her voice, some
sorrow in her countenance. The face of Anne of Austria appeared a little
changed, but that was from sufferings of quite a personal character.
Perhaps the alteration was caused by the cancer which had begun to
consume her breast. "Yes, madame," said the king; "yes, M. de Mazarin is
very ill."

"And it would be a great loss to the kingdom if God were to summon his
eminence away. Is not that your opinion as well as mine, my son?" said
the queen.

"Yes, madame; yes, certainly, it would be a great loss for the kingdom,"
said Louis, coloring; "but the peril does not seem to me to be so great;
besides, the cardinal is still young." The king had scarcely ceased
speaking when an usher lifted the tapestry, and stood with a paper in
his hand, waiting for the king to speak to him.

"What have you there?" asked the king.

"A message from M. de Mazarin," replied the usher.

"Give it to me," said the king; and he took the paper. But at the moment
he was about to open it, there was a great noise in the gallery, the
ante-chamber, and the court.

"Ah, ah," said Louis XIV., who doubtless knew the meaning of that
triple noise. "How could I say there was but one king in France! I was
mistaken, there are two."

As he spoke or thought thus, the door opened, and the superintendent
of finances, Fouquet, appeared before his nominal master. It was he who
made the noise in the ante-chamber, it was his horse that made the noise
in the courtyard. In addition to all this, a loud murmur was heard along
his passage, which did not die away till some time after he had passed.
It was this murmur which Louis XIV. regretted so deeply not hearing as
he passed, and dying away behind him.

"He is not precisely a king, as you fancy," said Anne of Austria to her
son; "he is only a man who is much too rich--that is all."

Whilst saying these words, a bitter feeling gave to these words of the
queen a most hateful expression; whereas the brow of the king, calm and
self-possessed, on the contrary, was without the slightest wrinkle. He
nodded, therefore, familiarly to Fouquet, whilst he continued to unfold
the paper given to him by the usher. Fouquet perceived this movement,
and with a politeness at once easy and respectful, advanced towards the
queen, so as not to disturb the king. Louis had opened the paper, and
yet he did not read it. He listened to Fouquet paying the most charming
compliments to the queen upon her hand and arm. Anne of