On the morrow, nothing was talked of in Paris but the ball whichthe aldermen of the city were to give to the king and queen, andin which their Majesties were to dance the famous La Merlaison - the favorite ballet of the king.

Eight days had been occupied in preparations at the Hotel deVille for this important evening. The city carpenters haderected scaffolds upon which the invited ladies were to beplaced; the city grocer had ornamented the chambers with twohundred FLAMBEAUX if white wax, a piece of luxury unheard of atthat period; and twenty violins were ordered, and the price forthem fixed at double the usual rate, upon condition, said thereport, that they should be played all night.

At ten o'clock in the morning the Sieur de la Coste, ensign inthe king's Guards, followed by two officers and several archersof that body, came to the city registrar, named Clement, anddemanded of him all the keys of the rooms and offices of thehotel. These keys were given up to him instantly. Each of themhad ticket attached to it, by which it might be recognized; andfrom that moment the Sieur de la Coste was charged with the careof all the doors and all the avenues.

At eleven o'clock came in his turn Duhallier, captain of theGuards, bringing with him fifty archers, who were distributedimmediately through the Hotel de Ville, at the doors assignedthem.

At three o'clock came two companies of the Guards, one French,the other Swiss. The company of French guards was composed ofhalf of M. Duhallier's men and half of M. Dessessart's men.

At six in the evening the guests began to come. As fast as theyentered, they were placed in the grand saloon, on the platformsprepared for them.

At nine o'clock Madame la Premiere Presidente arrived. As nextto the queen, she was the most considerable personage of thefete, she was received by the city officials, and placed in a boxopposite to that which the queen was to occupy.

At ten o'clock, the king's collation, consisting of preserves andother delicacies, was prepared in the little room on the side ofthe church of St. Jean, in front of the silver buffet of thecity, which was guarded by four archers.

At midnight great cries and loud acclamations were heard. It wasthe king, who was passing through the streets which led from theLouvre to the Hotel de Ville, and which were all illuminated withcolored lanterns.

Immediately the alderman, clothed in their cloth robes andpreceded by six sergeants, each holding a FLAMBEAU in his hand,went to attend upon the king, whom they met on the steps, wherethe provost of the merchants made him the speech of welcome - acompliment to which his Majesty replied with an apology forcoming so late, laying the blame upon the cardinal, who haddetained him till eleven o'clock, talking of affairs of state.

His Majesty, in full dress, was accompanied by his royalHighness, M. le Comte de Soissons, by the Grand Prior, by the Ducde Longueville, by the Duc d'Euboeuf, by the Comte d'Harcourt, bythe Comte de la Roche-Guyon, by M. de Liancourt, by M. deBaradas, by the Comte de Cramail, and by the Chevalier deSouveray. Everybody noticed that the king looked dull andpreoccupied.

A private room had been prepared for the king and another forMonsieur. In each of these closets were placed masqueradedresses. The same had been done for the queen and Madame thePresident. The nobles and ladies of their Majesties' suites wereto dress, two by two, in chambers prepared for the purpose.Before entering his closet the king desired to be informed themoment the cardinal arrived.

Half an hour after the entrance of the king, fresh acclamationswere heard; these announced the arrival of the queen. Thealdermen did as they had done before, and preceded by theirsergeants, advanced to receive their illustrious guest. Thequeen entered the great hall; and it was remarked that, like theking, she looked dull and even weary.

At the moment she entered, the curtain of a small gallery whichto that time had been closed, was drawn, and the pale face of thecardinal appeared, he being dresses as a Spanish cavalier. Hiseyes were fixed upon those of the queen, and a smile of terriblejoy passed over his lips; the queen did not wear her diamondstuds.

The queen remained for a short time to receive the compliments ofthe city dignitaries and to reply to the salutations of theladies. All at once the king appeared with the cardinal at oneof the doors of the hall. The cardinal was speaking to him in alow voice, and the king was very pale.

