"Oh, may the king have pity on me! this may perhaps be the last time I can show him my gratitude."
"Again, I tell you this disease is contagious. . . . Do you not see that they have abandoned me . . . that I am alone . . . that I wish to be alone?" the prince hastened to add with bitterness, as if he wished to disguise from himself his first thought; the devotion of the Marquis made the ingratitude of the courtiers appear yet more shameful to him.
"Brave and noble heart!" added Louis XV., looking at the Marquis tenderly. "That hast no fear; thou art faithful!"
"Then let the king recompense my fidelity by granting me what he grants to no other person . . . the right to serve him, to remain near him!" . . . said Létorière, joining his hands in supplication.
"It must be so . . . now" . . . said Louis XV. Then he added, almost in despair: "But you are young! you are handsome! you are beloved! and all that you risk to come to me! all that you will sacrifice to me, perhaps, poor young man! . . . when so many others". . . and, after a moment of silence, Louis continued: "There is probably a crowd around the dauphin to salute the King, Louis XVI."
"Sire, what do you say?"
"That is the fate of kings when they are departing, my child. . . . Ah! if I had only oblivion, only death to dread! But France . . . France . . . what will become of her? And my grandson, what will his future be?" . . .
"Sire, France has named you the Well-beloved; for a long time you have borne that name, and his highness the dauphin will one day merit it." . . .
"I am not mistaken . . . I am feeble . . . I approach my end," . . . said the king, shaking his head sadly; "and then, I believe certain deaths are significant; the Marshal of Armantières, the Marquis of Chauvelin, have suddenly died before me . . . in my court. . . . It is a warning from heaven."
"Do not think of this, Sire. This illness is dangerous, but care . . ."