“Go, madame; you have done your duty to-day, and I will also do mine. I shall not forget what I promised you when you are Madame du Trouffle. We will forget all the faults of Madame von Kleist.”
He dismissed her with a slight bow, and gazed after her until she had disappeared.
At this moment, a heavy fall was heard in the antechamber. The door opened immediately, and the pale, disturbed face of Pollnitz appeared.
“What is the matter, Pollnitz?” asked the king, hastily.
“Oh, sire, poor Prince Henry has fainted.”
The king was startled, and stepped quickly to the door, but he remained standing there until his features resumed their calm expression.
“He will recover,” he said—“he will recover, for he is a man; in my youthful days I often fainted, but I recovered.”
CHAPTER X. THE CONQUERED.
Painful and bitter were the days for Henry that followed his first disappointment. He passed them in rigid seclusion, in his lonely chambers; he would see no one, no cheerful word or gay laughter was allowed in his presence. The servants looked at him sorrowfully; and when the prince appeared at the parade the day after his painful interview with Louise, even the king found him so pale and suffering, he begged him to take a week’s leave and strengthen and improve his health.