public conversations—­all meals—­all assembled—­were opportunities of paying court to them.  The apartments could not contain the crowd.  The characteristic features of the room were many.  Couriers arrived every quarter of an hour, and reminded people of the illness of Monseigneur—­he was going on as well as could be expected; confidence and hope were easily felt; but there was an extreme desire to please at the new Court.  The young Prince and the Princess exhibited majesty and gravity, mixed with gaiety; obligingly received all, continually spoke to every one; the crowd wore an air of complaisance; reciprocal satisfaction showed in every face; the Duc and Duchesse de Berry ware treated almost as nobody.  Thus five days fled away in increasing thought of future events—­in preparation to be ready for whatever might happen.

On Tuesday, the 14th of April, I went to see the chancellor, and asked for information upon the state of Monseigneur.  He assured me it was good, and repeated to me the words Fagon had spoken to him, “that things were going an according to their wishes, and beyond their hopes.”  The Chancellor appeared to me very confident, and I had faith in him, so much the more, because he was on extremely good footing with Monseigneur.  The Prince, indeed, had so much recovered, that the fish-women came in a body the self-same day to congratulate him, as they did after his attack of indigestion.  They threw the themselves at the foot of his bed, which they kissed several times, and in their joy said they would go back to Paris and have a Te Deum sung.  But Monseigneur, who was not insensible to these marks of popular affection, told them it was not yet time, thanked them, and gave them a dinner and some money.

As I was going home, I saw the Duchesse d’Orleans walking on a terrace.  She called to me; but I pretended not to notice her, because La Montauban was with her, and hastened home, my mind filled with this news, and withdrew to my cabinet.  Almost immediately afterwards Madame la Duchesse d’Orleans joined me there.  We were bursting to speak to each other alone, upon a point on which our thoughts were alike.  She had left Meudon not an hour before, and she had the same tale to tell as the Chancellor.  Everybody was at ease there she said; and then she extolled the care and capacities of the doctors, exaggerating their success; and, to speak frankly and to our shame, she and I lamented together to see Monseigneur, in spite of his age and his fat, escape from so dangerous an illness.  She reflected seriously but wittily, that after an illness of this sort, apoplexy was not to be looked for; that an attack of indigestion was equally unlikely to arise, considering the care Monseigneur had taken not to over-gorge himself since his recent danger; and we concluded more than dolefully, that henceforth we must make up our minds that the Prince would live and reign for a long time.  In a word, we let ourselves loose in this rare conversation, although