Whatever may be thought of these physical observations,
which were principally made in the capital, the young king
was welcomed as a god by the inhabitants of Blois, and
almost like a king by his uncle and aunt, Monsieur and
Madame, the inhabitants of the castle.

It must, however, be allowed, that when he saw, in the hall
of reception, chairs of equal height placed for himself, his
mother, the cardinal, and his uncle and aunt, a disposition
artfully concealed by the semicircular form of the assembly,
Louis XIV. became red with anger, and looked around him to
ascertain by the countenances of those that were present, if
this humiliation had been prepared for him. But as he saw
nothing upon the impassible visage of the cardinal, nothing
on that of his mother, nothing on those of the assembly, he
resigned himself, and sat down, taking care to be seated
before anybody else.

The gentlemen and ladies were presented to their majesties
and monsieur le cardinal.

The king remarked that his mother and he scarcely knew the
names of any of the persons who were presented to them;
whilst the cardinal, on the contrary never failed, with an
admirable memory and presence of mind, to talk to every one
about his estates, his ancestors, or his children, some of
whom he named, which enchanted those worthy country
gentlemen, and confirmed them in the idea that he alone is
truly king who knows his subjects, from the same reason that