ed from the King; without which, or a letter from the
sovereign specially commanding the registration of the edict by the
Parliament, the document was invalid. There can be no doubt that the
most manly and dignified course which the monarch could have adopted,
would have been to inform M. de Soissons of the result of the
verification which had been made; and to have declared that, in
accordance with his expressed determination when conditionally conceding
the edict, he had resolved, upon ascertaining the magnitude of the sum
which must be levied by such a tax, not to permit its operation. This
was not, however, the manner in which Henry met the difficulty. He felt
that his position was an onerous one, and he gladly transferred his
responsibility to M. de Sully; who accordingly, upon the application of
the Prince for his signature, in order that the document might be laid
before the Parliament and thus rendered available, declined to accede to
the request; alleging that the affair was one of such extreme
importance, that he dared not take upon himself to forward it without
the concurrence of the council.

M. de Soissons urged and expostulated in vain; the minister was
inflexible; and at length the Prince withdrew, but not before he had
given vent to his indignation with a bitterness which convinced his
listener that thenceforward all kindly feeling between them was at
an end.

But if the Count thus suffered himself to be defeated by a first
refusal, Madame de Verneuil was by no means inclined to follow his
example. Baffled but not beaten, she resolved upon returning to the
charge; and accordingly she drove to the residence of the minister, and
met him at the door of his closet as he was about to proceed to the
Louvre, in order to have an interview with the King.

There was an expression of haughty defiance in the eye of the favourite,
and a heightened colour upon her cheek, which at once betrayed to Sully
the purpose of her visit; while he on his side received her with a calm
courtesy which was ill-calculated to inspire her with any hope of
success; and she had scarcely seated herself before he gave her reason
to perceive that he was as little inclined to temporize as herself. When
they met he held in his hand a roll of paper, which, even after she had
entered the apartment, he still continued to grasp with a pertinacity
that did not fail to attract her attention.

"And what may be the precious document, Monsieur le