.

The Gallery of Saint-Mande.
Fifty persons were waiting for the superintendent.

He did not even take the time to place himself in the hands of his _valet de chambre_ for a minute, but from the _perron_ went straight into the _premier salon_.
There his friends were assembled in full chat.

The intendant was about to order supper to be served, but, above all, the Abbe Fouquet watched for the return of his brother, and was endeavoring to do the honors of the house in his absence.

Upon the arrival of the superintendent, a murmur of joy and affection was heard; Fouquet, full of affability, good humor, and munificence, was beloved by his poets, his artists, and his men of business.