I will ask you, therefore, to inform me if the king is in the chateau or not, if I am likely to be able to see him this evening, or if I shall have to wait until to-morrow." "We have lost sight of his majesty during the last half-hour nearly," said the chevalier.
"Perhaps he is in Madame's apartments ?" inquired Fouquet.
"Not in Madame's apartments, I should think, for I just now met Madame as she was entering by the small staircase; and unless the gentleman whom you a moment ago encountered was the king himself--" and the chevalier paused, hoping that, in this manner, he might learn who it was he had been hurrying after.

But Fouquet, whether he had or had not recognized De Guiche, simply replied, "No, monsieur, it was not the king." The chevalier, disappointed in his expectation, saluted them; but as he did so, casting a parting glance around him, and perceiving M.Colbert in the center of a group, he said to the superintendent: "Stay, monsieur; there is some one under the trees yonder, who will be able to inform you better than myself." "Who ?" asked Fouquet, whose near-sightedness prevented him from seeing through the darkness.
"M.

Colbert," returned the chevalier.
"Indeed! That person, then, who is speaking yonder to those men with torches in their hands, is M.Colbert ?" "M.

Colbert himself.

He is giving orders personally to the workmen who are arranging the lamps for the illuminations." "Thank you," said Fouquet, with an inclination of the head, which indicated that he had obtained all the information he wished.