The Days were then about Sixteen Hours in length, the Sun not being far from Capricorn, and that Place being situate in 51 Degrees, and 20 Minutes South Latitude, so that they were toying with one another, when the Darkness or rather the Twilight vanish'd, and the Torch of Heaven was rising to gild the enamell'd Fields with his splendid Rays. The Damsel being the first to observe it, told the Queen of it, at which La Foret was offended, and even took the Liberty to reproach her for not having appointed him sooner, because he said it was not worth his while to come thither for so short a Stay. Tho' I'm a little out of favour with the King at present, reply'd the charming Lidola, I am not sure that he will neglect me long; the Fancy may take him to come and see me in the Morning; and tho' he should not, there are other People that have an Eye upon what we do. I should pass my Time but ill, if any body should see you go out of my Apartment: Let us act upon sure Grounds, and for this time do you withdraw. If you have a Pocket-Watch like to that which you gave the King, take care to bring it with you when you come again, that we may know how much time we have to spend; for we mayn't always have People near us to tell us how it passes. When she had said these kind Words, she fell on his Neck, kiss'd him very tenderly, and immediately withdrew. The Time flies away insensibly at such agreeable Interviews; nevertheless La Foret had not so far lost the Use of his Reason, but he knew very well that it was high Time for him to be gone. Therefore he pull'd out a Kala, which he gave to the Maid, and after recommending himself to her Friendship, stole out softly, and return'd home.
The first thing he was bent on at his Return, was to impart to me in Confidence what had pass'd with his Mistress. To hear him talk, never Man travers'd so much Land in the Territories of Love, in ten Years, as he had been doing in an Hour; in short, he was in full Possession, and only wanted the Fruition. 'O Heavens! (said I) how credulous are Lovers, and how easy is it for Love to impose on them! La Foret, La Foret, you are playing a Game that will infallibly ruine you. Gaming, Women, and Wine have a good Aspect, I confess, but when made too familiar, are of no Value; they produce short Pleasures, attended with long Repentance; their greatest Sweets often change to Bitter; and their Payment is only in Tinsel, with which they who suffer their Eyes to be dazzled, are commonly deceiv'd. Remember what I now tell you: The Affair you are engag'd in is such, that you'll repent of it more than once.' I might have moraliz'd thus till Doomsday, for all that I said was to no purpose. My Friend thought of nothing but the Pleasure he should have, and turning his Back upon the Consequences, was actually captivated by the most flattering Ideas that his Mind was capable of forming. The poor Man was blinded to such a Degree, that he did not see the Precipice he was just falling into, and was sway'd by nothing but his prevailing Passion. His Imagination was so disorder'd, that he thought he had his Fair One every now and then in his Arms, and he often talk'd to her as if he had been actually enjoying her. In short, he pass'd his Hours in Bed very pleasantly, for tho' he rarely slept, he had such sort of Dreams as create more Pleasure than a profound Sleep, and have this Advantage, that they tickle the Fancy, without impairing the Strength of the Body.
La Foret heard nothing of his Mistress in three Days, which made him so uneasy that it had like to have turn'd his Brains. He often retraced his whole Conduct, but could find nothing to reproach himself with, unless that he had been too respectful. I had not observ'd till then, that the Women of that Country had any Inclination to Galantry. I really thought they were too silly for it; but I began to see by this Specimen that there are few of them in any Country but know a great deal of it in the Affair of granting Love to the Men, and that if they don't take greater Liberties than they do, it is only owing to the extreme Severity of the Laws against such as transgress the Rules to which Hymen seems to bind them. And they say moreover, that the Kings and Governors are subject to the same Inconveniences, as private Men in Europe, because those Gentlemen having more than one Wife, each of them studies to gain her Husband's Favour, and when she can't succeed, it gives her Occasion to embrace the first Offer that presents: But return we now to our Love-Story.
Upon the Fourth Day in the Forenoon, as the King came to see us at work, I thought at the first Sight of him that he smelt a Rat; for looking willfully upon La Foret, he said to him, You seem to be ruffled, Friend; your Countenance is chang'd from what it us'd to be, and if I may be allow'd to form a Judgment by your Eyes, your Heart is not in a very serene State. Are you fallen in love with any Fair One of this Canton? For Love in a few Hours commits great Ravages. You blush, continued the King. Don't be afraid to own it: Tho' you are a Foreigner, and of a Religion very different from mine, I assure you that I will do every thing for you that is in my Power. If you make your Addresses to any Free Person, I'll find the way to make her marry you; but let me advise you not to delude any Woman, because, should you be taken in the Fact, all my Credit would not be of weight enough to save you. Galantry may perhaps prevail among us, but if it does, 'tis conceal'd; and you are not ignorant that 'tis a Breach of one of the Articles of our Law, which the Judge treats with the greatest Severity. Adultery especially would not be pardon'd in my self.
