Madame hastened to look for Monsieur, for she instinctively understood that he had been far too long kept from sharing in this joy.

The king went to rejoin the queens; he knew he owed them--one especially--a compensation for his long absence.

But Madame was not admitted to Monsieur's apartments, and she was informed that Monsieur was asleep.

The king, instead of being met by Maria Theresa smiling, as was usual with her, found Anne of Austria in the gallery watching for his return, who advanced to meet him, and taking him by the hand, led him to her own apartment.

No one ever knew what was the nature of the conversation which took place between them, or rather what it was that the queen-mother said to Louis XIV.; but the general tenor of the interview might certainly be guessed from the annoyed expression of the king's face as he left her.
But we, whose mission it is to interpret all things, as it is also to communicate our interpretations to our readers,--we should fail in our duty, if we were to leave them in ignorance of the result of this interview.