"How strange!" murmured Louis XIV. "I never heard anything
of all that; I was only told of your embarkation at
Brighthelmstone and your landing in Normandy."

"Oh!" exclaimed Charles, "if Heaven permits kings to be thus
ignorant of the histories of each other, how can they render
assistance to their brothers who need it?"

"But tell me," continued Louis XIV., "how, after being so
roughly received in England, you can still hope for anything
from that unhappy country and that rebellious people?"

"Oh, sire! since the battle of Worcester, everything is
changed there. Cromwell is dead, after having signed a
treaty with France, in which his name is placed above yours.
He died on the 5th of September, 1658, a fresh anniversary
of the battles of Dunbar and Worcester."

"His son has succeeded him."

"But certain men have a family, sire, and no heir. The
inheritance of Oliver was too heavy for Richard. Richard was
neither a republican nor a royalist; Richard allowed his
guards to eat his dinner, and his generals to govern the
republic; Richard abdicated the protectorate on the 22nd of
April, 1659, more than a year ago, sire.

"From that time England is nothing but a tennis-court, in
which the players throw dice for the crown of my father. The