poet, and fancied that he had proved that he was
so under too many a memorable circumstance to allow the title to be
disputed by any one. An indefatigable rhymester, he had, during
the whole of the journey, overwhelmed with quatrains, sextains, and
madrigals, first the king, and then La Valliere. The king, on his side,
was in a similarly poetical mood, and had made a distich; while La
Valliere, delighting in poetry, as most women do who are in love, had
composed two sonnets. The day, then, had not been a bad one for Apollo;
and so, as soon as he had returned to Paris, Saint-Aignan, who knew
beforehand that his verse would be sure to be extensively circulated in
court circles, occupied himself, with a little more attention than he
had been able to bestow during the promenade, with the composition, as
well as with the idea itself. Consequently, with all the tenderness of
a father about to start his children in life, he candidly interrogated
himself whether the public would find these offsprings of his
imagination sufficiently elegant and graceful; and in order to make
his mind easy on the subject, M. de Saint-Aignan recited to himself the
madrigal he had composed, and which he had repeated from memory to the
king, and had promised to write out for him on his return. All the
time he was committing these words to memory, the comte was engaged in
undressing himself more completely. He had just taken off his coat, and
was putting on his dressing-gown, when he was informed that Monsieur le
Baron du Vallon de Bracieux de Pierrefonds was waiting to be received.

"Eh!" he said, "what does that bunch of names mean? I don't know
anything about him."

"It is the same gentleman," replied the lackey, "who had the honor of
dining with you, monseigneur, at the king's table, when his majesty was
staying at Fontainebleau."

"Introduce him, then, at once," cried Saint-Aignan.

Porthos, in a few minutes, entered the room. M. de Saint-Aignan had
an excellent recollection of persons, and, at the first glance, he
recognized the gentleman from the country, who enjoyed so singular
a reputation, and whom the king had received so favorably at
Fontainebleau, in spite of the smiles of some of those who were present.
He therefore advanced towards Porthos with all the outward signs of
consideration of manner which Porthos thought but natural, considering
that he himself, whenever he called upon an adversary, hoisted a
standard of the most refined