“Some time must elapse before our wedding, sire.  Yet during all that interval you will be exposed to these annoyances.  How can I be happy when I feel that I have brought upon you so long a period of discomfort?”

“And why should it be so long, Francoise?”

“A day would be too long, sire, for you to be unhappy through my fault.  It is a misery to me to think of it.  Believe me, it would be better that I should leave you.”

“Never!  You shall not!  Why should we even wait a day, Francoise?  I am ready.  You are ready.  Why should we not be married now?”

“At once!  Oh, sire!”

“We shall.  It is my wish.  It is my order.  That is my answer to those who would drive me.  They shall know nothing of it until it is done, and then let us see which of them will dare to treat my wife with anything but respect.  Let it be done secretly, Francoise.  I will send in a trusty messenger this very night for the Archbishop of Paris, and I swear that, if all France stand in the way, he shall make us man and wife before he departs.”

“Is it your will, sire?”

“It is; and ah, I can see by your eyes that it is yours also!  We shall not lose a moment, Francoise.  What a blessed thought of mine, which will silence their tongues forever!  When it is ready they may know, but not before.  To your room, then, dearest of friends and truest of women!  When we meet again, it will be to form a bond which all this court and all this kingdom shall not be able to loose.”

The king was all on fire with the excitement of this new resolution.  He had lost his air of doubt and discontent, and he paced swiftly about the room with a smiling face and shining eyes.  Then he touched a small gold bell, which summoned Bontems, his private body-servant.

“What o’clock is it, Bontems?”

“It is nearly six, sire.”

“Hum!” The king considered for some moments.  “Do you know where Captain de Catinat is, Bontems?”

“He was in the grounds, sire, but I heard that he would ride back to Paris to-night.”

“Does he ride alone?”

“He has one friend with him.”

“Who is this friend?  An officer of the guards?”

“No, sire; it is a stranger from over the seas, from America, as I understand, who has stayed with him of late, and to whom Monsieur de Catinat has been showing the wonders of your Majesty’s palace.”

“A stranger!  So much the better.  Go, Bontems, and bring them both to me.”

“I trust that they have not started, sire.  I will see.”  He hurried off, and was back in ten minutes in the cabinet once more.

“Well?”

“I have been fortunate, sire.  Their horses had been led out and their feet were in the stirrups when I reached them.”

“Where are they, then?”

“They await your Majesty’s orders in the ante-room.”

“Show them in, Bontems, and give admission to none, not even to the minister, until they have left me.”