She tried to think it was her fancy that he had spoken louder than was necessary when he made the appointment .sx She asked him not to be late , and he arranged that he should be there early in the afternoon , call on a lady to give a reason for his visit , and meet her casually , as by accident , on the way out through the gardens .sx She went at the time appointed , walked slowly through the gardens , walked back again .sx Wondered if she were early ; if he had not been able to get away from his visit ; walked back again .sx Encountered some inquisitive looks from the girls on the scholars' side of the gardens ; remembered how she had walked there with her cousin Louise years ago , up and down those grass paths , discussing , arguing , disputing , with nothing in the world to worry them ; walked back again .sx Once they had had a great quarrel all about Charles why had it mattered so what Louise had thought about Charles ?sx Louise was away at Mauberge and did not care now , and Charles had never cared .sx She walked back again .sx " Never care what people think , never , never care , " she repeated to herself as a nun came towards her , asking if she wished to see one of the pensionnaires , and could she take a message ?sx " No , oh no , " said Minette , " I am walking here because I like to remember the old days .sx " And she walked back again .sx But the nun walked with her , talking about her mother , so calm , so gentle , a true saint , talking of Mere Angelique , now , alas , dead .sx She must get rid of the nun before de Vardes came ; so she did not walk back again , but into the waiting-room , though this was more public .sx She must have missed de Vardes , and would find him there .sx The waiting-room was unusually full .sx De Vardes was not there ; but she thought there was a large proportion of his friends and , as in a nightmare , all those staring faces wore the same look , covert , sneering , satisfied .sx She realized slowly that she had walked into a trap .sx De Vardes had let his friends know that he had made an engagement with Madame which he would not be troubled to keep .sx Some of them had come to verify this , and were now rewarded for their pains .sx She would not snatch at the belated pretext of now asking for one of the pensionnaires .sx She went out to her coach before them all , and drove back down the long road to Paris .sx XXX .sx DE VARDES had kept instead a subsequent engagement with an insignificant young girl .sx He took care that Madame should hear of this .sx She also heard that one of Monsieur's latest young men , the Chevalier de Lorraine , had been paying court to a maid of hers ; that de Vardes had smiled when he heard it , and said , " Why so modest ?sx It would be easier to get the mistress than the maid .sx " This Chevalier de Lorraine was a carefully dressed young man with an extremely handsome , rather wooden face , straight nose , and hard red mouth .sx Monsieur declared that he was pure Greek , to which Madame had retorted that she didn't know the Greeks were as pure as that .sx Monsieur thought this funny enough to repeat to his new pet , who was young , self-conscious , and took himself as seriously as any Puritan .sx He was furious that a mere woman should presume to make fun of him ; he was delighted with de Vardes' remark at Madame's expense ; he now took occasion to show insolence to her whenever possible .sx But she ignored both his insults and de Vardes' , and was surprised to find how easy it became .sx Her condition soon gave her excuse to avoid Court functions ; her physicians prescribed her a thorough rest and a diet of asses' milk ; and Charles contributed more than any of these causes to her peace of mind by giving her a present of a barge for her own private use .sx It was conveyed up the river to Paris by a Thames waterman called Ben Huskins , and ten underlings who grinned and shuffled their feet and scratched their forelocks , while the pretty little French lady ran all over the barge , exclaiming in rapture at its blue and gold hangings , its velvet cushions , its adorable painted and gilded carvings of mermaids and tritons .sx She talked to all of them in turn in an English that sounded almost as foreign as the shrill chirpings of her equally pretty little husband .sx Charles had tactfully sent Monsieur a present of some excellent English horses at the same time ; Monsieur returned thanks in letters elegantly tied up with pink silk , and was delighted when the Gazette referred to the barge as a fitting present from the King of the Sea to his fair sister .sx This present did more to reconcile the Queens to their daughter and sister-in-law than all Minette's new good behaviour .sx Marie Therese's girl baby had died very soon after its birth ; and she was low-spirited , and deeply hurt with Louis .sx Olympe de Soissons , in her restless , dissatisfied state , had let the Queen know that it was La Valliere who had all this time kept the King unfaithful to her .sx This softened the two Queens' behaviour to Madame ; the younger even made some sort of apology for her ill-founded suspicion of her .sx And the barge clinched the reconciliation in the happiest way , for Madame was delighted to lend it to them , more and more often as the summer grew hotter and dustier , and the English galley by far the pleasantest way of travelling .sx Minette herself never tired of the gliding motion , the swift and dream-like passage of the green shores , the reflection of the sunlit ripples on the silken awning .sx She would take her sister-in-law for little voyages that had no object but these delights , and the music of violins and singers , that sounded so much more enchanting as it wandered across the water .sx But they did not suffice Marie Therese , who always wanted to play cards with her ladies .sx Her passion for gambling