."

Cinq-Mars, with eyes fixed upon the, great bay window of the dining-room,
looked sorrowfully upon the magnificent landscape. The sun shone in full
splendor, and colored the sands of the Loire, the trees, and the lawns
with gold and emerald. The sky was azure, the waves were of a transparent
yellow, the islets of a vivid green; behind their rounded outlines rose
the great sails of the merchant-vessels, like a fleet in ambuscade.

"O Nature, Nature!" he mused; "beautiful Nature, farewell! Soon will my
heart cease to be of simplicity enough to feel your charm, soon you wall
no longer please my eyes. This heart is already burned by a deep passion;
and the mention of the interests of men stirs it with hitherto unknown
agitation. I must, however, enter this labyrinth; I may, perchance, lose
myself there, but for Marie--"

At this moment, aroused by the words of his mother, and fearing to
exhibit a childish regret at leaving his beautiful country and his
family, he said:

"I am thinking, Madame, of the road which I shall take to Perpignan, and
also of that which shall bring me back to you."

"Do not forget to take that of Poitiers, and to go to Loudun to see your
old tutor, our good Abbe Quillet; he will give you useful advice about
the court. He is on very good terms with the Duc de Bouillon; and
besides, though he may not be very necessary to you, it is a mark of
deference which you owe him."

"Is it, then, to the siege of Perpignan that you are going, my boy?"
asked the old Marechal, who began to think that he had been silent a long
time. "Ah! it is well for you. Plague upon it! a siege! 'tis an excellent
opening. I would have given much had I been able to assist the late King
at a siege, upon my arrival in his court; it would have been better to be
disembowelled then than at a tourney, as I was. But we were at peace; and
I was compelled to go and shoot the Turks with the Rosworm of the
Hungarians, in order that I might not afflict my family by my idleness.
For the rest, may his Majesty receive you as kindly as his father
received me! It is true that the King is good and brave; but they have
unfortunately taught him that cold Spanish etiquette which arrests all
the impulses of the heart. He restrains himself and others by an
immovable presence and an icy look; as for me, I confess that I am always
waiting for the moment of thaw, but in vain. We were accustomed to other
manners from the witty and simple-hearted Hen