"I have reflected. Quick! The man!"
"Richelieu, madame."
"Oh!—Ah!—Why did I not see it before!"
With such speed did madame run the whole gamut of evidence: the last morning at Metz; Richelieu's absence from the rooms; his imperturbability before Chartres; her letters since dismissal scantily answered, and, some of them, not at all; his failure to visit her since the return; and then, last night, Louis' uneasiness at her curiosity. Yes. It was but too plain. Richelieu, King's favorite, her own mentor, had turned traitor at last.
"Ah! The villain! The wretch! The traitor! The imbecile! Never again shall he see me at Versailles! Monsieur, will you pour me a glass of water there?"
Upon the little table at her side stood a high pitcher and a small silver goblet. Maurepas hastened to comply with the request, and, as he handed her the cup, he noted how eagerly she drank, how bright was the flush on her cheek, how transparent the hand that she held to her face; and then the rather grim question came to him whether, after all, Richelieu's banishment would endure very long. But the thought was only transitory. After all, a woman of twenty-seven, strong of body and stronger of spirit, is not carried off at the very summit of her career by an intermittent fever. Thus, when she returned the empty cup to the King's minister, and their glances met for a second, he read in her face resolution and to spare to carry her through much more than such a sickness as her present one.
"Have no fear of me, monsieur. I shall not betray you. Will you accept my gratitude?"
Maurepas bowed courteously. "When shall we at Versailles have the opportunity of welcoming you and Mme. de Lauraguais back again?"
The Duchess looked quickly up with a flicker of amusement in her eyes at his elaborate tone. "I do not know. I am, at present, as you may perceive, scarcely able to be moved so far or to enter upon my week of duties as lady of the Queen, even should I reach Versailles safely. I must wait here till I am stronger. Till that time—M. de Richelieu may relieve the King's ennui. Must you retire so soon?"
Maurepas was evidently upon the point of departure. "My—the affair between us is concluded, is it not? May I take to his Majesty the word of our renewed friendship?"