nothing at that
moment occupied except the occasional sharp throbbings in her bosom,
looked pleased and delighted, and although she perfectly conceived the
king's impatience, tantalizingly prolonged his sufferings by
unexpectedly resuming the conversation at the very moment the king,
absorbed in his own reflections, began to muse over his secret
attachment. Everything seemed to combine--not alone the little teasing
attentions of the queen, but also the queen-mother's tantalizing
interruptions--to make the king's position almost insupportable; for he
knew not how to control the restless longings of his heart. At first, he
complained of the heat, a complaint which was merely preliminary to
other complaints, but with sufficient tact to prevent Maria Theresa
guessing his real object. Understanding the king's remark literally, she
began to fan him with her ostrich plumes. But the heat passed away, and
the king then complained of cramps and stiffness in his legs, and as the
carriages at that moment stopped to change horses, the queen said:
"Shall I get out with you? I too feel tired of sitting. We can walk on a
little distance, the carriage will overtake us, and we can resume our
places again presently."

The king frowned: it is a hard trial a jealous woman makes her husband
submit to whose fidelity she suspects, when, although herself a prey to
jealousy, she watches herself so narrowly that she avoids giving any
pretext for an angry feeling. The king, therefore, in the present case,
could not refuse; he accepted the offer, alighted from the carriage,
gave his arm to the queen, and walked up and down with her while the
horses were being changed. As he walked along, he cast an envious glance
upon the courtiers, who were fortunate enough to be performing the
journey on horseback. The queen soon found out that the promenade she
had suggested afforded the king as little pleasure as he had experienced
from riding in the carriage. She accordingly expressed a wish to return
to her carriage, and the king conducted her to the door, but did not get
in with her. He stepped back a few paces, and looked among the file of
carriages for the purpose of recognizing the one in which he took so
strong an interest. At the door of the sixth carriage he saw La
Valliere's fair countenance. As the king thus stood motionless, wrapped
in thought, without perceiving that everything was ready, and that he
alone was causing the delay, he heard a voice cl