It has been seen, by the account we have endeavored to giveof it, that the entree of King Louis XIV. into the city ofBlois had been noisy and brilliant his young majesty hadtherefore appeared perfectly satisfied with it.

On arriving beneath the porch of the Castle of the States,the king met, surrounded by his guards and gentlemen, withS. A. R. the duke, Gaston of Orleans, whose physiognomy,naturally rather majestic, had borrowed on this solemnoccasion a fresh luster and a fresh dignity. On her part,Madame, dressed in her robes of ceremony, awaited, in theinterior balcony, the entrance of her nephew. All thewindows of the old castle, so deserted and dismal onordinary days, were resplendent with ladies and lights.

It was then to the sound of drums, trumpets, and vivats,that the young king crossed the threshold of that castle inwhich, seventy-two years before, Henry III. had called inthe aid of assassination and treachery to keep upon his headand in his house a crown which was already slipping from hisbrow, to fall into another family.

All eyes, after having admired the young king, so handsomeand so agreeable, sought for that other king of France, muchotherwise king than the former, and so old, so pale, sobent, that people called him the Cardinal Mazarin.

Louis was at this time endowed with all the natural giftswhich make the perfect gentleman; his eye was brilliant,mild, and of a clear azure blue. But the most skillfulphysiognomists, those divers into the soul, on fixing theirlooks upon it, if it had been possible for a subject tosustain the glance of the king, - the most skillfulphysiognomists, we say, would never have been able to fathomthe depths of that abyss of mildness. It was with the eyesof the king as with the immense depths of the azure heavens,or with those more terrific, and almost as sublime, whichthe Mediterranean reveals under the keels of its ships in aclear summer day, a gigantic mirror in which heaven delightsto reflect sometimes its stars, sometimes its storms.

The king was short of stature - he was scarcely five feettwo inches: but his youth made up for this defect, set offlikewise by great nobleness in all his movements, and byconsiderable address in all bodily exercises.

Certes, he was already quite a king, and it was a greatthing to be a king in that period of traditional devotednessand respect; but as, up to that time, he had been but seldomand always poorly shown to the people, as they to whom hewas shown saw him by the side of his mother, a tall woman,and monsieur le cardinal, a man of commanding presence, manyfound him so little of a king as to say, -

"Why, the king is not so tall as monsieur le cardinal!"

Whatever may be thought of these physical observations,which were principally made in the capital, the young kingwas welcomed as a god by the inhabitants of Blois, andalmost like a king by his uncle and aunt, Monsieur andMadame, the inhabitants of the castle.

It must, however, be allowed, that when he saw, in the hallof reception, chairs of equal height placed for himself, hismother, the cardinal, and his uncle and aunt, a dispositionartfully concealed by the semicircular form of the assembly,Louis XIV. became red with anger, and looked around him toascertain by the countenances of those that were present, ifthis humiliation had been prepared for him. But as he sawnothing upon the impassible visage of the cardinal, nothingon that of his mother, nothing on those of the assembly, heresigned himself, and sat down, taking care to be seatedbefore anybody else.

The gentlemen and ladies were presented to their majestiesand monsieur le cardinal.

The king remarked that his mother and he scarcely knew thenames of any of the persons who were presented to them;whilst the cardinal, on the contrary never failed, with anadmirable memory and presence of mind, to talk to every oneabout his estates, his ancestors, or his children, some ofwhom he named, which enchanted those worthy countrygentlemen, and confirmed them in the idea that he alone istruly king who knows his subjects, from the same reason thatthe sun has no rival, because the sun alone warms andlightens.

The study of the young king, which had begun a long timebefore, without anybody suspecting it, was continued then,and he looked around him attentively to endeavor to make outsomething in the physiognomies which had at first appearedthe most insignificant and trivial.

