"Then she saw nothing. She waited a few moments after Louis XV. had disappeared, and then she saw a figure with a crown upon his head, but this figure soon was hidden by a cloud; and, in his place, the throne was filled with snakes and cats, who were tearing each other to pieces."
"Fearful sight!" said Maria Theresa, rising from her seat and walking about the room.
"It was fearful to Catherine de Medicis, your majesty, for she fainted.
Now you know why I dread to be the bride of the one who is to be called
Louis XVI."
The empress said nothing. For a while, she went to and fro through the room; then she resumed her seat, and threw back her proud head with a forced smile.
"These are silly fables," said she, "tales with which nurses might frighten little children, but only fit to provoke laughter from rational beings."
"Pardon me, your majesty," interposed Antoinette "but Louis XV. is not too rational to be affected by them."
"How do you know that, child?"
"I know it, your majesty, because Monsieur le Maitre, who published this prophecy in his journal 'L'Espion Ture,' was imprisoned for fifteen years in the Bastile, on account of it. He is still there, although he has powerful friends who have interceded for him in vain." [Footnote: Swinburne, p. 60.]
"And Aufresne told you all this?"
"Yes, your majesty."