The king made his way through the crowd without a mask, and theribbons of his doublet scarcely tied. He went straight to thequeen, and in an altered voice said, "Why, madame, have you notthought proper to wear your diamond studs, when you know it wouldgive me so much gratification?"

The queen cast a glance around her, and saw the cardinal behind,with a diabolical smile on his countenance.

"Sire," replied the queen, with a faltering voice, "because, inthe midst of such a crowd as this, I feared some accident mighthappen to them."

"And you were wrong, madame. If I made you that present it wasthat you might adorn yourself therewith. I tell you that youwere wrong."

The voice of the king was tremulous with anger. Everybody lookedand listened with astonishment, comprehending nothing of whatpassed.

"Sire," said the queen, "I can send for them to the Louvre, wherethey are, and thus your Majesty's wishes will be complied with."

"Do so, madame, do so, and that at once; for within an hour theballet will commence."

The queen bent in token of submission, and followed the ladieswho were to conduct her to her room. On his part the kingreturned to his apartment.

There was a moment of trouble and confusion in the assembly.Everybody had remarked that something had passed between the kingand queen; but both of them had spoken so low that everybody, outof respect, withdrew several steps, so that nobody had heardanything. The violins began to sound with all their might, butnobody listened to them.

The king came out first from his room. He was in a most eleganthunting costume; and Monsieur and the other nobles were dressedlike him. This was the costume that best became the king. Sodressed, he really appeared the first gentleman of his kingdom.

The cardinal drew near to the king, and placed in his hand asmall casket. The king opened it, and found in it two diamondstuds.

"What does this mean?" demanded he of the cardinal.

"Nothing," replied the latter; "only, if the queen has the studs,which I very much doubt, count them, sire, and if you only findten, ask her Majesty who can have stolen from her the two studsthat are here."

The king looked at the cardinal as if to interrogate him; but hehad not time to address any question to him - a cry of admirationburst from every mouth. If the king appeared to be the firstgentleman of his kingdom, the queen was without doubt the mostbeautiful woman in France.

It is true that the habit of a huntress became her admirably.She wore a beaver had with blue feathers, a surtout of gray-pearlvelvet, fastened with diamond clasps, and a petticoat of bluesatin, embroidered with silver. On her left shoulder sparkledthe diamonds studs, on a bow of the same color as the plumes andthe petticoat.

The king trembled with joy and the cardinal with vexation;although, distant as they were from the queen, they could notcount the studs. The queen had them. The only question was, hadshe ten or twelve?

At that moment the violins sounded the signal for the ballet.The king advanced toward Madame the President, with whom he wasto dance, and his Highness Monsieur with the queen. They tooktheir places, and the ballet began.

The king danced facing the queen, and every time he passed byher, he devoured with his eyes those studs of which he could notascertain the number. A cold sweat covered the brow of thecardinal.

The ballet lasted an hour, and had sixteen ENTREES. The balletended amid the applause of the whole assemblage, and everyonereconducted his lady to her place; but the king took advantage ofthe privilege he had of leaving his lady, to advance eagerlytoward the queen.

"I thank you, madame," said he, "for the deference you have shownto my wishes, but I think you want two of the studs, and I bringthem back to you."

With these words he held out to the queen the two studs thecardinal had given him.

"How, sire?" cried the young queen, affecting surprise, "you aregiving me, then, two more: I shall have fourteen."

In fact the king counted them, and the twelve studs were all onher Majesty's shoulder.

The king called the cardinal.

"What does this mean, Monsieur Cardinal?" asked the king in asevere tone.

"This means, sire," replied the cardinal, "that I was desirous ofpresenting her Majesty with these two studs, and that not daringto offer them myself, I adopted this means of inducing her toaccept them."

"And I an the more grateful to your Eminence," replied Anne ofAustria, with a smile that proved she was not the dupe of thisingenious gallantry, "from being certain that these two studsalone have cost you as much as all the others cost his Majesty."

Then saluting the king and the cardinal, the queen resumed herway to the chamber in which she had dressed, and where she was totake off her costume.

