They crossed a beautiful lawn, from the center of which sprang a fountain, with the figure of a siren executed in bronze, and strolled on, talking as they went, towards the terrace, along which, looking out upon the park and interspersed at frequent intervals, were erected summer-houses, diverse in form and ornament; these summer-houses were nearly all occupied; the two young women passed on, the one blushing deeply, while the other seemed dreamily silent.

At last, having reached the end of the terrace which looks on the river, and finding there a cool retreat, they sat down close to each other.
"Where are we going ?" said the younger to her companion.
"My dear, we are going where you yourself led the way." "I ?" "Yes, you; to the extremity of the palace, towards that seat yonder, where the young Frenchman is seated, wasting his time in sighs and lamentations." Miss Mary Grafton hurriedly said, "No, no; I am not going there." "Why not ?" "Let us go back, Lucy." "Nay, on the contrary, let us go on, and have an explanation." "What about ?" "About how it happens that the Vicomte de Bragelonne always accompanies you in all your walks, as you invariably accompany him in his." "And you conclude either that he loves me, or that I love him ?" "Why not ?--he is a most agreeable and charming companion .-- No one hears me, I hope," said Lucy Stewart, as she turned round with a smile, which indicated, moreover, that her uneasiness on the subject was not extreme.
"No, no," said Mary, "the king is engaged in his summer-house with the Duke of Buckingham." "Oh! _a propos_ of the duke, Mary, it seems he has shown you great attention since his return from France; how is your own heart in that direction ?" Mary Grafton shrugged her shoulders with seeming indifference.
"Well, well, I will ask Bragelonne about it," said Stewart, laughing; "let us go and find him at once." "What for ?" "I wish to speak to him." "Not yet, one word before you do: come, come, you who know so many of the king's secrets, tell me why M.de Bragelonne is in England ?" "Because he was sent as an envoy from one sovereign to another." "That may be; but, seriously, although politics do not much concern us, we know enough to be satisfied that M.de Bragelonne has no mission of serious import here." "Well, then, listen," said Stewart, with assumed gravity, "for your sake I am going to betray a state secret.

Shall I tell you the nature of the letter which King Louis XIV.

gave M.de Bragelonne for King Charles II.?
I will; these are the very words: 'My brother, the bearer of this is a gentleman attached to my court, and the son of one whom you regard most warmly.

Treat him kindly, I beg, and try and make him like England.'" "Did it say that!" "Word for word--or something very like it.