Ten Years Later by Dumas, Alexandre. Part one

voice, some sorrow in her countenance. The face of Anne of

Austria appeared a little changed, but that was from

sufferings of quite a personal character. Perhaps the

alteration was caused by the cancer which had begun to

consume her breast. “Yes, madame,” said the king; “yes, M.

de Mazarin is very ill.”

“And it would be a great loss to the kingdom if God were to

summon his eminence away. Is not that your opinion as well

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as mine, my son?” said the queen.

“Yes, madame; yes, certainly, it would be a great loss for

the kingdom,” said Louis, coloring; “but the peril does not

seem to me to be so great; besides, the cardinal is still

young.” The king had scarcely ceased speaking when an usher

lifted the tapestry, and stood with a paper in his hand,

waiting for the king to speak to him.

“What have you there?” asked the king.

“A message from M. de Mazarin,” replied the usher.

“Give it to me,” said the king; and he took the paper. But

at the moment he was about to open it, there was a great

noise in the gallery, the ante-chamber, and the court.

“Ah, ah,” said Louis XIV., who doubtless knew the meaning of

that triple noise. “How could I say there was but one king

in France! I was mistaken, there are two.”

As he spoke or thought thus, the door opened, and the

superintendent of the finances, Fouquet, appeared before his

nominal master. It was he who made the noise in the

ante-chamber, it was his horses that made the noise in the

courtyard. In addition to all this, a loud murmur was heard

along his passage, which did not die away till some time

after he had passed. It was this murmur which Louis XIV.

regretted so deeply not hearing as he passed, and dying away

behind him.

“He is not precisely a king, as you fancy,” said Anne of

Austria to her son; “he is only a man who is much too rich

— that is all.”

Whilst saying these words, a bitter feeling gave to these

words of the queen a most hateful expression; whereas the

brow of the king, calm and self-possessed, on the contrary,

was without the slightest wrinkle. He nodded, therefore,

familiarly to Fouquet, whilst he continued to unfold the

paper given to him by the usher. Fouquet perceived this

movement, and with a politeness at once easy and respectful,

advanced towards the queen, so as not to disturb the king.

Louis had opened the paper, and yet he did not read it. He

listened to Fouquet paying the most charming compliments to

the queen upon her hand and arm. Anne of Austria’s frown

relaxed a little, she even almost smiled. Fouquet perceived

that the king, instead of reading, was looking at him; he

turned half round, therefore, and while continuing his

conversation with the queen, faced the king.

“You know, Monsieur Fouquet,” said Louis, “how ill M.

Mazarin is?”

“Yes, sire, I know that,” said Fouquet; “in fact, he is very

ill. I was at my country-house of Vaux when the news reached

me; and the affair seemed so pressing that I left at once.”

“You left Vaux this evening, monsieur?”

“An hour and a half ago, yes, your majesty,” said Fouquet,

consulting a watch, richly ornamented with diamonds.

“An hour and a half!” said the king, still able to restrain

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Dumas, Alexandre – Ten Years Later

his anger, but not to conceal his astonishment.

“I understand you, sire. Your majesty doubts my word, and

you have reason to do so, but I have really come in that

time, though it is wonderful! I received from England three

pairs of very fast horses, as I had been assured. They were

placed at distances of four leagues apart, and I tried them

this evening. They really brought me from Vaux to the Louvre

in an hour and a half, so your majesty sees I have not been

cheated.” The queen-mother smiled with something like secret

envy. But Fouquet caught her thought. “Thus, madame,” he

promptly said, “such horses are made for kings, not for

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