You ought not to say that
it does not please you, for your renowned great-grandfather, the
great Louis XIV., lived here, and made this palace celebrated all
over Europe."
"Yet I wish that we were away from here," whispered the dauphin,
casting his large blue eyes with a prolonged and timid glance
through the wide, desolate room, which was decorated sparingly with
old-fashioned, faded furniture.
"I wish so, too," sighed Marie Antoinette, to herself; but softly as
she had spoken the words, the sensitive ear of the child had caught
them.
"You, too, want to go?" asked Louis Charles, in amazement. "Are you
not queen now, and can you not do what you want to?"
The queen, pierced to the very heart by the innocent question of the
child, burst into tears.
"My prince," said the Abbe Davout, turning to the dauphin, "you see
that you trouble the queen, and her majesty needs rest. Come, we
will take a walk."
But Marie Antoinette put both her arms around the child and pressed
its head with its light locks to her breast.
"No," she said, "no, he does not trouble me. Let me weep. Tears do
me good. One is only unfortunate when she can no longer weep; when--
but what is that?" she eagerly asked, rising from her easy-chair.
"What does that noise mean?"
And in very fact in the street there were loud shouting and crying,
and intermingled curses and threats.
Pages:
329
330
331
332
333
334
335
336
337
338
339
340
341
342
343
344
345
346
347
348
349
350
351
352
353