lieu, his unbounded devotion, his
wonderful capacity, and was surprized at himself for having wished to
part with him. He felt deeply affected at this request, which hunted
out, as it were, the exact cause of his anger at the bottom of his
heart, rooted it up, and took from his hands the only weapon he had
against his old servant; filial love brought the words of pardon to
his lips and tears into his eyes. Delighted to grant what he desired
most of all things in the world, he extended his hand to the Duc with
all the nobleness and kindliness of a Bourbon. The cardinal bowed, and
respectfully kissed it; and his heart, which should have burst with
remorse, only swelled in the joy of a haughty triumph.

The prince, much moved, abandoning his hand to him, turned gracefully
toward his court and said with a tremulous voice:

"We often deceive ourselves, gentlemen, and especially in our
knowledge of so great a politician as this; I hope he will never leave
us, since his heart is as good as his head."

Cardinal de la Vallette on the instant seized the arm of the King's
mantle, and kissed it with all the ardor of a lover, and the young
Mazarin did much the same with Richelieu himself, assuming with
admirable Italian suppleness an expression radiant with joyful
emotion. Two streams of flatterers hastened, one toward the King, the
other toward the minister; the former group, not less adroit than the
second, altho less direct, addrest to the prince thanks which could be
heard by the minister, and burned at the feet of the one incense which
was destined for the other. As for Richelieu, bestowing a bow on the
right and a smile on the left, he stept forward, and stood on the
right hand of the King, as his natural place.

VICTOR HUGO

Born in 1802, died in 1885; his childhood spent partly in
Corsica, Italy and Spain, his father an officer in
Napoleon's army; educated at home by a priest and at a
school in Paris; published in 1816 his first tragedy,
"Irtameme," followed by other plays and poems; his most
notable work down to 1859 being "La Legende"; his writings
extremely numerous, other titles being "L'Art d'etre
Grand-Pere" 1877, "Notre Dame de Paris" 1831, "Napoleon le
Petit" 1852, "Les Miserables" 1862, "Les Travailleurs de la
Mer" 1866, "L'Homme Qui Rit" 1869, "Quatrevingt-treize"
1874, "History of a Crime" 1877; elected to the French
Academy in 1841; exiled f