Part 64 (1/2)
”Sire,” said Fouquet, reracious manner in which Louis was about to receive hi the last few days It is not a youthful ns over France, one whoe as their , was not the less somewhat pointed Louis conducted Fouquet to a s-apart as he seated hi that ardens which fronted the opposite entrance to Madame's pavilion
”No, sire,” replied Fouquet, ”but I ae froracious smile”
”You are mistaken, then”
”I, sire?”
”For I summoned you, on the contrary, to pick a quarrel with you”
”With me, sire?”
”Yes: and that a serious one”
”Your majesty alaroodness”
”Do you know I arand fete at Vaux”
Fouquet smiled, as a sick man would do at the first shi+ver of a fever which has left hiain
”And that you have not invited
”Sire,” replied Fouquet, ”I have not even thought of the fete you speak of, and it was only yesterday evening that one of my friends,” Fouquet laid a stress upon the word, ”was kind enough to , Monsieur Fouquet, and you said nothing to me about it”
”How dared I hope that your reatly descend fro with your royal presence?”
”Excuse me, Monsieur Fouquet, you did not speak to me about your fete”
”I did not allude to the fete to yourhad been decided with regard to it, and, secondly, because I feared a refusal”
”And so made you fear a refusal, Monsieur Fouquet? You see I am determined to push you hard”
”The profound wish I had that your majesty should acceptis easier, I perceive, than our co Your wish is to invite me to your fete, o”
”Is it possible that your n to accept?” murmured the superintendent
”Why, really, , ”I think I domyself”
”Your ht,” exclaied to repeat what M Vieuville said to your ancestor, Henry IV, Donus” 11 ”To which I reply, Monsieur Fouquet, that if you give a fete, I will go, whether I am invited or not”
”I thank your majesty deeply,” said Fouquet, as he raised his head beneath this favor, which he was convinced would be his ruin
”But how could your majesty have been informed of it?”
”By a public rus of yourself and the marvels of your house Would you beco were to be jealous of you?”
”I should be the happiest man in the world, sire, since the very day on which yourworthy of being offered to you”
”Very well, Monsieur Fouquet, prepare your fete, and open the door of your house as wide as possible”
”It is for your majesty to fix the day”
”This day month, then”
”Has your , Monsieur Fouquet, except from the present moment until then to have you near me as much as possible”
”I have the honor to form one of your ood; indeed, I aoing to start”
With this reloves and cane, which his valet held ready for hi of the wheels on the gravel of the courtyard could be distinctly heard The king descended the stairs, and at the ht of steps, every one stopped The king walked straight up to the young queen The queen- more than ever froo out Maria Theresa acco in what direction he wished the pro, who had just seen La Valliere, still pale froe with three of her companions, told the queen that he had no preference, and wherever she would like to go, there would he be with her The queen then desired that the outriders should proceed in the direction of Aprely before the others The king rode on horseback, and for a few e of the queen and Madame The weather had cleared up a little, but a kind of veil of dust, like a thick gauze, was still spread over the surface of the heavens, and the sun listen within the circuit of its rays The heat was stifling; but, as the king did not seem to pay any attention to the appearance of the heavens, no one made himself uneasy about it, and the proiven by the queen, took its course in the direction of Aprehest spirits; it was evident that every one tried to forget, and to et, the bitter discussions of the previous evening Mada at the door of her carriage, as she did not suppose he would be there for the queen's sake, she hoped that her prince had returned to her Hardly, however, had they proceeded a quarter of a racious s the queen's carriage to pass on, then that of the principal ladies of honor, and then all the others in succession, who, seeing the king stop, wished in their turn to stop too; but the king ress When La Valliere's carriage passed, the king approached it, saluted the ladies ere inside, and was preparing to acco the maids of honor, in the same way he had followed that in which Madaes stopped It was probable that Madaiven directions for the performance of this maneuver, the direction in which the pro, having sent to inquire what her object was in stopping the cavalcade, was informed in reply, that she wished to walk She es of the maids of honor on horseback, would not venture to follow the maids of honor themselves on foot They had arrived in the middle of the forest
The promenade, in fact, was not ill-timed, especially for those ere dreamers or lovers From the little open space where the halt had taken place, three beautiful long walks, shady and undulating, stretched out before them These walks were covered with moss or with leaves that formed a carpet from the loom of nature; and each walk had its horizon in the distance, consisting of about a hand-breadth of sky, apparent through the interlacing of the branches of the trees At the end of alreat tribulation and uneasiness, the startled deer were seen hurrying to and fro, first stopping for atheir heads they fled with the speed of an arrow or bounded into the depths of the forest, where they disappeared froht be noticed quietly sitting upright, rubbing his ly, as though wondering whether all these people, ere approaching in his direction, and who had just disturbed him in his s, or had not their guns under their ares as soon as they observed that the queen was doing so Maria Theresa took the arlance towards the king, who did not perceive that he was in the slightest degree the object of the queen's attention, entered the forest by the first path before her Two of the outriders preceded herpoles, which they used for the purpose of putting the branches of the trees aside, or reress As soon as Madahted, she found the Comte de Guiche at her side, who bowed and placed hihted with his bath of the two previous days, had announced his preference for the river, and, having given De Guiche leave of absence, remained at the chateau with the Chevalier de Lorraine and Manicaree jealous He had been looked for to no purpose areat deal of hieneral pleasure, his absence was rather a subject of satisfaction than regret Every one had followed the exa just as they pleased, according as chance or fancy influenced the, we have already observed, re hie was opened, he offered her his hand to alight Montalais and Tonnay-Charente immediately drew back and kept at a distance; the former from calculated, the latter from natural motives There was this difference, however, between the two, that the one had withdrawn fro, the other for a very opposite reason During the last half-hour the weather also had undergone a change; the veil which had been spread over the sky, as if driven by a blast of heated air, had becoether in the western part of the heavens; and afterwards, as if driven by a current of air fro slowly and heavily towards the did not perceive it, no one thought it proper to do so The promenade was therefore continued; some of the company, with minds ill at ease on the subject, raised their eyes from time to time towards the sky; others, eventoo far fro shelter in case the stor that the king fearlessly entered the ith La Valliere, followed histhis, took La Valliere's hand, and led her to a lateral forest-alley; where no one this time ventured to follow him
Chapter LXII The Shower of Rain
At thisand La Valliere had taken, except that they were in the wood itself instead of following the path, two ether, utterly indifferent to the appearance of the heavens Their heads were bent down in the reat moment They had not observed either De Guiche or Madah the air like a colossal sheet of fla noise
”Ah!” said one of the his head, ”here coes, ly at the heavens ”There is no occasion to hurry yet,” he said; and then resu the conversation where it had doubtless been interrupted, he said, ”You were observing that the letter rote last evening must by this ti that she certainly has it”
”Whom did you send it by?”
”By my own servant, as I have already told you”
”Did he bring back an answer?”
”I have not seen hiirl was probably in attendance on Mada, and hearrived, and we set off, of course; I cannot, therefore, knohat is going on yonder”
”Did you see the king before leaving?”