"I should like to ask you something, mamma queen."
"Well, what is it, my little Louis? What do you wish?"
"I should like to have you allow me to go alone, else the people would believe that I am afraid and want you to lead me. And I want to be like the Chevalier Bayard, about whom the Abbe talked with me to-day. I want to be sans peur et sans reproche, like Bayard."
"Very well, chevalier," said the queen, with a smile, "then walk alone and free by my side."
"No, mamma, if you will allow me, I will walk before you. The knights always walk in advance of the ladies, so as to ward off any danger which may be in the way. And I am your knight, mamma, and I want to be as long as I live. Will you allow it, my royal lady?"
"I allow it! So go in front, Chevalier Louis Charles! We will take the same way back by which we came."
The dauphin sprang over the little square in front of the pavilion, and down the alley which led to the Arcadia Walk along the side of the quay.
Before the little staircase which led up to this walk, he stopped and turned his pretty head round to the queen, who, followed by the two lackeys, was walking slowly and quietly along.
"Well, Chevalier Bayard," asked the queen, with a smile, "what are you stopping for?"
"I am only waiting for your majesty," replied the child, gravely. "Here is where my knightly service commences, for here it is that danger begins."