apparently was no whit less obscure than on the first occasion. Such a
scandal as this well-nigh put him to the blush, and he was obliged to
admit that this modest maiden either affected to be, or really was,
utterly extraordinary.

Perhaps Mademoiselle de la Valliere ought to have had the generosity not
to divulge the proposals made to her; but she spoke about them, so
everybody said, and the King took a dislike to his minister.

Whatever the cause or the real motives for Fouquet's disgrace, it was
never considered unjust, and this leads me to tell the tale of his mad
folly at Vaux.

The two palaces built by Cardinal Mazarin and the castles built by
Cardinal Richelieu served as fine examples for M. Fouquet. He knew that
handsome edifices embellished the country, and that Maecenas has always
been held in high renown, because Maecenas built a good deal in his day.

He had just built, at great expense, in the neighbourhood of Melun, a
castle of such superb and elegant proportions that the fame of it had
even reached foreign parts. All that Fouquet lived for was show and
pomp. To have a fine edifice and not show it off was as if one only
possessed a kennel.

He spoke of the Castle of Vaux in the Queen's large drawing-room, and
begged their Majesties to honour by their presence a grand fete that he
was preparing for them.

To invite the royal family was but a trifling matter,--he required
spectators proportionate to the scale of decorations and on a par with