"Go, then, and ask him, sir; the king will not refuse the services of one whom he has always loaded with favors."
The proposition to enter the king's chamber seemed to frighten Monsieur T***, who haughtily answered the Marquis, still in a low voice:
"I receive orders only from the first gentleman-in-waiting, sir."
At that instant a feeble voice, well known to both who heard it, asked:
"Who is there? Who is speaking in whispers?"
"It is the king! . . . He has heard you, sir. You are responsible for the consequences of this," said Monsieur T***; and he replied aloud: "Will his majesty deign to excuse me if I answer him without entering? but I only execute his formal orders. The person who is here, Sire, is . . ."
"'Tis Létorière, who supplicates the king to be permitted to approach him," said the marquis aloud, interrupting M. T***.
"Indeed, . . . is it you, my child? You have returned, then?" cried Louis XV., in a tone of great pleasure. Then reflecting that he should expose the Marquis to the danger of contagion in permitting him to enter his chamber, he added:
"No . . . no . . . the air of this apartment is fatal . . . don't come in; I forbid it." . . .
"For the first time in my life I shall dare to disobey an order of the king. . . . But I have a duty to accomplish, and I will accomplish it," cried Létorière; and raising the curtain, he advanced towards the monarch's bed.