed at Fontainebleau
It happened, however, that, one day, about two o'clock in the afternoon, Monsieur, who had risen late, and had bestowed upon his toilet more than his usual attention,-it happened, we repeat, that Monsieur, who had not heard of any plans having been arranged for the day, for Mada country house He accordingly went to the queen's pavilion, and was astonished, on entering, to find none of the royal servants in attendance Quite alone, therefore, he entered the roo to Mada queen's In his wife's apart there, that every one had left at eleven o'clock, for the purpose of bathing in the Seine, that a grand fete was to be es had been placed at the park gates, and that they had all set out ood,” said Monsieur, ”the idea is a good one; the heat is very oppressive, and I have no objection to bathe, too”
He summoned his servants, but no one came He suone out He went to the stables, where he was infores of any description He desired that a couple of horses should be saddled, one for hiroom told him that all the horses had been sent away Monsieur, pale with anger, again descended towards the queen's apartments, and penetrated as far as Anne of Austria's oratory, where he perceived, through the half-opened tapestry-hangings, his young and beautiful sister on her knees before the queen- bitterly He had not been either seen or heard He cautiously approached the opening, and listened, the sight of soaroused his curiosity Not only was the young queen weeping, but she was colectsdevotes himself to pleasures and amusements only, in which I have no share”
”Patience, patience, hter,” said Anne of Austria, in Spanish; and then, also in Spanish, added some words of advice, which Monsieur did not understand The queen replied by accusations,which Monsieur often distinguished the word banos, which Maria Theresa accentuated with spiteful anger
”The baths,” said Monsieur to himself; ”it seems it is the baths that have put her out” And he endeavored to put together the disconnected phrases which he had been able to understand It was easy to guess that the queen was co bitterly, and that, if Anne of Austria did not console her, she at least endeavored to do so Monsieur was afraid to be detected listening at the door and he therefore h; the two queens turned round at the sound and Monsieur entered At sight of the prince, the young queen rose precipitately, and dried her tears Monsieur, however, knew the people he had to deal with too well, and was naturally too polite to rely saluted the, ”What do you want, Philip?”
”I?-nothing,” sta for-”
”Who for Mada?” said Monsieur, in a tone whichalso, the whole court as well,” replied Anne of Austria
”Except you,queen, ”I seem to terrify all those who a from appearances,” rejoined Monsieur
Anne of Austria
Monsieur's brows contracted, as he remarked aloud, ”What a cheerless house What do you think of it, ”
”Yes, indeed, that is the very thing that makes those dull who do not care for pleasure”
”In what a tone you say that, Philip”
”Upon my word, madame, I speak as I think”
”Explain yourself; what is the matter?”
”Askall her grievances to you”
”Her grievances, what-”
”Yes, I was listening; accidentally, I confess, but still I listened-so that I heard only too well my sister complain of those famous baths of Madame-”
”Ah! folly!”
”No, no, no; people are not always foolish when they weep The queen said banos, which means baths”
”I repeat, Philip,” said Anne of Austria, ”that your sister is childishly jealous”
”In that case, reat hu the same defect”
”You also, Philip?”
”Certainly”
”Are you really jealous of these baths?”
”And why not, oes to the baths with oes to the baths with the king, and does not do me the honor to even invite me? And you enjoin my sister-in-law to be satisfied, and require , my dear Philip,” said Anne of Austria; ”you have driven the Duke of Buckingham away; you have been the cause of M de Guiche's exile; do you noish to send the king away fro of the kind, madame,” said Monsieur, bitterly; ”but, at least, I can withdraw, and I shall do so”
”Jealous of the king-jealous of your brother?”
