“No, Monsieur Fouquet, but for some advice I wish to give you.”
“I respectfully await it, sire.”
“Rest yourself, Monsieur Fouquet, do not throw away your strength; the session of the States will be short, and when my secretaries shall have closed it, I do not wish business to be talked of in France for a fortnight.”
“Has the king nothing to say to me on the subject of this assembly of the States?”
“No, Monsieur Fouquet.”
“Not to me, the surintendant of the finances?”
“Rest yourself, I beg you; that is all I have to say to you.”
Fouquet bit his lips and hung his head. He was evidently busy with some uneasy thought. This uneasiness struck the king. “Are you angry at having to rest yourself, M. Fouquet?” said he.
“Yes, sire, I am not accustomed to take rest.”
“But you are ill; you must take care of yourself.”