to right and left, he stepped forward and stood at the right hand of
the King as his natural place. A stranger entering would rather have
thought, indeed, that it was the King who was on the Cardinal's left
hand. The Marechal d'Estrees, all the ambassadors, the Duc d'Angouleme,
the Due d'Halluin (Schomberg), the Marechal de Chatillon, and all the
great officers of the crown surrounded him, each waiting impatiently for
the compliments of the others to be finished, in order to pay his own,
fearing lest some one else should anticipate him with the flattering
epigram he had just improvised, or the phrase of adulation he was
inventing.

As for Fabert, he had retired to a corner of the tent, and seemed to
have paid no particular attention to the scene. He was chatting with
Montresor and the gentlemen of Monsieur, all sworn enemies of the
Cardinal, because, out of the throng he avoided, he had found none but
these to speak to. This conduct would have seemed extremely tactless in
one less known; but although he lived in the midst of the court, he was
ever ignorant of its intrigues. It was said of him that he returned from
a battle he had gained, like the King's hunting-horse, leaving the dogs
to caress their master and divide the quarry, without seeking even to
remember the part he had had in the triumph.

The storm, then, seemed entirely appeased, and to the violent agitations
of the morning succeeded a gentle calm. A respectful murmur, varied
with pleasant laughter and protestations of attachment, was all that was
heard in the tent. The voice of the Cardinal arose from time to time:
"The poor Queen! We shall, then, soon again see her! I never had dared
to hope for such happiness while I lived!" The King listened to him with
full confidence, and made no attempt to conceal his satisfaction. "It
was assuredly an idea sent to him from on high," he said; "this good
Cardinal, against whom they had so incensed me, was thinking only of
the union of my family. Since the birth of the Dauphin I have not tasted
greater joy than at this moment. The protection of the Holy Virgin is
manifested over our kingdom."

At this moment, a captain of the guards came up and whispered in the
King's ear.

"A courier from Cologne?" said the King; "let him wait in my cabinet."

Then, unable to restrain his impatience, "I will go! I will go!" he
said, and entered alone a small, square tent attached to the larger one.
In it he saw a young courier ho