at what had recently occurred. Malicorne passed close to the king,
almost stumbled against him in fact, and begged his forgiveness with the
profoundest humility; but the king, who was in an exceedingly
ill-temper, was very sharp in his reproof to Malicorne, who disappeared
as soon and as quietly as he possibly could. Louis retired to rest,
having had a misunderstanding with the queen; and the next day, as soon
as he entered the cabinet, he wished to have La Valliere's handkerchief
in order to press his lips to it. He called his valet.

"Fetch me," he said, "the coat I wore yesterday evening, but be very
sure you do not touch anything it may contain."

The order being obeyed, the king himself searched the pocket of the
coat: he found only one handkerchief, and that his own; La Valliere's
had disappeared. While busied with all kinds of conjectures and
suspicions, a letter was brought to him from La Valliere; it ran in
these terms:

"How kind and good of you to have sent me those beautiful verses:
how full of ingenuity and perseverance your affection is; how is it
possible to help loving you so dearly!"

"What does this mean?" thought the king: "there must be some mistake.
Look well about," he said to the valet, "for a pocket-handkerchief must
be in one of my pockets: and if you do not find it, or if you have
touched it--" He reflected for a moment. To make a state matter of the
loss of the handkerchief, would be to act too absurdly, and he therefore
added, "There was a letter of some importance inside the handkerchief
which had somehow got among the folds of it."

"Sire," replied the valet, "your majesty had only one handkerchief, and
that is it."

"True, true," replied the king, setting his teeth hard together. "Oh,
poverty, how I envy you! Happy is the man who can empty his own pockets
of letters and handkerchiefs!"

He read La Valliere's letter over again, endeavoring to imagine in what
conceivable way his verses could have reached their destination. There
was a postscript to the letter:

"I send you back by your messenger this reply, so unworthy of what
you sent me."

"So far so good; I shall find out something now," he said, delightedly.
"Who is waiting, and who brought me this letter?"

"M. Malicorne," replied the valet-de-chambre, timidly.

"Desire him to come in."

Malicorne entered.

"You come from Mademoiselle de la Valliere?" said the king, with a sigh.

"Yes, sire."