The young man colored crimson, and looked almost frightened at Andrée, fearing what the queen’s rash generosity might lead her to say.
“For,” continued the intrepid queen, “I must tell you all, that this is not the first time I have heard of M. de Charny, who deserves to be known and admired by all ladies; and to show you that he is as indulgent to our sex as he is merciless to his enemies, I will relate a little history of him which does him the greatest honor.”
“Oh, madame!” stammered the young man, who felt as if he would have given a year of his life to be back in the West Indies.
“This, then, is it,” continued the queen, to her eager listeners: “two ladies, whom I know, were detained out late and became embarrassed in a crowd; they ran a great risk, a real danger awaited them; M. de Charny happily passed by at the moment: he dispersed the crowd, and, although they were unknown to him, and it was impossible to recognize their rank, took them under his protection, and escorted them a long way, ten miles from Paris, I believe.”
“Oh! your majesty exaggerates,” said M. de Charny, laughing, and now quite reassured.
“Well, we will call it five,” said the Count d’Artois, suddenly joining in the conversation.
“Let it be five, then, brother,” said the queen; “but the most admirable part of the story is, that M. de Charny did not seek even to know the names of these ladies whom he had served, but left them at the place where they wished to stop, and went away without even looking back, so that they escaped from his protection without even a moment’s disquietude.”
All expressed their admiration.
“A knight of the round table could not have acted better,” her majesty went on; “and so, M. de Charny, as the king will doubtless take upon himself to reward M. de Suffren, I, for my part, wish to do something for the nephew of this great man.”
As she spoke, she held out her hand to him, and Charny, pale with joy, pressed his lips to this beautiful hand, while Philippe looked on from an obscure corner, pale with an opposite emotion.