displeasure, no person had ventured to
acquaint him with the awful fact. By the aid of the grand almoner, I had
triumphed over the wishes of the archbishop of Paris, and those of the
confessor. The princes and princesses awaited the event; all was calm
composure; when, all at once, the barriers I had been so carefully
erecting were crushed beneath my feet, at one sudden and unexpected
blow.

The king was by no means easy in his own mind with regard to his
illness. The many messages that were continually whispered around him,
the remedies administered, and, above all, the absence of his grandsons,
all convinced him that something of a very unusual and alarming nature
was progressing. His own feelings might, likewise, well assure him that
he was attacked by an illness of no ordinary nature. Tortured beyond
further bearing by the suggestions of his fancy, Louis XV at length
resolved to ascertain the truth, and, with this intent, closely
questioned Bordeu and Lemonnier, who did their best to deceive
him. Still, dissatisfied with their evasive replies, he watched an
opportunity, when they were both absent, to desire La Martiniere would
at once explain the true malady with which he was then suffering. La
Martiniere puzzled and confused, could only exclaim,

"I entreat of you, sire, not to fatigue yourself with conversation;
remember how strongly you have been forbidden all exertion."

"I am no child, La Martiniere," cried Louis XV, his cheeks glowing
with increased fire; "and I insist upon being made acquainted with the
precise nature of my present illness. You have always served me loyally
and faithfully, and from you I expect to receive that candid statement
every one about me seems bent upon concealing."

"Endeavour to get some sleep, sire," rejoined La Martiniere, "and do not
exhaust yourself by speaking at present."

"La Martiniere, you irritate me beyond all endurance. If you love
me, speak out, I conjure you, and tell me, frankly, the name of my
complaint."

"Do you insist upon it, sire?"

"I do, my friend, I do."

"Then, sire, you have the small-pox; but be not alarmed, it is a disease
as frequently cured as many others."

"The small-pox!" exclaimed the king, in a voice of horror; "have I
indeed that fatal disease? and do you talk of curing it?"

"Doubtless, sire; many die of it as well as other disorders, but we are
sanguine in our hopes and expectations of saving your majesty."

The king made no repl