“You have faith in my word, I hope, Louise?”

“Yes, sire, when you are not present; but when you are present, — when you speak to me, — when I look upon you, I have faith in nothing.”

“What can possibly be done to reassure you?”

“It is scarcely respectful, I know, to doubt the king, but — for me — you are not the king.”

“Thank Heaven! — I, at least, hope so most devoutly; you see how anxiously I am trying to find or invent a means of removing all difficulty.

Stay; would the presence of a third person reassure you?”

“The presence of M. de Saint-Aignan would, certainly.”