A collation was served. The king, without daring to callupon the hospitality of his uncle, had waited for itimpatiently. This time, therefore, he had all the honorsdue, if not to his rank, at least to his appetite

As to the cardinal, he contented himself with touching withhis withered lips a bouillon, served in a gold cup. Theall-powerful minister, who had taken her regency from thequeen, and his royalty from the king, had not been able totake a good stomach from nature.

Anne of Austria, already suffering from the cancer which sixor eight years after caused her death, ate very little morethan the cardinal.

For Monsieur, already puffed up with the great event whichhad taken place in his provincial life, he ate nothingwhatever.

Madame alone, like a true Lorrainer, kept pace with hismajesty; so that Louis XIV., who, without this partner,might have eaten nearly alone, was at first much pleasedwith his aunt, and afterwards with M. de Saint-Remy, hermaitre d'hotel, who had really distinguished himself.

The collation over, at a sign of approbation from M. deMazarin, the king arose, and, at the invitation of his aunt,walked about among the ranks of the assembly.

The ladies then observed - there are certain things forwhich women are as good observers at Blois as at Paris - the ladies then observed that Louis XIV. had a prompt andbold look, which premised a distinguished appreciator ofbeauty. The men, on their part, observed that the prince wasproud and haughty, that he loved to look down those whofixed their eyes upon him too long or too earnestly, whichgave presage of a master.

Louis XIV. had accomplished about a third of his review whenhis ears were struck with a word which his eminencepronounced whilst conversing with Monsieur.

This word was the name of a woman.

Scarcely had Louis XIV. heard this word than he heard, orrather listened to nothing else; and neglecting the arc ofthe circle which awaited his visit, his object seemed to beto come as quickly as possible to the extremity of thecurve.

Monsieur, like a good courtier, was inquiring of monsieur lecardinal after the health of his nieces; he regretted, hesaid, not having the pleasure of receiving them at the sametime with their uncle; they must certainly have grown instature, beauty and grace, as they had promised to do thelast time Monsieur had seen them.

What had first struck the king was a certain contrast in thevoices of the two interlocutors. The voice of Monsieur wascalm and natural while he spoke thus; while that of M. deMazarin jumped by a note and a half to reply above thediapason of his usual voice. It might have been said that hewished that voice to strike, at the end of the salon, anyear that was too distant.

"Monseigneur," replied he, "Mesdemoiselles de Mazarin havestill to finish their education: they have duties tofulfill, and a position to make. An abode in a young andbrilliant court would dissipate them a little."

Louis, at this last sentence, smiled sadly. The court wasyoung, it was true, but the avarice of the cardinal hadtaken good care that it should not be brilliant.

"You have nevertheless no intention," replied Monsieur, "tocloister them or make them bourgeoises?"

"Not at all," replied the cardinal, forcing his Italianpronunciation in such a manner that, from soft and velvetyas it was, it became sharp and vibrating, "not at all: Ihave a full and fixed intention to marry them, and that aswell as I shall be able."

"Parties will not be wanting, monsieur le cardinal," repliedMonsieur, with a bonhomie worthy of one tradesmancongratulating another.

"I hope not, monseigneur, and with reason, as God has beenpleased to give them grace, intelligence, and beauty."

During this conversation, Louis XIV., conducted by Madame,accomplished, as we have described, the circle ofpresentations.

"Mademoiselle Auricule," said the princess, presenting tohis majesty a fat, fair girl of two-and-twenty, who at avillage fete might have been taken for a peasant in Sundayfinery, - "the daughter of my music-mistress."

The king smiled. Madame had never been able to extract fourcorrect notes from either viol or harpsichord.

"Mademoiselle Aure de Montalais," continued Madame, "a younglady of rank, and my good attendant."

This time it was not the king that smiled; it was the younglady presented, because, for the first time in her life, sheheard, given to her by Madame, who generally showed notendency to spoil her, such an honorable qualification.

