"
"Then promise me at least that he shall remain in the tower of the
Temple, that I may see him every day."
"We have nothing to promise you, we have no account at all to give
you. Parbleu, how can you take on and howl so, merely because your
child is taken from you? Our children have to do more than that.
They have every day to have their heads split open with the balls of
the enemies that you have set upon them."
"My son is still too young to be able to serve his country," said
the queen, gently, "but I hope that if God permits it, he will some
day be proud to devote his life to Him."
Meanwhile the two princesses, urged on by the officials, had clothed
the gasping, sobbing boy. The queen now saw that no more hope
remained. She sank upon a chair, and summoning all her strength, she
called the dauphin to herself, laid her hands upon his shoulders,
and pale, immovable, with widely-opened eyes, whose burning lids
were cooled by no tear, she gazed upon the quivering face of the
boy, who had fixed his great blue eyes, swimming with tears, upon
the countenance of his mother.
"My child," said the queen, solemnly, "we must part. Remember your
duties when I am no more with you to remind you of them. Never
forget the good God who is proving you, and your mother who is
praying for you.
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