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Rh LOUISE DE LA VALLIERE. 177 "Have you seen Mademoiselle de la Valliere?" St. Aig- nan asked him. Whereupon Manicamp, dreamy and absent as usual, an- swered, thinking that some one was asking him about De Guiche: "Thank you, the comte is a little better." And he continued on his way until he reached the ante- chamber where D'Artagnan was, and whom he asked to ex- plain how it was the king looked, as he thought, so be- wildered; to which D'Artagnan replied that he was quite mistaken, that the king, on the contrary, was as lively and merry as he could possibly be. In the midst of all this eight o'clock struck. It was usual for the king to take his breakfast at this hour, for the code of etiquette prescribed that the king should always be hungry at eight o'clock. His breakfast was laid upon a small table in his bedroom, and he ate very fast. St. Aig- nan, of whom he would not lose sight, held his napkin in his hand. He then disposed of several military audiences, during which he dispatched St. Aignan to see what he could find out. Then, still occupied, still full of anxiety, still watching St. Aignan's return, who had sent out his servants in every direction to make inquiries, and who had also gone himself, the hour of nine struck, and the king forthwith passed into his large cabinet. As the clock was striking nine the ambassadors entered, and as it finished the two queens and madame made their appearance. There were three ambassadors from Holland, and two from Spain. The king glanced at them, and then bowed; and at the same moment St. Aignan entered, an entrance which the king regarded as far more important, in a different sense, however, than that of ambassadors, how- ever numerous they were, and from whatever country they came; and so, setting everything else aside, the king made a sign of interrogation to St. Aignan, which the latter answered by a most decisive negative. The king almost entirely lost his courage; but as the queens, the members of the nobility who were present, and the ambassadors, had their eyes fixed upon him, he overcame his emotion by a violent effort, and invited the latter to speak. Whereupon one of the Spanish deputies made a long oration, in which he boasted the advantages which the Spanish alliance would offer. The king interrupted him, saying, "Monsieur, I trust that whatever is advantageous for France must be exceed- ingly advantageous for Spain."