embroidered silk, fringed with
feathers, sat the young and lovely princess, on whose beaming face were
reflected the softened rose-tints which suited her delicate skin to
perfection. Monsieur, on reaching the carriage, was struck by her
beauty; he showed his admiration in so marked a manner that the
Chevalier de Lorraine shrugged his shoulders as he listened to his
compliments, while Buckingham and De Guiche were almost heart-broken.
After the usual courtesies had been rendered, and the ceremony
completed, the procession slowly resumed the road to Paris. The
presentations had been carelessly made, and Buckingham, with the rest of
the English gentlemen, had been introduced to Monsieur, from whom they
had received but very indifferent attention. But, during their progress,
as he observed that the duke devoted himself with his accustomed
earnestness to the carriage-door, he asked the Chevalier de Lorraine,
his inseparable companion, "Who is that cavalier?"

"He was presented to your highness a short while ago; it is the handsome
Duke of Buckingham."

"Ah, yes, I remember."

"Madame's knight," added the favorite, with an inflection of the voice
which envious minds can alone give to the simplest phrases.

"What do you say?" replied the prince.

"I said 'Madame's knight.'"

"Has she a recognized knight, then?"

"One would think you can judge of that for yourself; look, only, how
they are laughing and flirting. All three of them."

"What do you mean by all three?"

"Do you not see that De Guiche is one of the party?"

"Yes, I see. But what does that prove?"

"That Madame has two admirers instead of one."

"Thou poison the simplest thing!"

"I poison nothing. Ah! your royal highness's mind is perverted. The
honors of the kingdom of France are being paid to your wife and you are
not satisfied."

The Duke of Orleans dreaded the satirical humor of the Chevalier de
Lorraine whenever it reached a certain degree of bitterness, and he
changed the conversation abruptly. "The princess is pretty," said he,
very negligently, as if he were speaking of a stranger.

"Yes," replied the chevalier, in the same tone.

"You say 'yes' like a 'no.' She has very beautiful black eyes."

"Yes, but small."

"That is so, but they are brilliant. She is tall, and of a good figure."

"I fancy she stoops a little, my lord?"

"I do not deny it. She has a noble appearance."

"Yes, but her face is thin."

"I thought her teeth beaut