ne day to
Paris and back, and on the following to every place in the vicinity
where news of the fleeting beauty might by any possibility be gained;
so that he far outstripped my agents, who were on the same quest. But
though I had no mean opinion of his abilities, I hoped little from
these exertions, and was proportionately pleased when, on the third
day, he came to me with a radiant face and invited me to attend the
Queen that evening.

"The King will be there," he said, "and I shall surprise you. But I
will not tell you more. Come! and I promise to satisfy you."

And that was all he would say; so that, finding my questions useless,
and the man almost frantic with joy, I had to be content with it; and
at the Queen's hour that evening presented myself in her gallery, which
proved to be unusually full.

Making my way towards her in some doubt of my reception, I found my
worst fears confirmed. She greeted me with a sneering face, and was
preparing, I was sure, to put some slight upon me--a matter wherein she
could always count on the applause of her Italian servants--when the
entrance of the King took her by surprise. He advanced up the gallery
with a listless air, and, after saluting her, stood by one of the
fireplaces talking to Epernon and La Force. The crowd was pretty dense
by this time, and the hum of talk filled the room when, on a sudden, a
voice, which I recognised as Bassompierre's, was lifted above it.

"Very well!" he cried gaily, "then I appeal to her Majesty. She shall
decide, mademoiselle! No, no; I am not satisfied with your claim!"

The King looked that way with a frown, but the Queen took the outburst
in good part. "What is it, M. de Bassompierre?" she said. "What am I
to decide?"

"To-day, in the forest, I found a ring, madame," he answered, coming
forward. "I told Mademoiselle de la Force of my discovery, and she now
claims the ring."

"I once had a ring like it," cried mademoiselle, blushing and laughing.

"A sapphire ring?" Bassompierre answered, holding his hand aloft.

"Yes."

"With three stones?"

"Yes,"

"Precisely, mademoiselle!" he answered, bowing. "But the stones in
this ring are not sapphires, nor are there three of them."

There was a great laugh at this, and the Queen said, very wittily, that
as neither of the claimants could prove a right to the ring it must
revert to the judge.

"In one moment your Majesty shall at least see it," he answered. "But,
first