We will walk towards Avon, and I will show
you the surprise which I am preparing for the queen."
Alas, I would I could say that all ended there. But the rancour
of which Madame de Verneuil had given token in her interview with
me was rather aggravated than lessened by the failure of her plot
and the death of her tool. It proved to be impenetrable by all
the kindnesses which the King lavished upon her; neither the
legitimation of the child which she soon afterwards bore, nor the
clemency which the King--against the advice of his wisest
ministers extended to her brother Auvergne, availing to expel it
from her breast. How far she or that ill-omened family were
privy to the accursed crime which, nine years later, palsied
France on the threshold of undreamed-of glories, I will not take
on myself to say; for suspicion is not proof. But history, of
which my beloved master must ever form so great a part, will lay
the blame where it should rest.
VI. THE MAN OF MONCEAUX.
In the month of August of this year the King found some
alleviation of the growing uneasiness which his passion for
Madame de Conde occasioned him in a visit to Monceaux, where he
spent two weeks in such diversions as the place afforded.
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