Behind him were Madame de
Tourzel and Madame Elizabeth, who, like the prince, were listening
in breathless silence to the singing of the queen.
As she ended, and when the voice of Marie Antoinette was choked in a
sigh, the dauphin flew with, extended arms across the hall to his
mother, "Mamma queen," cried he, beaming with joy, "are you singing
again? I thought my dear mamma had forgotten how to sing. But she
has begun to sing again, and we are all happy once more."
Marie Antoinette folded the little fellow in her arms, and did not
contradict him, and nodded smilingly to the two ladies, who now
approached and begged the queen's pardon for yielding to the
pressing desires of the dauphin, and entering without permission.
"Oh, mamma, my dear mamma queen," said the prince, in the most
caressing way, "I have been very industrious to-day; the abbe was
satisfied with me, and praised me, because I wrote well and learned
my arithmetic well. Won't you give me a reward for that, mamma
queen?"
"What sort of a reward do you want, my child?" asked the queen,
smiling.
"Say, first, that you will give it."
"Well, yes, I will give it, my little Louis; now tell me what it
is."
"Mamma queen, I want you to sing your little Louis a song; and," he
added, nodding at the two ladies, "that you allow these friends of
mine to hear it.
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