Chapter 35 - Page 2

that she felt herself
to be perfectly happy. The result of all these changes, the source of
which emanated from the royal will, was that Monsieur, instead of being
the second person in the kingdom, had, in reality, become the third. And
it was now far worse than in the time when De Guiche's guitars were heard
in Madame's apartments; for, then, at least, Monsieur had the
satisfaction of frightening those who annoyed him. Since the departure,
however, of the enemy, who had been driven away by means of his alliance
with the king, Monsieur had to submit to a burden, heavier, but in a very
different sense, to his former one. Every evening Madame returned home
quite exhausted. Horse-riding, bathing in the Seine, spectacles, dinners
under the leafy covert of the trees, balls on the banks of the grand
canal, concerts, etc., etc.; all this would have been sufficient to have
killed, not a slight and delicate woman, but the strongest porter in the
_chateau_. It is perfectly true that, with regard to dancing, concerts,
and promenades, and such matters, a woman is far stronger than the most
robust of porters. But, however great a woman's strength may be, there
is a limit to it, and she cannot hold out long under such a system. As
for Monsieur, he had not even the satisfaction of witnessing Madame's
abdication of her royalty in the evening, for she lived in the royal
pavilion with the young queen and the queen-mother. As a matter of
course, the Chevalier de Lorraine did not quit Monsieur, and did not fail
to distil drops of gall into every wound the latter received. The result
was, that Monsieur - who had at first been in the highest spirits, and
completely restored since Guiche's departure - subsided into his
melancholy state three days after the court was installed at
Fontainebleau.

It happened, however, that, one day, about two o'clock in the afternoon,
Monsieur, who had risen late, and had bestowed upon his toilet more than
his usual attention, - it happened, we repeat, that Monsieur, who had not
heard of any plans having been arranged for the day, formed the project
of collecting his own court, and of carrying Madame off with him to
Moret, where he possessed a charming country house. He accordingly went
to the queen's pavilion, and was astonished, on entering, to find none of
the royal servants in attendance. Quite alone, therefore, he entered the
rooms, a door on the left opening to Madame's apartment, the one on the
right to the young queen's. In his wife's apartment, Monsieur was
informed, by a sempstress who was working there, that every one had left
at eleven o'clock, for the purpose of bathing in the Seine, that a grand
_fete_ was to be made of the expedition, that all the carriages had been
placed at the