You must henceforth take the
responsibility.'
'I ask no better of your Majesty,' said the holy man.
'Ah! your Majesty, I can ask no better,' I said fervently; and I
knelt to kiss the beautiful hand which Anne of Austria extended to me
in token of pardon.
'It is understood, then,' said she, in a gracious though languid way,
as if weary of the subject, 'that your Majesty undertakes that Madame
becomes more prudent in the future, and puts her benevolence under
the rule of our good father, who will never let her go beyond what is
wise in the bounds of a young woman's discretion.'
It might be hard to believe that I had been indiscreet, but the grand
stately self-possession of that Spanish lady, and the evident
gratification of my mother and Queen Henrietta, quite overpowered me
into feeling like a criminal received to mercy, and I returned thanks
with all the genuine humility they could desire; after which the
regent overpowered my mother with wonder at her graciousness by
inquiring a day for him to kiss the King's hand in the Tuileries
gardens.
By this time her breakfast was being brought in (it was about one
o'clock), and Queen Henrietta carried us off without waiting for the
ceremony of the breakfast, or of the toilet, which began with the
little King presenting his mother with her chemise, with a tender
kiss. Mademoiselle remained, and so did Father Vincent, whom the
regent was wont to consult at her breakfast, both on matters of
charity and of Church patronage.
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