He pressed them tightly within his own, and, sinking upon his knee,
drew the royal hands with a glow to his lips.
"Oh, my queen, my mistress!" he cried, passionately, "behold at your
feet your most faithful servant, your most devoted slave. Receive
from me the oath of my eternal devotion and love. You have honored
me with your confidence, you have called me your friend. But my soul
and my heart glow for another name. Speak the word, Marie
Antoinette, the word--"
The queen drew back, and the paleness of death spread over her
cheeks. She had at the outset listened with amazement, then with
horror and indignation, to the insolent words of the baron, and
gradually her gentle features assumed a fierce and disdainful
expression.
"My lord," she said, with the noble dignity of a queen, "I told you
before that God is above us, and hears our words. You have spoken,
wantonly, and God has heard you. To Him I leave the punishment of
your wantonness. Stand up, my lord! the king shall know nothing of
an insult which would have brought you into ignominy with him
forever. But if you ever, by a glance or a gesture, recall this both
wanton and ridiculous scene, the king shall hear all from me!"
And while the queen pointed, with a proud and dignified gesture, to
the place which was their goal, she said, with commanding tone:
"Go before, my lord; I will follow you alone.
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