Our old acquaintance Montalais, therefore, made his majestya profound courtesy, the more respectful from the necessityshe was under of concealing certain contractions of herlaughing lips, which the king might not have attributed totheir real cause.

It was just at this moment that the king caught the wordwhich startled him.

"And the name of the third?" asked Monsieur.

"Mary, monseigneur," replied the cardinal.

There was doubtless some magical influence in that word,for, as we have said, the king started at hearing it, anddrew Madame towards the middle of the circle, as if hewished to put some confidential question to her, but, inreality, for the sake of getting nearer to the cardinal.

"Madame my aunt," said he, laughing, and in a suppressedvoice, "my geography-master did not teach me that Blois wasat such an immense distance from Paris."

"What do you mean, nephew?" asked Madame.

"Why, because it would appear that it requires severalyears, as regards fashion, to travel the distance! - Lookat those young ladies!"

"Well; I know them all."

"Some of them are pretty."

"Don't say that too loud, monsieur my nephew; you will drivethem wild."

"Stop a bit, stop a bit, dear aunt!" said the king, smiling;"for the second part of my sentence will serve as acorrective to the first. Well, my dear aunt, some of themappear old and others ugly, thanks to their ten-year-oldfashions."

"But, sire, Blois is only five days, journey from Paris."

"Yes, that is it," said the king: "two years behind for eachday."

"Indeed! do you really think so? Well, that is strange! Itnever struck me."

"Now, look, aunt," said Louis XIV., drawing still nearer toMazarin, under the pretext of gaining a better point ofview, "look at that simple white dress by the side of thoseantiquated specimens of finery, and those pretentiouscoiffures. She is probably one of my mother's maids ofhonor, though I don't know her."

"Ah! ah! my dear nephew!" replied Madame, laughing, "permitme to tell you that your divinatory science is at fault foronce. The young lady you honor with your praise is not aParisian, but a Blaisoise."

"Oh, aunt!" replied the king with a look of doubt.

"Come here, Louise," said Madame.

And the fair girl, already known to you under that name,approached them, timid, blushing, and almost bent beneaththe royal glance.

"Mademoiselle Louise Francoise de la Baume le Blanc, thedaughter of the Marquise de la Valliere," said Madame,ceremoniously.

The young girl bowed with so much grace, mingled with theprofound timidity inspired by the presence of the king, thatthe latter lost, while looking at her, a few words of theconversation of Monsieur and the cardinal.

"Daughter-in-law," continued Madame, "of M. de Saint-Remy,my maitre d'hotel, who presided over the confection of thatexcellent daube truffee which your majesty seemed so much toappreciate."

No grace, no youth, no beauty, could stand out against sucha presentation. The king smiled. Whether the words of Madamewere a pleasantry, or uttered in all innocency, they provedthe pitiless immolation of everything that Louis had foundcharming or poetic in the young girl. Mademoiselle de laValliere, for Madame and, by rebound, for the king, was, fora moment, no more than the daughter of a man of a superiortalent over dindes truffees.

But princes are thus constituted. The gods, too, were justlike this in Olympus. Diana and Venus, no doubt, abused thebeautiful Alcmena and poor Io, when they condescended, fordistraction's sake, to speak, amidst nectar and ambrosia, ofmortal beauties, at the table of Jupiter.

Fortunately, Louise was so bent in her reverential salute,that she did not catch either Madame's words or the king'ssmile. In fact, if the poor child, who had so much goodtaste as alone to have chosen to dress herself in whiteamidst all her companions - if that dove's heart, so easilyaccessible to painful emotions, had been touched by thecruel words of Madame, or the egotistical cold smile of theking, it would have annihilated her.

And Montalais herself, the girl of ingenious ideas, wouldnot have attempted to recall her to life; for ridicule killsbeauty even.

But fortunately, as we have said, Louise, whose ears werebuzzing, and her eyes veiled by timidity, - Louise sawnothing and heard nothing; and the king, who had still hisattention directed to the conversation of the cardinal andhis uncle, hastened to return to them.

