CHAPTER XXXIV.
THE ADVISERS.
The king left madame in a state of agitation which it would have been difficult even for himself to have explained. It is impossible, in fact, to explain the secret play of those strange sympathies, which suddenly, and apparently with- out any cause, are excited, after many years passed in the greatest calmness and indifference, by two hearts destined to love each other. Why had Louis formerly disdained, almost hated, madame? Why did he now find the same woman so beautiful, so captivating? And why, not only were his thoughts occupied about her, but still more, why were they so occupied about her? Why, in fact, had madame, whose eyes and mind were sought for in another direction, shown during the last week toward the king a semblance of favor which encouraged the belief of still greater regard. It must not be supposed that Louis proposed to himself any plan of seduction; the tie which united madame to his brother was, or at least seemed, for him an insuperable barrier; he was even too far removed from that barrier to perceive its existence. But on the downward path of those passions in which the heart rejoices, toward which youth impels us, no one can decide where to stop, not even he who has in advance calculated all the chances of his own success or of another's submission. As far as madame was concerned, her regard for the king may easily be explained: she was young, a coquette, and ardently fond of admiration. Hers was one of those buoyant, impetuous natures, which upon a theater would leap over the greatest obstacles to obtain an acknowledgment of applause from the spectators. It was not surprising, then, that after having been adored by Buckingham, by De Guiche, who was superior to Buckingham, even if it were only from that great merit, so much appreciated by woman, that is to say, novelty — it was not surprising, we say, that the princess should raise her ambition to being admired by the king, who not only was the first person in the kingdom, but was one of the handsomest and wittiest men in it. As for the sudden passion with which Louis was inspired for his sister-in-law, physiology would perhaps supply the explanation of it by some hackneyed commonplace reasons, and nature from some of her mysterious affinity of characters. Madame had the most beautiful black eyes in the world;