The attention which we have been obliged to give, during thecommencement of the chapter, to the illustrious personages wehave introduced into it, has diverted us for an instant from himto whom Anne of Austria owed the extraordinary triumph she hadobtained over the cardinal; and who, confounded, unknown, lost inthe crowd gathered at one of the doors, looked on at this scene,comprehensible only to four persons - the king, the queen, hisEminence, and himself.

The queen had just regained her chamber, and D'Artagnan was aboutto retire, when he felt his should lightly touched. He turnedand saw a young woman, who made him a sign to follow her. Theface of this young woman was covered with a black velvet mask;but notwithstanding this precaution, which was in fact takenrather against others than against him, he at once recognized hisusual guide, the light and intelligent Mme. Bonacieux.

On the evening before, they had scarcely seen each other for amoment at the apartment of the Swiss guard, Germain, whitherD'Artagnan had sent for her. The haste which the young woman wasin to convey to the queen the excellent news of the happy returnof her messenger prevented the two lovers from exchanging morethan a few words. D'Artagnan therefore followed Mme. Bonacieuxmoved by a double sentiment - love and curiosity. All the way,and in proportion as the corridors became more deserted,D'Artagnan wished to stop the young woman, seize her and gazeupon her, were it only for a minute; but quick as a bird sheglided between his hands, and when he wished to speak to her, herfinger placed upon her mouth, with a little imperative gesturefull of grace, reminded him that he was under the command of apower which he must blindly obey, and which forbade him even tomake the slightest complaint. At length, after winding about fora minute or two, Mme. Bonacieux opened the door of a closet,which was entirely dark, and led D'Artagnan into it. There shemade a fresh sign of silence, and opened a second door concealedby tapestry. The opening of this door disclosed a brilliantlight, and she disappeared.

D'Artagnan remained for a moment motionless, asking himself wherehe could be; but soon a ray of light which penetrated through thechamber, together with the warm and perfumed air which reachedhim from the same aperture, the conversation of two of threeladies in language at once respectful and refined, and the word"Majesty" several times repeated, indicated clearly that he wasin a closet attached to the queen's apartment. The young manwaited in comparative darkness and listened.

The queen appeared cheerful and happy, which seemed to astonishthe persons who surrounded her and who were accustomed to see heralmost always sad and full of care. The queen attributed thisjoyous feeling to the beauty of the fete, to the pleasure she hadexperienced in the ballet; and as it is not permissible tocontradict a queen, whether she smile or weep, everybodyexpatiated on the gallantry of the aldermen of the city of Paris.

Although D'Artagnan did not at all know the queen, he soondistinguished her voice from the others, at first by a slightlyforeign accent, and next by that tone of domination naturallyimpressed upon all royal words. He heard her approach andwithdraw from the partially open door; and twice or three timeshe even saw the shadow of a person intercept the light.

At length a hand and an arm, surpassingly beautiful in their formand whiteness, glided through the tapestry. D'Artagnan at oncecomprehended that this was his recompense. He cast himself onhis knees, seized the hand, and touched it respectfully with hislips. Then the hand was withdrawn, leaving in his an objectwhich he perceived to be a ring. The door immediately closed,and D'Artagnan found himself again in complete obscurity.

D'Artagnan placed the ring on his finger, and again waited; itwas evident that all was not yet over. After the reward of hisdevotion, that of his love was to come. Besides, although theballet was danced, the evening had scarcely begun. Supper was tobe served at three, and the clock of St. Jean had struck threequarters past two.

The sound of voices diminished by degrees in the adjoiningchamber. The company was then heard departing; then the door ofthe closet in which D'Artagnan was, was opened, and Mme.Bonacieux entered.

"You at last?" cried D'Artagnan.

"Silence!" said the young woman, placing her hand upon his lips;"silence, and go the same way you came!"

"But where and when shall I see you again?" cried D'Artagnan.

"A note which you will find at home will tell you. Begone,begone!"

At these words she opened the door of the corridor, and pushedD'Artagnan out of the room. D'Artagnan obeyed like a child,without the least resistance or objection, which proved that hewas really in love.