Part 43 (1/2)
”The king, do you say, has been deeply touched?”
”To the very quick of his heart”
”But how?-in what manner?-tell me directly”
”By an adventure, the romance of which cannot be equalled”
”You kno I love to hear of such adventures, and yet you keep ,” said the princess, impatiently
”Well, then-” and Monsieur paused
”I a”
”Under the royal oak-you knohere the royal oak is?”
”What can that ?”
”Well! Made herself to be alone with her two friends, revealed to theinning to be uneasy, ”her affection for the king?”
”Yes”
”When was this?”
”About an hour ago”
Madame started, and then said, ”And no one knew of this affection?”
”No one”
”Not even his majesty?”
”Not even his majesty The artful little puss kept her secret strictly to herself, when suddenly it proved stronger than herself, and so escaped her”
”And froet this absurd tale?”
”Why, as everybody else did, from La Valliere herself, who confessed her love to Montalais and Tonnay-Charente, ere her companions”
Madao her husband's hand
”Did you say it was an hour ago she made this confession?” Mada aware of it?”
”Why, that is the very thing which constitutes the perfect ro was behind the royal oak with Saint-Aignan, and heard the whole of the interesting conversation without losing a single word of it”
Mada incautiously, ”But I have seen the king since, and he never told me a word about it”
”Of course,” said Monsieur; ”he took care not to speak of it to you himself, since he recommended every one not to say a word about it”
”What do you ry
”I norance of the affair altogether”
”But why should they wish to conceal it from me?”
”Froht induce you to say so down her head; her feelings were grievously wounded She could not enjoy ais, dom who knohat is said about him, in the sanorance of what is said about hisperceived Mada for hiracious and attentive in his manner Madame waited for him to speak about La Valliere first; but as he did not speak of her, she said, ”And the poor girl?”
”What poor girl?” said the king
”La Valliere Did you not tell me, sire, that she had fainted?”
”She is still very ill,” said the king, affecting the greatest indifference
”But surely that will prejudicially affect the ru to spread, sire?”
”What rumor?”
”That your attention was taken up by her”
”Oh!” said the king, carelessly, ”I trust it will be reported all the sa would speak to her of the adventure of the royal oak But the king did not say a word about it Madame, on her side, did not open her lips about it; so that the king took leave of her without having reposed the slightest confidence in her Hardly had she watched the king nan Saint-Aignan was never very difficult to find; he was like the smaller vessels that always follow in the wake of, and as tenders to, the larger shi+ps Saint-Aignan was the very man whom Madame needed in her then state of mind And as for him, he only looked for worthier ears than others he had found to have an opportunity of recounting the event in all its details And so he did not spare Madale word of the whole affair When he had finished, Mada invention”
”Invention, no; a true story, yes”
”Confess, whether invention or true story, that it was told to you as you have told it to me, but that you were not there”
”Upon my honor, Madame, I was there”
”And you think that these confessions ?”