”Yes, -of my own brother, and remarkably jealous, too”
”Really, Monsieur,” exclaiin to believe you are mad, and a sworn enemy to my repose I therefore abandon the place to you, for I have no ainst such monomanias”
She arose and left Monsieur a prey to the ant transport of passion He re hirooe or a horse, and upon his reply that there was neither the one or the other, Monsieur snatched a long whip froan to pursue the poor devil of a groo him the while, in spite of his cries and excuses; then, quite out of breath, covered with perspiration, and tre in every limb, he returned to his own apartments, broke in pieces soot into bed, booted and spurred as he was, crying out for some one to come to him 4
Chapter xxxVI The Bath
At Vulaines, beneath the i osiers and hich, as they bent down their green heads, dipped the extre and flat-botto blue curtains, served as a refuge for the bathing Dianas, who, as they left the water, atched by twenty plualloped up and down the flowery banks of the river But Diana herself, even the chaste Diana, clothed in her long chlamys, was less beautiful-less i and beautiful as that Goddess herself For, notwithstanding the fine tunic of the huntress, her round and delicate knee can be seen; and notwithstanding the sonorous quiver, her brown shoulders can be detected; whereas, in Mada her round and round a hundred tined herself into the hands of her female attendants, and thus was rendered inaccessible to the aze When she ascended the ladder, the poets were present-and all were poets when Madaalloping about, stopped, and with one voice, exclai fro, the center of these effusions, and of this respectful hoe, imposed silence upon those expatiators, for whom it seemed impossible to exhaust their raptures, and he rode away, for fear of offending, even through the silken curtains, the reat blank thereupon ensued in the scene, and perfect silence in the boat Froitations of the curtains-the goings to and fro of the feuessed
The king sly listened to the conversation of the courtiers around hiave but little, if any, attention to their re the curtain-rods announced that Madame was dressed, and that the Goddess was about toto his for quite close to the river-bank, gave the signal for all those to approach whose duty or pleasure sues hurried forward, conducting the led horses; the carriages, which had remained sheltered under the trees, advanced towards the tent, followed by a crowd of servants, bearers, and fe, had ed their own observations, critical reitive journal of that period, of which no one now re, not even by the waves, the witnesses of ent on that day-themselves now sublimed into immensity, as the actors have vanished into eternity
A crowd of people swarroups of peasants drawn together by their anxiety to see the king and the princess, was, for reeable,dismounted from his horse, a movement which was imitated by all the courtiers, and offered his hat to Madaure, which was set off to great advantage by that garment, made of fine woolen cloth embroidered with silver Her hair, still da in heavy masses upon her white and delicate neck Joy and health sparkled in her beautiful eyes; cohts, under a lace parasol, which was borne by one of her pages Nothing could be raceful, ures buried under the rose-colored shade of the parasol, the king, whose white teeth were displayed in continual smiles, and Madalittering reflection of the changing hues of the silk When Madanificent animal of Andalusian breed, of spotless white, somewhat heavy, perhaps, but with a spirited and splendid head, in which the mixture, happily combined, of Arabian and Spanish blood could be readily traced, and whose long tail swept the ground; and as the princess affected difficulty intook her in his arms in such a manner that Madame's ar's neck Louis, as he withdrew, involuntarily touched with his lips the ar thanked her royal equerry, every one sprang to his saddle at the saes, the outriders, and runners, to pass by A fair proportion of the cavaliers, released froave the rein to their horses, and darted after the carriages which bore the in huntresses around Diana, and the hu, and noisy, passed onward
The king and Madame, however, kept their horses in hand at a foot-pace Behind his majesty and his sister-in-law, certain of the courtiers -those, at least, ere seriously disposed or were anxious to be within reach, or under the eyes, of the king-followed at a respectful distance, restraining their i and Madaratification which is to be found in the conversation of clever people, who can, with perfect courtesy, hable rehter, and in the little reticences of their sardonic humor, Monsieur, the poor absentee, was not spared But they pitied, and bewailed greatly, the fate of De Guiche, and it must be confessed that their compassion, as far as he was concerned, was notbreathed the horses, and repeated a hundred times over such reested to theallop, and the leafy coverts of the forest resounded to the footfalls of the mounted party To the conversations beneath the shade of the trees,-to remarks made in the shape of confidential coed, succeeded the noisiest bursts of laughter;-from the very outriders to royalty itself, h and to cry out The uttural cries, beneath the waving avenues of oaks; the cuckoo staid his monotonous cry in the recesses of the forest; the chaffinch and tomtit fleay in clouds; while the terrified deer bounded riverwards fro joy, confusion, and light wherever it passed, was heralded, itand Madae, they were received by the acclamations of the crowd Madame hastened to look for Monsieur, for she instinctively understood that he had been far too long kept fro went to rejoin the queens; he knew he owed the absence But Madame was not admitted to Monsieur's apart, instead of being , as was usual with her, found Anne of Austria in the gallery watching for his return, who advanced tohim by the hand, led him to her own apartment No one ever kneas the nature of the conversation which took place between them, or rather what it was that the queen-eneral tenor of the interview uessed fro's face as he left her