La Foret, who had by this time recover'd himself, reply'd, 'Tis perfectly right, Sir, to be severe upon that Head, and especially with respect to the great Men: If I had the Power in my own Hands, a King who prais'd that sort of Galantry should be less exempt from Punishment than other Men, because while his Subjects are oblig'd, for the Generality, to adhere to one Person only, he has the Liberty of taking a Dozen, and by consequence the Pleasure of having all the Variety at home that he could expect to find abroad. However, continu'd he, this is a Happiness which I don't envy your Majesty; for tho' I have neither Wife nor Mistress, I am very well contented; and if I don't look at present altogether so brisk as usual, 'tis owing no doubt to my not having slept well for two or three Nights past, for otherwise I am in perfect Health. Nevertheless, he added, I am infinitely oblig'd to your Majesty for your Desire to make me happy, and to find me out a Settlement. If ever I'm inclin'd to marry, I swear to you, Sir, that I will refer my self intirely to your Disposal. Let us call another Cause, La Foret, said I, 'tis time enough to think of altering your Condition. The King reply'd very graciously, That shall be when you please. You know the Privileges of the Gown which you wear, so that you will not have much to reproach me with.
The King thereupon retiring, we went to Dinner, and made various Reflections upon the little Dialogue that had pass'd betwixt us. Mean time La Foret did not fail to take a Walk after Dinner in the Galleries. Lidola, who generally took a Pleasure in seeing him pass by her Windows, fix'd her Eye upon him till he was out of Sight. Her Waiting-woman, who always kept a Look-out for some Intelligence that might be to their Advantage, came at last to her with News that she had just met the King taking the Air with the Empress; from whence the Queen concluded, that he would infallibly spend the Night with her, as had always been his constant Practice when he took her out in the Day time; therefore without Hesitation she injoin'd her Servant to go after La Foret, and to signify to him, as she pass'd by him, that she expected him at Eleven of the Clock.
The young Woman was not dilatory in the Execution of her Commission. She met him just as he was upon the Return, brush'd as close by him as she could with Decency, and said to him, en passant, Come to us an Hour before Midnight. I dare not express his Joy at the hearing of these agreeable Words, for fear of saying too much to be believ'd, or not enough to give a just Idea of his Transports. He made such Haste back, and was so absent from himself all the while, that he was at home before he perceiv'd it. I need not say he had no Thought, for he did not care that I shou'd speak to him. The little Time he had to spare, was spent at the Toilet, where he consulted his Mirrour a hundred times, which being only of polish'd Steel, made him fearful that he had not discover'd all his Blemishes. He wash'd himself almost all over with perfum'd Water, cut and trim'd his Whiskers, comb'd his black Hair over and over again, and being at length as handsome as Adonis, he wish'd me Good-night, and went his way. Lidola's Servant, who stood Centinel, receiv'd and carry'd him into the Anti-Chamber, where there was no Light, and bid him steal into her Mistress's Apartment.
Lidola was lain down on a Bed so fragrant, that it perfum'd the whole House. Her Head-Dress was in the careless Air, her Neck bare, as was also her left Breast, her Arms at Liberty, and her whole Posture was like one between Sleeping and Waking. La Foret made his Approach to her so softly, that she did not perceive it. At the unexpected Sight of so many Beauties he stood like a Statue, with his Eyes so fix'd on the Person of this charming Venus, that they had no Motion. A secret Desire, on which he was incapable of making the least Reflection, push'd him forward to view her more nearly. She was like a Loadstone that attracted him imperceptibly and irresistibly. This adorable Beauty happening to open her Eyes, seem'd to the last Degree astonish'd to see her Lover by her Bed-side. She blush'd, and having rais'd her self up, and put on a Veil that lay in a Chair, just at hand, You have surpris'd me, said she, and perhaps seen things you ought not to have seen. Nay, Madam, he reply'd, the Fates will'd it, and not you, that I should have the Opportunity of contemplating Beauties that had like to have thrown me into a Trance. However, what I have seen will be so far from diminishing the Respect I owe you, that it has infinitely heighten'd a Passion which I thought could not have been stronger than it was before. You deserve tho' to be chastis'd, reply'd the Fair One, for not letting me know that you was present. But what made you come so soon? It cannot be Night yet, and I did not appoint you 'till Eleven o' Clock. You mistake, said La Foret, you only upbraid me for coming so late, tho' you don't consider how long I have been here. You deceive your self, said the Queen; if you consult your Watch, you'll find that you are in the Wrong to contradict me. I have no Watch, reply'd La Foret, nor have I need of one, for on these Occasions my Head is a Minute-Watch, so that I would not lose one Moment. Have you not a Watch? said Lidola; 'tis surprising that you should be without those Jewels which you bestow upon others? If I had the Skill to make such pretty Machines, it should never be said that I had not one for my own Use, and another at the Service of my Mistress. This was a mortifying Compliment to the Frenchman, who very well understood the Tendency of the Rebuke, and was mad with himself that he had not prevented it. The Queen perceiving him in some Confusion, thought fit to put him out of his Pain. I only banter, La Foret, said she, and you are studying for a serious Answer. Sit down upon my Bed, continu'd she, the Moments are precious, let us not squander them to no purpose. At the same time she went to grasp his Hand, but Love render'd her so weak, that she gave a Sigh, and fell back on her Pillow. So far things went on swimmingly, and the two young Hearts did not doubt that their Bliss was upon the Point of being compleated. But Fortune envying their Felicity, chang'd all their Hopes on a sudden into mortal Terrors.
