mercy of God."

[Illustration: The Death-bed of Louis XIV.----50]

The Duke of Orleans came back again; the king had sent for him. "When I
am dead," he said, "you will have the young king taken to Vincennes; the
air there is good; he will remain there until all the ceremonies are over
at Versailles, and the castle well cleaned afterwards; you will then
bring him back again." He at the same time gave orders for going and
furnishing Vincennes, and directed a casket to be opened in which the
plan of the castle was kept, because, as the court had not been there for
fifty years, Cavoye, grand chamberlain of his household, had never
prepared apartments there. "When I was king . . . ," he said several
times.

A quack had brought a remedy which would cure gangrene, he said. The
sore on the leg was hopeless, but they gave the king a dose of the elixir
in a glass of Alicante. "To life and to death," said he as he took the
glass; "just as it shall please God." The remedy appeared to act; the
king recovered a little strength. The throng of courtiers, which, the
day before, had been crowding to suffocation in the rooms of the Duke of
Orleans, withdrew at once. Louis XIV. did not delude himself about this
apparent rally. "Prayers are offered in all the churches for your
Majesty's life," said the parish priest of Versailles. "That is not the
question," said the king "it is my salvation that much needs praying
for."

Madame de Maintenon had hitherto remained in the back rooms, though
constantly in the king's chamber when he was alone. He said to her once,
"What consoles me for leaving you, is that it will not be long before we