fit of wild dreamers, such as I have just
described, that I spoke; do not take any of my words, then, to yourself,
except such as you think you deserve. Stay, I hardly know what story
recurs to my memory of some silly or melancholy girl, who was gradually
pining away because she fancied that the prince, or the king, or the
emperor, whoever it was--and it does not matter much which--had fallen
in love with her; while on the contrary, the prince, or the king, or the
emperor, whichever you please, was plainly in love with some one else,
and--a singular circumstance, one, indeed, which she could not perceive,
although every one around and about her perceived it clearly enough--
made use of her as a screen for his own love affair. You laugh as I do,
at this poor silly girl, do you not, Louise?"

"I?--oh! of course," stammered Louise, pale as death.

"And you are right, too, for the thing is amusing enough. The story,
whether true or false, amused me, and so I remembered it and told it
to you. Just imagine then, my good Louise, the mischief that such a
melancholy would create in anybody's brain,--a melancholy, I mean, of
that kind. For my own part, I resolved to tell you the story; for
if such a thing were to happen to either of _us_, it would be most
essential to be assured of its truth; to-day it is a snare, to-morrow
it would become a jest and mockery, the next day it would mean death
itself." La Valliere started again, and became, if possible, still
paler.

"Whenever a king takes notice of us," continued Montalais, "he lets us
see it easily enough, and, if we happen to be the object he covets, he
knows very well how to gain his object. You see, then, Louise, that, in
such circumstances, between young girls exposed to such a danger as the
one in question, the most perfect confidence should exist, in order that
those hearts which are not disposed towards melancholy may watch over
those likely to become so."

"Silence, silence!" said La Valliere; "some one approaches."

"Some one is approaching fast, in fact," said Montalais; "but who can it
possibly be? Everybody is away, either at mass with the king, or bathing
with Monsieur."

At the end of the walk the young girls perceived almost immediately,
beneath the arching trees, the graceful carriage and noble stature of a
young man, who, with his sword under his arm and a cloak thrown across
his shoulders, booted and spurred besides, saluted them from the
distance with a