. He had fine features, to which
his extreme youth, his long fair hair, and the gentle expression of his
eyes lent much charm. Two years of warfare had given him a martial air;
in short, even among the most elegant, he might pass as a beau cavalier.

At three o'clock he reached Versailles, and found Chamillard waiting
for him; all the courtiers of every rank were in a state of great
excitement, for they had learned that the great Louis had expressed a
wish to meet the late Cevenol chief, whose name had been pronounced
so loud and so often in the mountains of Languedoc that its echoes had
resounded in the halls of Versailles. Cavalier had not been mistaken in
thinking that everyone was curious to see him, only as no one yet knew
in what light the king regarded him, the courtiers dared not accost him
for fear of compromising their dignity; the manner of his reception by
His Majesty would regulate the warmth of his reception by everyone else.

Met thus by looks of curiosity and affected silence, the young colonel
felt some embarrassment, and this increased when Chamillard, who had
accompanied him to his appointed place, left him to rejoin the king.
However, in a few moments he did what embarrassed people so often do,
hid his shyness under an air of disdain, and, leaning on the balustrade,
crossed his legs and played with the feather of his hat.

When half an hour had passed in this manner, a great commotion was
heard: Cavalier turned in the direction from which it came, and
perceived the king just entering the vestibule. It was the first time
he had seen him, but he recognized him at once. Cavalier's knees knocked
together and his face flushed.

The king mounted the stairs step by step with his usual dignity,
stopping from time to time to say a word or make a sign with head or
hand. Behind him, two steps lower, came Chamillard, moving and stopping
as the king moved and stopped, and answering the questions which His
Majesty put to him in a respectful but formal and precise manner.

Reaching the level on which Cavalier stood, the king stopped under
pretext of pointing out to Chamillard a new ceiling which Le Brun had
just finished, but really to have a good look at the singular man who
had maintained a struggle against two marshals of France and treated
with a third on equal terms. When he had examined him quite at his ease,
he turned to Chamillard, pretending he had only just caught sight of the
stranger, and asked: