he others
in succession, who, seeing the king stop, wished in their turn to stop
too; but the king made a sign to them to continue their progress. When
La Valliere's carriage passed, the king approached it, saluted the
ladies who were inside, and was preparing to accompany the carriage
containing the maids of honor, in the same way he had followed that in
which Madame was, when suddenly the whole file of carriages stopped. It
was probable that Madame, uneasy at the king having left her, had just
given directions for the performance of this maneuver, the direction in
which the promenade was to take place having been left to her. The king,
having sent to inquire what her object was in stopping the cavalcade,
was informed in reply, that she wished to walk. She most likely hoped
that the king, who was following the carriages of the maids of honor on
horseback, would not venture to follow the maids of honor themselves on
foot. They had arrived in the middle of the forest.

The promenade, in fact, was not ill-timed, especially for those who were
dreamers or lovers. From the little open space where the halt had taken
place, three beautiful long walks, shady and undulating, stretched out
before them. These walks were covered with moss or with leaves that
formed a carpet from the loom of nature; and each walk had its horizon
in the distance, consisting of about a hand-breadth of sky, apparent
through the interlacing of the branches of the trees. At the end of
almost every walk, evidently in great tribulation and uneasiness, the
startled deer were seen hurrying to and fro, first stopping for a moment
in the middle of the path, and then raising their heads they fled with
the speed of an arrow or bounded into the depths of the forest, where
they disappeared from view; now and then a rabbit, of philosophical
mien, might be noticed quietly sitting upright, rubbing his muzzle
with his fore paws, and looking about inquiringly, as though wondering
whether all these people, who were approaching in his direction, and
who had just disturbed him in his meditations and his meal, were not
followed by their dogs, or had not their guns under their arms. All
alighted from their carriages as soon as they observed that the queen
was doing so. Maria Theresa took the arm of one of her ladies of honor,
and, with a side glance towards the king, who did not perceive that he
was in the slightest degree the object of the queen's attention, entered
the fo