Page:Ten Years Later.djvu/507

Rh TEN" YEARS LATER. 495 "Oh, the king! your dream !'^ said madame joyously, in the eai' of Anne of Austria. The king was the only one who did not exhibit any satis- faction. He merely thanked fortune for what she had done for him, in addressing a slight salutation to the young girl who had been chosen as her proxy. Then, receiving from the hands of Anne of Austria, amid the eager desire of the whole assembly, the casket inclosing the bracelet, he said, "Are these bracelets really beautiful, then?" "Look at them," said Anne of Austria, "and judge for yourself." The king looked at them, and said, "Yes, indeed, an admirable medallion. What perfect finish!" "What perfect finish!" repeated madame. Queen Maria Thei'esa easily saw, and that, too, at the very first glance, that the king would not offer the bracelets to her; but as he did not seem either the least degree in the world disposed to offer them to madame, she felt almost satisfied, or nearly so. The king sat down. The most in- timate among the courtiers approached, one by one, for the purpose of admiring more closely the beautiful piece of workmanship, which soon, with the king's permission, was handed from person to person. Immediately, every one, connoisseurs or not, uttered various exclamations of sur- prise, and overwhelmed the king with congratulations. There was, in fact, something for everybody to admire — the brilliants for some, and the cutting for others. The ladies present visibly displayed their impatience to see such a treasure monopolized by the gentlemen. "Gentlemen, gentlemen," said the king, whom nothing escaped, "one would almost think that you wore bracelets as the Sabines used to do; hand them for a little while for the in- spection of the ladies, who seem to me to have, and with far greater right, some excuse for understanding such mat- ters better than you." These words appeared to madame the commencement of a decision she expected. She gathered, besides, this happy belief from the glances of the queen-mother. The courtier who held them at the moment the king made this remark, amid the general agitation, hastened to place the bracelets in the hands of the queen, Maria Theresa, who, knowing too well, poor woman, that they were not designed for her, hardly looked at them, and almost immediately passed them on to madame. The latter, and — even more minutely than herself — Monsieur, gave the bracelets a long look of anxious