ase, when all was
clear, seem to demand it, I went straight from him, and, crossing the
floor, laid the purse near her Majesty's hand, with a polite word of
regret that fortune had used her so ill, and a hope that this might be
the means of recruiting her forces.

It would not have surprised me had she shown some signs of
consciousness, and perhaps betrayed that she recognised the purse. But
she contented herself with thanking me prettily, and almost before I
had done speaking had her slender fingers among the coins. Turning, I
found that Vallon had disappeared; so that all came to a sudden stop;
and with the one and the other, I retired completely puzzled, and less
able than before to make even a guess at the secret of the young man's
generosity.

However, the King summoning me to him, there, for the time, was an end
of the matter: and between fatigue and the duties of my position, I
did not give a second thought to it that evening. Next morning, too, I
was taken up with the gifts which it was my privilege as Master of the
Mint to present to the King on New Year's Day, and which consisted this
year of medals of gold, silver, and copper, bearing inscriptions of my
own composition, together with small bags of new coins for the King,
the Queen, and their attendants.

These I always made it a point to offer before the King rose; nor was
this year an exception, for I found his Majesty still in bed, the Queen
occupying a couch in the same chamber. But whereas it generally fell
to me to arouse them from sleep, and be the first to offer those
compliments which befitted the day, I found them on this occasion fully
roused, the King lazily toying with his watch, the Queen talking fast
and angrily, and at the edge of the carpet beside her bed Mademoiselle
D'Oyley in deep disgrace. The Queen, indeed, was so taken up with
scolding her that she had forgotten what day it was; and even after my
entrance, continued to rate the poor girl so fiercely that I thought
her present violence little less unseemly than her condescension of the
night before.

Perhaps some trace of this feeling appeared in my countenance; for,
presently, the King, who seldom failed to read my thoughts, tried to
check her in a good-natured fashion. "Come, my dear," he said; "let
that trembling mouse go. And do you hear what our good friend Sully
has brought you? I'll be bound--"

"How your Majesty talks!" the Queen answered, pettishly. "As if a few