ight not, think
of his adventure. When, however, Saint-Aignan had finished, the king,
while preparing to retire to rest, asked, "Now, Saint-Aignan, you know
what Mademoiselle de la Valliere is, do you not?"

"Not only what she is, but what she will be."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that she is everything that woman can wish to be--that is to
say, beloved by your majesty; I mean, that she will be everything your
majesty may wish her to be."

"That is not what I am asking. I do not wish to know what she is to-day,
or what she will be to-morrow; as you have remarked, that is my affair.
But tell me what others say of her."

"They say she is well conducted."

"Oh!" said the king, smiling, "that is mere report."

"But rare enough, at court, sire, to believe when it is spread."

"Perhaps you are right. Is she well born?"

"Excellently; the daughter of the Marquis de la Valliere, and
step-daughter of that good M. de Saint-Remy."

"Ah, yes! my aunt's major-domo; I remember; and I remember now that I
saw her as I passed through Blois. She was presented to the queens. I
have even to reproach myself that I did not on that occasion pay her the
attention she deserved."

"Oh, sire! I trust that your majesty will now repair time lost."

"And the report--you tell me--is, that Mademoiselle de la Valliere never
had a lover."

"In any case, I do not think your majesty would be much alarmed at the
rivalry."

"Yet, stay," said the king, in a very serious tone of voice.

"Your majesty?"

"I remember."

"Ah!"

"If she has no lover, she has, at least, a betrothed."

"A betrothed!"

"What! Count, do you not know that?"

"No."

"You, the man who knows all the news?"

"Your majesty will excuse me. You know this betrothed, then?"

"Assuredly! his father came to ask me to sign the marriage contract: it
is--" The king was about to pronounce the Vicomte de Bragelonne's name,
when he stopped, and knitted his brows.

"It is--" repeated Saint-Aignan, inquiringly.

"I don't remember now," replied Louis XIV., endeavoring to conceal an
annoyance he had some trouble to disguise.

"Can I put your majesty in the way?" inquired the Comte de Saint-Aignan.

"No; for I no longer remember to whom I intended to refer; indeed, I
only remember very indistinctly, that one of the maids of honor was to
marry--the name, however, has escaped me."

"Was it Mademoiselle de Tonnay-Charente he was going to marry?" inquired
Saint-Aignan.