in the amusements he had provided with which some person or another
might be able to find fault; he experienced a little of the annoyance
felt by a person coming from the provinces to Paris, dressed out in the
very best clothes which his wardrobe can furnish, only to find that
the fashionably dressed man there looks at him either too much or not
enough. This part of the conversation, which Fouquet had carried on with
so much moderation, yet with extreme tact, inspired the king with the
highest esteem for the character of the man and the capacity of the
minister. Fouquet took his leave at a quarter to three in the morning,
and the king went to bed a little uneasy and confused at the indirect
lesson he had received; and a good hour was employed by him in going
over again in memory the embroideries, the tapestries, the bills of fare
of the various banquets, the architecture of the triumphal arches, the
arrangements for the illuminations and fireworks, all the offspring
of the "Clerk Colbert's" invention. The result was, the king passed in
review before him everything that had taken place during the last
eight days, and decided that faults could be found in his _fetes_.
But Fouquet, by his politeness, his thoughtful consideration, and his
generosity, had injured Colbert more deeply than the latter, by his
artifice, his ill-will, and his persevering hatred, had ever yet
succeeded in hurting Fouquet.

Chapter XLVIII. Fontainebleau at Two o'Clock in the Morning.

As we have seen, Saint-Aignan had quitted the king's apartment at the
very moment the superintendent entered it. Saint-Aignan was charged with
a mission that required dispatch, and he was going to do his utmost to
turn his time to the best advantage. He whom we have introduced as the
king's friend was indeed an uncommon personage; he was one of those
valuable courtiers whose vigilance and acuteness of perception threw
all other favorites into the shade, and counterbalanced, by his close
attention, the servility of Dangeau, who was not the favorite, but the
toady of the king. M. de Saint-Aignan began to think what was to be
done in the present position of affairs. He reflected that his first
information ought to come from De Guiche. He therefore set out in search
of him, but De Guiche, whom we saw disappear behind one of the wings,
and who seemed to have returned to his own apartments, had not entered
the chateau. Saint-Aignan therefore went in quest of him, and a