“I have absolutely nothing, my son; only you cannot have failed to remark that his eminence the cardinal is very ill.”

Louis looked at his mother, expecting some emotion in her voice, some sorrow in her countenance. The face of Anne of Austria appeared a little changed, but that was from sufferings of quite a personal character. Perhaps the alteration was caused by the cancer which had begun to consume her breast. “Yes, madame,” said the king; “yes, M. de Mazarin is very ill.”

“And it would be a great loss to the kingdom if God were to summon his eminence away. Is not that your opinion as well as mine, my son?” said the queen.

“Yes, madame; yes, certainly, it would be a great loss for the kingdom,” said Louis, coloring;