A number
of the courtiers were standing on the low terrace watching them,
while a second group lounged about the queen's staircase. Full
of the news which I had for the King, I crossed the terrace;
taking no particular heed of anyone, but greeting such as came in
my way in my usual fashion. At the edge of the terrace I paused
a moment before descending the three steps; and at the same
moment, as it happened, Henry looked up, and our eyes met. On
the instant he averted his gaze, and, turning on his heel in a
marked way, retired slowly to the farther end of the walk.
The action was so deliberate that I could not doubt he meant to
slight me; and I paused where I was, divided between grief and
indignation, a mark for all those glances and whispered gibes in
which courtiers indulge on such occasions. The slight was not
rendered less serious by the fact that the King was walking with
my two colleagues; so that I alone seemed to be out of his
confidence, as one soon to be out of his councils also.
I perceived all this, and was not blind to the sneering smiles
which were exchanged behind my back; but I affected to see
nothing, and to be absorbed in sudden thought.
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