It would be impossible to describe the king's anger and La Valliere's despair; but shortly afterwards a circumstance occurred which was more than remarkable.

When the king left, in order to retire to his own apartments, Malicorne, informed of what had passed, one can hardly tell how, was waiting in the ante-chamber.

The ante-chambers of the Palais Royal are naturally very dark, and, in the evening, they were but indifferently lighted.

Nothing pleased the king more than this dim light.

As a general rule, love, whose mind and heart are constantly in a blaze, contemns all light, except the sunshine of the soul.