ed
your Majesty on the side of your honor, it would be quite another thing,
and I should be the first to say, 'No grace, sire--no grace for the
guilty!' Happily, there is nothing of the kind, and your Majesty has
just acquired a new proof of it."

"That is true, Monsieur Cardinal," said the king, "and you were right,
as you always are; but the queen, not the less, deserves all my anger."

"It is you, sire, who have now incurred hers. And even if she were to be
seriously offended, I could well understand it; your Majesty has treated
her with a severity--"

"It is thus I will always treat my enemies and yours, Duke, however high
they may be placed, and whatever peril I may incur in acting severely
toward them."

"The queen is my enemy, but is not yours, sire; on the contrary, she is
a devoted, submissive, and irreproachable wife. Allow me, then, sire, to
intercede for her with your Majesty."

"Let her humble herself, then, and come to me first."

"On the contrary, sire, set the example. You have committed the first
wrong, since it was you who suspected the queen."

"What! I make the first advances?" said the king. "Never!"

"Sire, I entreat you to do so."

"Besides, in what manner can I make advances first?"

"By doing a thing which you know will be agreeable to her."

"What is that?"

"Give a ball; you know how much the queen loves dancing. I will answer
for it, her resentment will not hold out against such an attention."

"Monsieur Cardinal, you know that I do not like worldly pleasures."

"The queen will only be the more grateful to you, as she knows your
antipathy for that amusement; besides, it will be an opportunity for
her to wear those beautiful diamonds which you gave her recently on her
birthday and with which she has since had no occasion to adorn herself."

"We shall see, Monsieur Cardinal, we shall see," said the king, who,
in his joy at finding the queen guilty of a crime which he cared little
about, and innocent of a fault of which he had great dread, was ready to
make up all differences with her, "we shall see, but upon my honor, you
are too indulgent toward her."

"Sire," said the cardinal, "leave severity to your ministers. Clemency
is a royal virtue; employ it, and you will find that you derive
advantage therein."

Thereupon the cardinal, hearing the clock strike eleven, bowed low,
asking permission of the king to retire, and supplicating him to come to
a good understanding with the