Ten Years Later: The Vicomte of Bragelonne by Alexandre Dumas Chapter 35 Page 3

She was resplendent, then, in her joy and her happiness, — like those hot-house flowers which, forgotten during a frosty autumn night, have hung their heads, but which on the morrow, warmed once more by the atmosphere in which they were born, rise again with greater splendor than ever. Villiers, Duke of Buckingham, son of him who played so conspicuous a part in the early chapters of this history, — Villiers of Buckingham, a handsome cavalier, melancholy with women, a jester with men, — and Wilmot, Lord Rochester, a jester with both sexes, were standing at this moment before the Lady Henrietta, disputing the privilege of making her smile. As to that young and beautiful princess, reclining upon a cushion of velvet bordered with gold, her hands hanging listlessly so as to dip in the water, she listened carelessly to the musicians without