He came up just at the moment Mazarin terminated by saying:"Mary, as well as her sisters, has just set off for Brouage.I make them follow the opposite bank of the Loire to thatalong which we have traveled; and if I calculate theirprogress correctly, according to the orders I have given,they will to-morrow be opposite Blois."

These words were pronounced with that tact - that measure,that distinctness of tone, of intention, and reach - whichmade del Signor Giulio Mazarini the first comedian in theworld.

It resulted that they went straight to the heart of LouisXIV., and the cardinal, on turning round at the simple noiseof the approaching footsteps of his majesty, saw theimmediate effect of them upon the countenance of his pupil,an effect betrayed to the keen eyes of his eminence by aslight increase of color. But what was the ventilation ofsuch a secret to him whose craft had for twenty yearsdeceived all the diplomatists of Europe?

From the moment the young king heard these last words, heappeared as if he had received a poisoned arrow in hisheart. He could not remain quiet in a place, but cast aroundan uncertain, dead, and aimless look over the assembly. Hewith his eyes interrogated his mother more than twentytimes: but she, given up to the pleasure of conversing withher sister-in-law, and likewise constrained by the glance ofMazarin, did not appear to comprehend any of thesupplications conveyed by the looks of her son.

From this moment, music, lights, flowers, beauties, allbecame odious and insipid to Louis XIV. After he had ahundred times bitten his lips, stretched his legs and hisarms like a well-brought-up child who, without daring togape, exhausts all the modes of evincing his weariness - after having uselessly again implored his mother and theminister, he turned a despairing look towards the door, thatis to say, towards liberty.

At this door, in the embrasure of which he was leaning, hesaw, standing out strongly, a figure with a brown and loftycountenance, an aquiline nose, a stern but brilliant eye,gray and long hair, a black mustache, the true type ofmilitary beauty, whose gorget, more sparkling than a mirror,broke all the reflected lights which concentrated upon it,and sent them back as lightning. This officer wore his grayhat with its long red plumes upon his head, a proof that hewas called there by his duty, and not by his pleasure. If hehad been brought thither by his pleasure - if he had been acourtier instead of a soldier, as pleasure must always bepaid for at the same price - he would have held his hat inhis hand.

That which proved still better that this officer was uponduty, and was accomplishing a task to which he wasaccustomed, was, that he watched, with folded arms,remarkable indifference, and supreme apathy, the joys andennuis of this fete. Above all, he appeared, like aphilosopher, and all old soldiers are philosophers, - heappeared above all to comprehend the ennuis infinitelybetter than the joys; but in the one he took his part,knowing very well how to do without the other.

Now, he was leaning, as we have said, against the carveddoor-frame when the melancholy, weary eyes of the king, bychance, met his.

It was not the first time, as it appeared, that the eyes ofthe officer had met those eyes, and he was perfectlyacquainted with the expression of them; for, as soon as hehad cast his own look upon the countenance of Louis XIV.,and had read by it what was passing in his heart - that isto say, all the ennui that oppressed him - all the timiddesire to go out which agitated him, - he perceived he mustrender the king a service without his commanding it, - almost in spite of himself. Boldly, therefore, as if he hadgiven the word of command to cavalry in battle, "On theking's service!" cried he, in a clear, sonorous voice.

At these words, which produced the effect of a peal ofthunder, prevailing over the orchestra, the singing and thebuzz of the promenaders, the cardinal and the queen-motherlooked at each other with surprise.

Louis XIV., pale, but resolved, supported as he was by thatintuition of his own thought which he had found in the mindof the officer of musketeers, and which he had justmanifested by the order given, arose from his chair, andtook a step towards the door.

"Are you going, my son?" said the queen, whilst Mazarinsatisfied himself with interrogating by a look which mighthave appeared mild if it had not been so piercing.

