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Rh LOUISE DE LA VALLIERE. 169 of his heart were not sufficient to induce him to tnm back, and he darted out of the room with a gesture full of despair. St. Aignan followed him, wishing for nothing better than to leave the place. Louis XIV. did not pause until he reached the staircase, and grasping the balustrade, said: "You see how shamefully I have been duped?" "How, sire?" inquired the favorite. "De Guiche fought on the Vicomte de Bragelonne's account, and this De Bragelonne — oh! St. Aignan, she still loves him. I vow to you, St. Aignan, that if in three days hence, there were to remain but an atom of affection for her in my heart, I should die from very shame!" And the king resumed his way to his own apartments. "I assured your majesty how it would be," murmured St. Aignan, continuing to follow the king, and timidly glanc- ing up at the different windows. Unfortunately, their re. turn was different to what their departure had been. A curtain was stealthily drawn aside, madame was behind it. She had seen the king leave the apartments of the maids of honor, and as soon as she observed that his majesty had passed, she left her own apartments with hurried steps, and ran up the staircase which led to the room the king had just left. CHAPTER XXV. DESPAIR. As soon as the king had left her, La Valliere raised her- self from the ground, and extended her arms, as if to follow and detain him; but when, having violently closed the door, the sound of his retreating footsteps could be heard in the distance, she had hardly sufficient strength left to totter toward and fall at the foot of her crucifix. There she remained, broken-hearted, absorbed, and overwhelmed by her grief, forgetful of and indifferent to everything but her profound grief itself — a grief which she could not com- prehend otherwise than by instinct and acute sensation. In the midst of the wild tumult of her thoughts. La Val- liere heard her door open again; she started, and turned round, thinking that it was the king who had returned. She was deceived, however, for it was madame who appeared at the door. What did she now care for madame? Again