e."

And the king was accordingly obliged to put into his pocket La
Valliere's handkerchief as well as his own. He certainly gained that
souvenir of Louise, who lost, however, a copy of verses which had cost
the king ten hours' hard labor, and which, as far as he was concerned,
was perhaps as good as a long poem. It would be impossible to describe
the king's anger and La Valliere's despair; but shortly afterwards a
circumstance occurred which was more than remarkable. When the king
left, in order to retire to his own apartments, Malicorne, informed
of what had passed, one can hardly tell how, was waiting in the
ante-chamber. The ante-chambers of the Palais Royal are naturally very
dark, and, in the evening, they were but indifferently lighted. Nothing
pleased the king more than this dim light. As a general rule, love,
whose mind and heart are constantly in a blaze, contemns all light,
except the sunshine of the soul. And so the ante-chamber was dark; a
page carried a torch before the king, who walked on slowly, greatly
annoyed 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. Whilst busied with all kinds of conjectures and
suspicions, a letter was brought to him from La Valliere; it ran thus:

"How good and kind 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," said he 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