"Yes, madame," replied the king; "I am fatigued, and,besides, wish to write this evening."

A smile stole over the lips of the minister, who appeared,by a bend of the head, to give the king permission.

Monsieur and Madame hastened to give orders to the officerswho presented themselves.

The king bowed, crossed the hall, and gained the door, wherea hedge of twenty musketeers awaited him. At the extremityof this hedge stood the officer, impassible, with his drawnsword in his hand. The king passed, and all the crowd stoodon tip-toe, to have one more look at him.

Ten musketeers, opening the crowd of the ante-chambers andthe steps, made way for his majesty. The other tensurrounded the king and Monsieur, who had insisted uponaccompanying his majesty. The domestics walked behind. Thislittle cortege escorted the king to the chamber destined forhim. The apartment was the same that had been occupied byHenry III. during his sojourn in the States.

Monsieur had given his orders. The musketeers, led by theirofficer, took possession of the little passage by which onewing of the castle communicates with the other. This passagewas commenced by a small square ante-chamber, dark even inthe finest days. Monsieur stopped Louis XIV.

"You are passing now, sire," said he, "the very spot wherethe Duc de Guise received the first stab of the poniard."

The king was ignorant of all historical matters; he hadheard of the fact, but he knew nothing of the localities orthe details.

"Ah!" said he with a shudder.

And he stopped. The rest, both behind and before him,stopped likewise.

"The duc, sire," continued Gaston, "was nearly where Istand: he was walking in the same direction as your majesty;M. de Lorgnes was exactly where your lieutenant ofmusketeers is; M. de Saint-Maline and his majesty'sordinaries were behind him and around him. It was here thathe was struck."

The king turned towards his officer, and saw something likea cloud pass over his martial and daring countenance.

"Yes, from behind!" murmured the lieutenant, with a gestureof supreme disdain. And he endeavored to resume the march,as if ill at ease at being between walls formerly defiled bytreachery.

But the king, who appeared to wish to be informed, wasdisposed to give another look at this dismal spot.

Gaston perceived his nephew's desire.

"Look, sire," said he, taking a flambeau from the hands ofM. de Saint-Remy, "this is where he fell. There was a bedthere, the curtains of which he tore with catching at them."

"Why does the floor seem hollowed out at this spot?" askedLouis.

"Because it was here the blood flowed," replied Gaston; "theblood penetrated deeply into the oak, and it was only bycutting it out that they succeeded in making it disappear.And even then," added Gaston, pointing the flambeau to thespot, "even then this red stain resisted all the attemptsmade to destroy it."

Louis XIV. raised his head. Perhaps he was thinking of thatbloody trace that had once been shown him at the Louvre, andwhich, as a pendant to that of Blois, had been made thereone day by the king his father with the blood of Concini.

"Let us go on," said he.

The march was resumed promptly, for emotion, no doubt, hadgiven to the voice of the young prince a tone of commandwhich was not customary with him. When arrived at theapartment destined for the king, which communicated not onlywith the little passage we have passed through, but furtherwith the great staircase leading to the court, -

"Will your majesty," said Gaston, "condescend to occupy thisapartment, all unworthy as it is to receive you?"

"Uncle," replied the young king, "I render you my thanks foryour cordial hospitality."

Gaston bowed to his nephew, embraced him, and then went out.

Of the twenty musketeers who had accompanied the king, tenreconducted Monsieur to the reception-rooms, which were notyet empty, notwithstanding the king had retired.

The ten others were posted by their officer, who himselfexplored, in five minutes, all the localities, with thatcold and certain glance which not even habit gives unlessthat glance belongs to genius.

Then, when all were placed, he chose as his headquarters theante-chamber, in which he found a large fauteuil, a lamp,some wine, some water: and some dry bread.

He refreshed his lamp, drank half a glass of wine, curledhis lip with a smile full of expression, installed himselfin his large armchair, and made preparations for sleeping.