"Are you simple enough to believe that, comte?"

"If I did not believe it," he said, turning very pale, "Bragelonne
should be informed of it to-morrow; indeed he should, if I thought that
poor La Valliere had forgotten the vows she had exchanged with Raoul.
But no, it would be cowardly to betray a woman's secret; it would be
criminal to disturb a friend's peace of mind."

"You think, then," said the princess, with a wild burst of laughter,
"that ignorance is happiness?"

"I believe it," he replied.

"Prove it to me, then," she said, hurriedly.

"It is easily done, Madame. It is reported through the whole court that
the king loves you, and that you return his affection."

"Well?" she said, breathing with difficulty.

"Well; admit for a moment that Raoul, my friend, had come and said to
me, 'Yes, the king loves Madame, and has made an impression upon her
heart,' I possibly should have slain Raoul."

"It would have been necessary," said the princess, with the obstinacy of
a woman who feels herself not easily overcome, "for M. de Bragelonne to
have had proofs before he ventured to speak to you in that manner."

"Such, however, is the case," replied De Guiche, with a deep sigh,
"that, not having been warned, I have never examined into the matter
seriously; and I now find that my ignorance has saved my life."

"So, then, you drive selfishness and coldness to that extent," said
Madame, "that you would let this unhappy young man continue to love La
Valliere?"

"I would, until La Valliere's guilt were revealed."

"But the bracelets?"

"Well, Madame, since you yourself expected to receive them from the
king, what can I possibly say?"

The argument was a telling one, and the princess was overwhelmed by it,
and from that moment her defeat was assured. But as her heart and
mind were instinct with noble and generous feelings, she understood De
Guiche's extreme delicacy. She saw that in his heart he really suspected
that the king was in love with La Valliere, and that he did not wish
to resort to the common expedient of ruining a rival in the mind of
a woman, by giving the latter the assurance and certainty that this
rival's affections were transferred to another woman. She guessed that
his suspicions of La Valliere were aroused, and that, in order to leave
himself time for his convictions to undergo a change, so as not to ruin
Louise utterly, he was determined to pursue a certain straightforward
line of conduct. She