was profitable to others , for she invariably lost .sx " It is sad for her to be so stupid , " thought Minette , looking at the pale dumpling face there she was living in this wonderful age when the Court had never been so splendid nor people so wise and witty , and she might just as well have lived hundreds of years ago or hereafter " she is not here now at all .sx " " Here " and " now " were as acute to Minette as to a prisoner who does not know if he is awaiting sentence of death .sx Somewhere in the background there was still de Vardes .sx The insignificant girl , for whom he had broken his appointment with Madame , had found life unbearable .sx because of him , and killed herself .sx People said de Vardes was really too bad , a shocking scoundrel .sx But all the more women wished to prove it .sx " You are the true judge of this age , " said Madame to Moliere , " can you not pronounce sentence ?sx " He wrote Don Juan .sx Everyone went to see this masterly study of cruel profligacy , admired it , but also admired the profligate .sx What a fellow !sx Nothing could down him .sx Hell itself could only swallow him alive and still kicking ; it could not subdue his spirit .sx Women gazed at de Vardes , recognizing the prototype , and whispered their delicious terror ; men told a hundred new stories of him , disgraceful , delightful .sx " De Vardes , " said Madame de Sevigne , " is the gospel according to the day .sx " But Madame for the moment was free of the congregation .sx She stepped into her blue and gold barge on a broiling June morning , and was rowed up the river with Monsieur to Saint Cloud to spend the day .sx A party of strangers from England had been permitted to see some of the famous gardens there ; Monsieur and Madame happened to meet them , and insisted on doing the honours themselves .sx Madame showed her favourite fountain , which seemed to touch the sky , cooling the air for a wide space round it by its misty exhalation ; Monsieur showed the new painted ceiling in his room of Ganymede snatched up to Jove .sx The guests were appreciative and witty , they spoke French perfectly , they had travelled everywhere , they even knew the East .sx Who were they ?sx Some rich and cultured English lords , no doubt , and a quietly adventurous , rather plain lady , who thought nothing of having ridden on a camel and visited a harem .sx Monsieur had not noticed their names in the excitement of encounter , " but let us have no names , " he said , " let this be the creation of a day .sx I am the Prince Orondate , and this my wife is the Princess Statira , and you are foreign potentates come to visit us , and we will hold our court , like Charlemagne , under the boughs of a great tree .sx " So they did , and supper was spread on the lawn , and then at dusk the whole party went on board the Princess Statira's magic barque .sx She bade the rowers lay by their oars .sx They drifted with the stream down to Paris , while the stars came out one by one overhead ; and Monsieur spoke of the Loves and Zephyrs who were wafting them from their enchanted shore to the world of living men .sx Black against the pale water showed the first bridge of Paris .sx The plain lady murmured some words in English which Madame asked her to repeat to her .sx " The cloud dissolves , the dream is gone , And Saccharissa turns to Joan .sx " " Who wrote that ?sx " " Nobody .sx It was not a poet , only a clever young clerk .sx Here we are at Paris .sx " " Here we are , " thought Minette , " here and now .sx " She turned to Monsieur , and took his soft fingers in hers under cover of the darkness ; she said low to him , " Thank you for this day , stolen from time .sx " He returned the pressure of her hand .sx He felt that they above all people had mastered the art of living gracefully .sx De Guiche had returned from Poland , and the King permitted him to appear at Court as long as he did not enter Madame's presence .sx But there was nothing to prevent his visiting his new English aunt , the Comtesse de Gramont , until that hardened gallant , the Chevalier , declared he was sick of the sight of his love-sick puppy of a nephew about the place .sx But never once , since the return of de Guiche , did Madame visit her new friend from England .sx It happened that Monsieur persuaded Madame to attend a masked ball at a private house ; they went in a hired coach to conceal who they were , and were completely disguised under their strange head-dresses and masks .sx They entered the hall with other masked guests .sx Monsieur gave his arm to one of the ladies , and a cloaked cavalier gave his to Madame .sx She noticed that he had kept on his left-hand glove , and that three of the glove fingers fell limply as though .sx there were nothing inside them .sx They went up the stairs to the ballroom ; she said to herself , " De Guiche had three fingers shot away , " and then she noticed that her partner was also silent .sx For de Guiche had recognized the perfume of carnation she used on her hair .sx " I know you , " he whispered , and she pressed his arm to show that she knew him .sx They drew back against the curtain by the doorway into the ballroom .sx Here , in the very thick of the throng , they could talk more unobserved than anywhere .sx He told her how he had gone every day to the Comtesse de Gramont in hopes of seeing her .sx " I know , I know , " she said , in distressed tones , " but I could not go .sx I must not meet you nor stay with you now .sx " " Is that only because of the King ?sx " " Indeed yes .sx Who else ?sx " " There is no one you love ?sx Not de Vardes ?sx " At mention of his name , though whispered , she turned in terror to make sure that no one could hear , caught her foot in the curtain , and fell down the stairway , or would have done so if he , standing just below her , had not caught her in his arms .sx