The King had a real Love for Lidola, the Violence he had done himself in not seeing her so long was such a Burden upon his Mind, that he could bear it no longer; and a fresh Report which she had given out of her Indisposition, adding to his former Uneasiness, he was resolv'd to keep her Company that Night. The Waiting-woman, who was always at the Window, hearing a confused Noise at a distance, like that of a Company of Men, immediately had a Mistrust, because 'twas but just Midnight, and the King never went to Bed before that time: At length, seeing the Train approach, she ran and gave the Alarm, crying out, We are all undone, Madam, here is the King just at the Gate. As warm as our two Lovers were before, their Blood immediately chill'd in their Veins. La Foret knew not what would be his Doom. It was no time to demur, and he was immediately hurry'd into a Closet which fronted that Chamber. He was no sooner enter'd but a Domestic who stepp'd before, knock'd at the Gate. The Chamber-maid made him stay just as long as she thought it might have taken her up to rise, and as Visits of this sort were pretty frequent, she did not seem to be at all surpriz'd. As the King was close at the Domestic's Heels, he enter'd the very Moment that the Gate was open'd. The Queen, who heard him coming, found it no very hard Task to counterfeit an Indisposition, to which the Fear she was in, both for her self and her Spark, did not a little contribute; and the King verily believing that she was not well, had not the least Suspicion, tho' he saw her more disorder'd than usual. He shew'd a greater Fondness for her than ever, and said to her, that notwithstanding the ill State of Health he found her in, he intended to spend the Night with her. Sire, reply'd Lidola, you do me a great deal of Honour, but I am not now in a Condition either to give Pleasure, or to receive it; I fear that if I were to stir ever so little, it would do me an Injury, and I find that I want Rest. I would not incommode you, said the King, for the World; if you can't admit of my Company, I'll go and rest upon the Tent Bed in that Closet, being determin'd to stay here all Night. This Answer quite unexpected by the Fair One, so alarm'd her, that after abundance of Excuses for the Coldness wherewith she had treated him, which she ascrib'd entirely to her Illness, she began to be very sweet upon him, and begg'd him earnestly to undress himself.
As soon as he was in Bed, and the Domestics gone, the Chamber-maid took an Opportunity to go into the Closet to consult with the Prisoner what shift to make for his Liberty, when, to her great Surprize, she could not find him, tho' there was no Door but what he went in at, and the Windows were so close, that they did not seem to have been open'd. While she was rummaging the Bed and other Furniture in that Apartment, the Lady, who was perplex'd to think what was become of her Lover, call'd to her to raise her Pillow, and bring her some Drink, and having by that means an Opportunity to whisper, and to hear that he was gone, tho' she knew not which way, it put her out of Pain, and she slept the remainder of the Night very quietly. La Foret imagining that the King would make a very short Stay, had shut himself up in the Privy, but he found himself terribly mistaken when he heard soon after that he design'd to pass the whole Night with his Wife, or at least in the Closet where he was, in case that she could not admit him to her Bed. Then it was, as he has own'd to me since, more than once, that he was seiz'd with a Panick which he had never felt the like of before. He could not return thro' the Chamber where the King was, without the Hazard of being seen; he thought all the Windows of the Apartment were secur'd with Iron Bars: Besides, he was afraid the Noise would betray him, if he open'd them, especially if he leap'd into the Canal, which the Closet over-look'd. Having resolv'd all this in his Mind, in the utmost Hurry, he thought of no better Expedient, than to slip into the Water thro' the Hole of the Privy, and so to save himself by Swimming.