streams of
flatterers hastened, one toward the King, the other toward the minister;
the former group, not less adroit than the second, although less direct,
addressed to the Prince thanks which could be heard by the minister, and
burned at the feet of the one incense which was intended for the other.
As for Richelieu, bowing and smiling to right and left, he stepped
forward and stood at the right hand of the King as his natural place. A
stranger entering would rather have thought, indeed, that it was the King
who was on the Cardinal's left hand. The Marechal d'Estrees, all the
ambassadors, the Duc d'Angouleme, the Due d'Halluin (Schomberg), the
Marechal de Chatillon, and all the great officers of the crown surrounded
him, each waiting impatiently for the compliments of the others to be
finished, in order to pay his own, fearing lest some one else should
anticipate him with the flattering epigram he had just improvised, or the
phrase of adulation he was inventing.

As for Fabert, he had retired to a corner of the tent, and seemed to have
paid no particular attention to the scene. He was chatting with Montresor
and the gentlemen of Monsieur, all sworn enemies of the Cardinal,
because, out of the throng he avoided, he had found none but these to
speak to. This conduct would have seemed extremely tactless in one less
known; but although he lived in the midst of the court, he was ever
ignorant of its intrigues. It was said of him that he returned from a
battle he had gained, like the King's hunting-horse, leaving the dogs to
caress their master and divide the quarry, without seeking even to
remember the part he had had in the triumph.

The storm, then, seemed entirely appeased, and to the violent agitations
of the morning succeeded a gentle calm. A respectful murmur, varied with
pleasant laughter and protestations of attachment, was all that was heard
in the tent. The voice of the Cardinal arose from time to time: "The poor
Queen! We shall, then, soon again see her! I never had dared to hope for
such happiness while I lived!" The King listened to him with full
confidence, and made no attempt to conceal his satisfaction. "It was
assuredly an idea sent to him from on high," he said; "this good
Cardinal, against whom they had so incensed me, was thinking only of the
union of my family. Since the birth of the Dauphin I have not tasted
greater joy than at this moment. The protection of the Holy Virgin is
manifested over our king