Ten Years Later: Louise de la Valliere by Alexandre Dumas Chapter 23 Page 2

“Do you happen to have remarked,” said Anne of Austria, “that the king has ever done anything of the sort?”

“No, madame,” said the young queen, hesitatingly.

“What is there to complain of, then, Marie?”

“You will admit that the king leaves me?”

“The king, my daughter, belongs to his people.”

“And that is the very reason why he no longer belongs to me; and that is the reason, too, why I shall find myself, as so many queens before me, forsaken and forgotten, whilst glory and honors will be reserved for others.

Oh, my mother! the king is so handsome! how often will others tell him that they love him, and how much, indeed, they must do so!”