Page:Ten Years Later 2.djvu/475

TEN" YEAES LATER, 463 "I should be the happiest man in the world, sire, since the very day on which your majesty were to be jealous of Vaux I should possess something worthy of being ofEered to you." Very well, Monsieur Fouquet; prepare your fete, and open the doors of your house as wide as joossible." ' "It is for your majesty to fix the day." "This day month, then." "Has your majesty any further commands?" "Nothing, Monsieur Fouquet, except from the present moment until then to have you near me as much as possible. " "I have the honor to form one of your majesty's party for the promenade." "Very good; I am now going out, indeed, for there are the ladies, I see, who are going to start." With this remark the king, with all the eagerness, not only of a young man, but of a young man in love, withdrew from the windov/, in order to take his gloves and cane, which his valet held ready for him. The neighing of the horses and the rumbling of the wheels on the gravel of the courtyard could be distinctly heard. The king descended the stairs, and at the moment he made his appearance upon the flight of steps every one stopped. The king walked straight up to the young queen. The queen-mother, Avho was still suffering more than ever from the illness with which she was afflicted, did not wish to go out. Maria Theresa accompanied madame in her carriage, and asked the king in what direction he wished the promenade to take place. The king, who had just seen La Valliere, still pale from the events of the previous evening, get into a carriage with three of her companions, told the queen that he had no preference, and wherever she would wish to go there would he be with her. The queen then desired that the outriders should proceed in the direction of Apremont. The outriders set off accordingly before the others. The king rode on horseback, and for a few minutes accompanied the carriage of the queen and madame, with his hand rest- ing upon the door. The weather had cleared up a little, but a kind of veil of dust, like a thick gauze, was still spread over the surface of the heavens, and the sun made every glittering atom of dust glisten again within the cir- cuit of its rays. The heat was stifling; but as the king did not seem to pay any attention to the appearance of the heavens, no one made himself uneasy about it and the promenade, in obedience to the orders which had been given