the company which
came from Paris, and that company consisted of a hundred and twenty men;
but, with the exception of the twenty of whom we have spoken, the other
hundred were engaged in guarding the queen-mother, and more particularly
the cardinal.

Monsignor Giulio Mazarini economized the traveling expenses of his
guards; he consequently used the king's, and that largely, since he took
fifty of them for himself--a peculiarity which would not have failed to
strike any one unacquainted with the usages of that court.

That which would still further have appeared, if not inconvenient, at
least extraordinary, to a stranger, was, that the side of the castle
destined for monsieur le cardinal was brilliant, light and cheerful. The
musketeers there mounted guard before every door, and allowed no one to
enter, except the couriers, who, even while he was traveling, followed
the cardinal for the carrying on of his correspondence.

Twenty men were on duty with the queen-mother; thirty rested, in order
to relieve their companions the next day.

On the king's side, on the contrary, were darkness, silence, and
solitude. When once the doors were closed, there was no longer an
appearance of royalty. All the servitors had by degrees retired.
Monsieur le Prince had sent to know if his majesty required his
attendance; and on the customary "No" of the lieutenant of musketeers,
who was habituated to the question and the reply, all appeared to sink
into the arms of sleep, as if in the dwelling of a good citizen.

And yet it was possible to hear from the side of the house occupied by
the young king the music of the banquet, and to see the windows of the
great hall richly illuminated.

Ten minutes after his installation in his apartment, Louis XIV. had been
able to learn, by movement much more distinguished than marked his own
leaving, the departure of the cardinal, who, in his turn, sought his
bedroom, accompanied by a large escort of ladies and gentlemen.

Besides, to perceive this movement, he had nothing to do but to look out
at his window, the shutters of which had not been closed.

His eminence crossed the court, conducted by Monsieur, who himself held
a flambeau, then followed the queen-mother, to whom Madame familiarly
gave her arm; and both walked chatting away, like two old friends.

Behind these two couples filed nobles, ladies, pages and officers; the
flambeaux gleamed over the whole court, like the moving reflections of