Part 41 (1/2)
”Tell us so credible and ill believe you”
”Yet, if you were to suppose one thing”
”What is that?”
”Suppose that I thought I was in love, and that I am not”
”What! not in love!”
”Well, then! if I have acted in a different manner to what others do when they are in love, it is because I do not love; and because my hour has not yet come”
”Louise, Louise,” said Montalais, ”take care or I will remind you of the remark you made just now Raoul is not here; do not overwhelm him while he is absent; be charitable, and if, on closer inspection, you think you do not love hih
”Louise pitied M de Guiche just now,” said Athenais; ”would it be possible to detect an explanation of her indifference for the one in this compassion for the other?”
”Say what you please,” said La Valliere, sadly; ”upbraid me as you like, since you do not understand me”
”Oh! oh!” replied Montalais, ”te, Louise, and are not, I assure you, quite the monsters you suppose Look at the proud Athenais, as she is called; she does not love M de Montespan, it is true, but she would be in despair if M de Montespan did not continue to love her Look at h at knows precisely when he will be permitted to press his lips upon my hand And yet the eldest of us is not twenty yet What a future before us!”
”Silly, silly girls!” ht,” said Montalais; ”and you alone have spoken words of wisdom”
”Certainly”
”I do not dispute it,” replied Athenais ”And so it is clear you do not love poor M de Bragelonne?”
”Perhaps she does,” said Montalais; ”she is not yet quite certain of it But, in any case, listen, Athenais; if M de Bragelonne is ever free, I will give you a little friendly advice”
”What is that?”
”To look at him well before you decide in favor of M de Montespan”
”Oh! in that way of considering the subject, M de Bragelonne is not the only one whom one could look at with pleasure; M de Guiche, for instance, has his value also”
”He did not distinguish hiood authority that Madanan produced a most brilliant effect, and I am sure thatwill not soon forget him Do you not think so, La Valliere?”
”Why do you ask me? I did not see him, nor do I know hinan? Don't you know him?”
”No”
”Coantly excessive than our vanity!-you have eyes, I suppose?”
”Excellent”
”Then you ”
”Yes, nearly all”
”That is a very impertinent 'nearly all' for somebody”
”You must take it for what it is worth”
”Very well; now, aentlemen whom you sahich do you prefer?”
”Yes,” said Montalais, ”is it M de Saint-Aignan, or M de Guiche, or M-”
”I prefer no one; I thought the that brilliant assembly, the first court in the world, no one pleased you?”
”I do not say that”
”Tell us, then, who your ideal is?”
”It is not an ideal being”
”He exists, then?”
”In very truth,” exclaimed La Valliere, aroused and excited; ”I cannot understand you at all What! you who have a heart as I have, eyes as I have, and yet you speak of M de Guiche, of M de Saint-Aignan, when the king was there” These words, uttered in a precipitate itated, fervid tone of voice, made her two companions, bethom she was seated, exclai!”
La Valliere buried her face in her hands ”Yes,” she ! Have you ever seen any one to be co you had excellent eyes, Louise, for you see a great distance; too far, indeed Alas! the king is not one upon whoe themselves”
”That is too true,” cried La Valliere; ”it is not the privilege of all eyes to gaze upon the sun; but I will look upon hi so” At this h caused by the words which had just escaped La Valliere's lips, a rustling of leaves, and of what sounded like so bushes The young girls hastily rose, almost terrified out of their senses They distinctly saw the leavesable to see what it was that stirred them
”It is a wolf or a wild boar,” cried Montalais; ”fly! fly!” The three girls, in the extremity of terror, fled by the first path that presented itself, and did not stop until they had reached the verge of the wood There, breathless, leaning against each other, feeling their hearts throb wildly, they endeavored to collect their senses, but could only succeed in doing so after the lapse of sohts from the s of the chateau, they decided to walk towards theue, and Aure and Athenais were obliged to support her
”We have escaped well,” said Montalais
”I a worse than a wolf For my part, and I speak as I think, I should have preferred to have run the risk of being devoured alive by some wild animal than to have been listened to and overheard Fool, fool that I aht, how could I have said what I did?” And saying this her head bowed like the water tossed pluth abandoning her, and, gliding almost inanimate from the arms of her companions, sank down upon the turf
Chapter XLII The King's Uneasiness