FREE BOOKS

Author's List




PREV.   NEXT  
|<   20   21   22   23   24   25   26   27   28   29   30   31   32   33   34   35   36   37   38   39   40   41   42   43   44  
45   46   47   48   49   50   51   52   53   >>  
e; he thought, nevertheless, that he ought to remain some time longer in this post of inferiority, in order to use it as a ladder of ascent. The Queen wrote quantities of letters to different countries, and especially to Spain, but never, or hardly ever, in her own hand. One day, whilst handling all this correspondence for the princess's signature, the private secretary slipped one in, addressed to Casimir, the Polish King. In this letter, which from one end to the other sang the praises of the Seigneur Brisacier, the Queen had the extreme kindness to remind the Northern monarch of his old liaison with the respectable mother of the young man, and her Majesty begged the prince to solicit from the King of France the title and rank of duke for so excellent a subject. King Casimir was not, as one knows, distrust and prudence personified; he walked blindfold into the trap; he wrote with his royal hand to his brother, the King of France, and asked him a brevet as duke for young Brisacier. Our King, who did not throw duchies at people's heads, read and re-read the strange missive with astonishment and suspicion. He wrote in his turn to the suppliant King, and begged him to send him the why and the wherefore of this hieroglyphic adventure. The good prince, ignorant of ruses, sent the letter of the Queen herself. Had this princess ever given any reason to be talked about, there is no doubt that she would have been lost on this occasion; but there was nothing to excite suspicion. The King, no less, approached her with precaution, in order to observe the first results of her answers. "Madame," he said, "are you still quite satisfied with young Brisacier, your private secretary?" "More or less," replied the Infanta; "a little light, a little absent; but, on the whole, a good enough young man." "Why have you recommended him to the King of Poland, instead of recommending him to me directly?" "To the King of Poland!--I? I have not written to him since I congratulated him on his succession." "Then, madame, you have been deceived in this matter, since I have your last letter in my hands. Here it is; I return it to you." The princess read the letter with attention; her astonishment was immense. "My signature has been used without authority," she said. "Brisacier alone can be guilty, being the only one interested." This new kind of ambitious man was summoned; he was easily confounded. The King ordered hi
PREV.   NEXT  
|<   20   21   22   23   24   25   26   27   28   29   30   31   32   33   34   35   36   37   38   39   40   41   42   43   44  
45   46   47   48   49   50   51   52   53   >>  



Top keywords:
Brisacier
 

letter

 

princess

 

secretary

 
signature
 
Casimir
 

France

 
begged
 

prince

 

Poland


private

 

astonishment

 
suspicion
 

confounded

 
satisfied
 
reason
 

talked

 

Madame

 
excite
 

ordered


approached

 

precaution

 

answers

 
occasion
 

results

 
observe
 

immense

 

attention

 

return

 

guilty


interested

 

authority

 
matter
 

ambitious

 

easily

 

recommended

 
recommending
 
Infanta
 

absent

 

directly


summoned

 

madame

 

deceived

 

succession

 
congratulated
 

written

 
replied
 

slipped

 
addressed
 

Polish