He had been obliged to return to Amiens on a matter of
State. It was unthinkable that he should be so near to her
Majesty and not hasten to cast himself at her feet; and whilst
gladdening the eyes of his body with the sight of her matchless
perfection, the image of which was ever before the eyes of his
soul, allow himself the only felicity life now held for him--that
of protesting himself her utter slave. This, and much more of the
kind, did he pour out, what time the Queen, embarrassed and
annoyed beyond utterance, could only stare at him in silence.
Apart from the matchless impudence of it, it was also of a
rashness beyond pardon. Unless Madame de Lannoi were the most
circumspect of women, here was a fine tale for Court gossips, and
for the King's ears, a tale that must hopelessly compromise the
Queen. For that, Buckingham, in his self-sufficiency and
arrogance, appears to have cared nothing. One suspects that it
would have pleased his vanity to have his name linked with the
Queen's by the lips of scandal.
She found her tongue at last.
"Monsieur le Duc," she said in her confusion, "it was not
necessary, it was not worth while, to have asked audience of me
for this. You have leave to go.
Pages:
223
224
225
226
227
228
229
230
231
232
233
234
235
236
237
238
239
240
241
242
243
244
245
246
247