terpreted unfavorably. Then, as they were alone--nearly alone,
inasmuch as Colbert, as soon as he perceived the young girl approaching,
had stopped and drawn back a dozen paces--the king advanced towards
La Valliere and took her by the hand. "Mademoiselle," he said to her,
"should I be guilty of an indiscretion if I were to inquire if you were
indisposed? for you seem to breathe as if you were oppressed by some
secret cause of uneasiness, and your eyes are filled with tears."

"Oh! sire, if I be indeed so, and if my eyes are indeed full of tears, I
am sorrowful only at the sadness which seems to oppress your majesty."

"My sadness? You are mistaken, mademoiselle; no, it is not sadness I
experience."

"What is it, then, sire?"

"Humiliation."

"Humiliation? oh! sire, what a word for you to use!"

"I mean, mademoiselle, that wherever I may happen to be, no one else
ought to be the master. Well, then, look round you on every side, and
judge whether I am not eclipsed--I, the king of France--before the
monarch of these wide domains. Oh!" he continued, clenching his hands
and teeth, "when I think that this king--"

"Well, sire?" said Louise, terrified.

"--That this king is a faithless, unworthy servant, who grows proud and
self-sufficient upon the strength of property that belongs to me, and
which he has stolen. And therefore I am about to change this impudent
minister's _fete_ into sorrow and mourning, of which the nymph of Vaux,
as the poets say, shall not soon lose the remembrance."

"Oh! your majesty--"

"Well, mademoiselle, are you about to take M. Fouquet's part?" said
Louis, impatiently.

"No, sire; I will only ask whether you are well informed. Your majesty
has more than once learned the value of accusations made at court."

Louis XIV. made a sign for Colbert to approach. "Speak, Monsieur
Colbert," said the young prince, "for I almost believe that Mademoiselle
de la Valliere has need of your assistance before she can put any faith
in the king's word. Tell mademoiselle what M. Fouquet has done; and you,
mademoiselle, will perhaps have the kindness to listen. It will not be
long."

Why did Louis XIV. insist upon it in such a manner? A very simple
reason--his heart was not at rest, his mind was not thoroughly
convinced; he imagined there lay some dark, hidden, tortuous intrigue
behind these thirteen millions of francs; and he wished that the
pure heart of La Valliere, which had revolted at the idea of th