woman's strength may be, there is a limit to it, and she
cannot hold out long under such a system. As for Monsieur, he had not
even the satisfaction of witnessing Madame's abdication of her royalty
in the evening, for she lived in the royal pavilion with the young queen
and the queen-mother. As a matter of course, the Chevalier de Lorraine
did not quit Monsieur, and did not fail to distil drops of gall into
every wound the latter received. The result was, that Monsieur--who
had at first been in the highest spirits, and completely restored since
Guiche's departure--subsided into his melancholy state three days after
the court was installed at Fontainebleau.

It happened, however, that, one day, about two o'clock in the afternoon,
Monsieur, who had risen late, and had bestowed upon his toilet more than
his usual attention,--it happened, we repeat, that Monsieur, who had not
heard of any plans having been arranged for the day, formed the project
of collecting his own court, and of carrying Madame off with him to
Moret, where he possessed a charming country house. He accordingly went
to the queen's pavilion, and was astonished, on entering, to find none
of the royal servants in attendance. Quite alone, therefore, he entered
the rooms, a door on the left opening to Madame's apartment, the one on
the right to the young queen's. In his wife's apartment, Monsieur was
informed, by a sempstress who was working there, that every one had left
at eleven o'clock, for the purpose of bathing in the Seine, that a grand
_fete_ was to be made of the expedition, that all the carriages had been
placed at the park gates, and that they had all set out more than an
hour ago.

"Very good," said Monsieur, "the idea is a good one; the heat is very
oppressive, and I have no objection to bathe, too."

He summoned his servants, but no one came. He summoned those in
attendance on Madame, but everybody had gone out. He went to the
stables, where he was informed by a groom that there were no carriages
of any description. He desired that a couple of horses should be
saddled, one for himself and the other for his valet. The groom told him
that all the horses had been sent away. Monsieur, pale with anger, again
descended towards the queen's apartments, and penetrated as far as
Anne of Austria's oratory, where he perceived, through the half-opened
tapestry-hangings, his young and beautiful sister on her knees before
the queen-mother, who appeared weeping