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The Vicomte De Bragelonne
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The Vicomte De Bragelonne 349 at Prostate Health
and that a serious one."
"Your majesty alarms me; and yet I wait most confident in your justice
and goodness."
"Do you know I am told, Monsieur Fouquet, that you are preparing a grand
_fete_ at Vaux."
Fouquet smiled, as a sick man would do at the first shiver of a fever
which has left him but returns again.
"And that you have not invited me!" continued the king.
"Sire," replied Fouquet, "I have not even thought of the _fete_ you
speak of, and it was only yesterday evening that one of my _friends_"
(Fouquet laid a stress upon the word) "was kind enough to make me think
of it."
"Yet I saw you yesterday evening, Monsieur Fouquet, and you said nothing
to me about it."
"How dared I hope that your majesty would so greatly descend from your
own exalted station as to honor my dwelling with your royal presence?"
"Excuse me, Monsieur Fouquet, you did not speak to me about your
_fete_."
"I did not allude to the _fete_ to your majesty, I repeat, in the first
place, because nothing had been decided with regard to it, and,
secondly, because I feared a refusal."
"And something made you fear a refusal, Monsieur Fouquet? You see I am
determined to push you hard."
"The profound wish I had that your majesty should accept my
invitation--"
"Well, Monsieur Fouquet, nothing is easier, I perceive, than our coming
to an understanding. Your wish is to invite me to your _fete_--my own is
to be present at it; invite me, and I will go."
"Is it possible that your majesty will deign to accept?" murmured the
surintendant.
"Why, really, monsieur," said the king, laughing, "I think I do more
than accept--I think I invite myself."
"Your majesty overwhelms me with honor and delight!" exclaimed Fouquet;
"but I shall be obliged to repeat what M. de Vieuville said to your
ancestor Henry the Fourth, _Domine non sum dignus_."
"To which I reply, Monsieur Fouquet, that if you give a _fete_, I will
go whether I am invited or not."
"I thank your majesty deeply," said Fouquet, as he raised his head
beneath this favor, which he was convinced would be his ruin.
"But how could your majesty have been informed of it?"
"By public rumor, Monsieur Fouquet, which says such wonderful things of
yourself and of the marvels of your house. Would you become proud,
Monsieur Fouquet, if the king were to be jealous of you?"
"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 offered to you."
"Very well, Monsieur Fouquet, prepare your _fete_, and open the doors
of your house as wide as possible."
[Illustration: AS THE RAIN DRIPPED MORE AND MORE THROUGH THE FOLIAGE
OF THE OAK, THE KING HELD HIS HAT OVER THE HEAD OF THE YOUNG
GIRL.--_Page 22._]
"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 majestys 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 window, 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, who 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 out-riders should proceed in the
direction of Apremont. The out-riders set off, accordingly, before the
others. The king rode on horseback, and for
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