“Less so, for she is less compromised, having said less.” “That does not matter; she will help you, I dare say, by deviating a little from the exact truth.” “Especially if she knows that your highness is kind enough to interest yourself about me.” “Very well, I think I have discovered what it is best for you all to pretend.” “How delightful.” “You had better say that all three of you were perfectly well aware that the king was behind the tree, or behind the thicket, whichever it might have been; and that you knew M. de Saint-Aignan was there too.” “Yes, Madame.” “For you cannot disguise it from yourself, Athenais, Saint-Aignan takes advantage of some very flattering remarks you made about him.” “Well, Madame, you see very clearly that one can be overheard,” cried Athenais, “since M. de Saint-Aignan overheard us.” Madame bit her lips, for she had thoughtlessly committed herself. “Oh, you know Saint-Aignan’s character very well,” she said, “the favor the king shows him almost turns his brain, and he talks at random; not only so, he very often invents. That is not the question; the fact remains, did or did not the king overhear?” “Oh, yes, Madame, he certainly did,” said Athenais, in despair. “In that case, do what I said: maintain boldly that all three of you knew--mind, all three of you, for if there is a doubt about any one of you, there will be a doubt about all,--persist, I say, that you knew that the king and M. de Saint-Aignan were there, and that you wished to amuse yourself at the expense of those who were listening.” “Oh, Madame, at the _king’s_ expense; we shall never dare say that!” “It is a simple jest; an innocent deception readily permitted in young girls whom men wish to take by surprise. In this manner everything explains itself. What Montalais said of Malicorne, a mere jest; what you said of M. de Saint-Aignan, a mere jest too; and what La Vallière might have said of--” “And which she would have given anything to recall.” “Are you sure of that?” “Perfectly.” “Very well, an additional reason. Say the whole affair was a mere joke. M. de Malicorne will have no occasion to get out of temper; M. de Saint-Aignan will be completely put out of countenance; _he_ will be laughed at instead of you; and lastly, the king will be punished for a curiosity unworthy of his rank. Let people laugh a little at the king in this affair, and I do not think he will complain of it.” “Oh, Madame, you are indeed an angel of goodness and sense!” “It is to my own advantage.” “In what way?” “How can you ask me why it is to my advantage to spare my maids of honor the remarks, annoyances, perhaps even calumnies, that might follow? Alas! you well know that the court has no indulgence for this sort of peccadillo. But we have now been walking for some time, shall we be long before we reach it?” “About fifty or sixty paces further; turn to the left, Madame, if you please.” “And you are sure of Montalais?” said Madame. “Oh, certainly.”