CHAPTER XXI.
THE KING'S SUPPER.
The king, while these matters were being arranged, had sat down to thesupper-table, and the not very large number of guests invited for thatday had taken their seats, after the usual gesture intimating the royalpermission to be seated. At this period of Louis XIV.'s reign, althoughetiquette was not governed by the strict regulations which subsequentlywere adopted, the French court had entirely thrown aside the traditionsof good-fellowship and patriarchal affability which existed in the timeof Henry IV., and which the suspicious mind of Louis XIII. had graduallyreplaced by the pompous state, forms, and ceremonies which he despairedof being able fully to realize.
The king, therefore, was seated alone at a small separate table, which,like the desk of a president, overlooked the adjoining tables. Althoughwe say a small table, we must not omit to add that this small table wasthe largest one there. Moreover, it was the one on which were placed thegreatest number and quantity of dishes; consisting of fish, game, meat,fruit, vegetables, and preserves. The king was young and full of vigorand energy, very fond of hunting, addicted to all violent exercises ofthe body, possessing, besides, like all the members of the Bourbonfamily, a rapid digestion, and an appetite speedily renewed. Louis XIV.was a formidable table-companion; he delighted to criticise his cooks;but when he honored them by praise and commendation, the honor wasoverwhelming. The king began by eating several kinds of soup, eithermixed together or taken separately. He intermixed, or rather heseparated, each of the soups by a glass of old wine. He ate quickly andsomewhat greedily. Porthos, who from the beginning had, out of respect,been waiting for a jog of D'Artagnan's arm, seeing the king make suchrapid progress, turned to the musketeer and said in a low tone:
"It seems as if one might go on now; his majesty is very encouraging,from the example he sets. Look."
"The king eats," said D'Artagnan, "but he talks at the same time; tryand manage matters in such manner that, if he should happen to address aremark to you, he should not find you with your mouth full, which wouldbe very disrespectful."
"The best way in that case," said Porthos, "is to eat no supper at all;and yet I am very hungry, I admit, and everything looks and smells mostinvitingly, as if appealing to all my senses at once."
"Don't think of not eating for a moment," said D'Artagnan; "that wouldput his majesty out terribly. The king has a saying, 'that he who workswell eats well,' and he does not like people to eat indifferently at histable."
"How can I avoid having my mouth full if I eat?" said Porthos.
"All you have to do," replied the captain of the musketeers, "is simplyto swallow what you have in it whenever the king does you the honor toaddress a remark to you."
"Very good," said Porthos: and from that moment he began to eat with awell-bred enthusiasm of manner.
The king occasionally looked at the different persons who were at tablewith him, and _en connoisseur_, could appreciate the differentdispositions of his guests.
"Monsieur de Valon!" he said.
Porthos was enjoying a _salmi de lievre,_ and swallowed half of theback. His name pronounced in such a manner had made him start, and by avigorous effort of his gullet he absorbed the whole mouthful.
"Sire," replied Porthos, in a stifled voice, but sufficientlyintelligible, nevertheless.
"Let those _filets d'agneau_ be handed to Monsieur de Valon," said theking. "Do you like brown meats, M. de Valon?"
"Sire, I like everything," replied Porthos.
D'Artagnan whispered, "Everything your majesty sends me."
Porthos repeated, "Everything your majesty sends me," an observationwhich the king apparently received with great satisfaction.
"People eat well who work well," replied the king, delighted to have _entete-a-tete_ a guest who could eat as Porthos did. Porthos received thedish of lamb, and put a portion of it on his own plate.
"Well?" said the king.
"Exquisite," said Porthos, calmly.
"Have you as good mutton in your part of the country, Monsieur deValon?" continued the king.
"Sire, I believe that from my own province, as everywhere else, the bestof everything is sent to Paris for your majesty's use; but, on theother hand, I do not eat lamb in the same way your majesty does."
"Ah, ah! and how do you eat it?"
"Generally, I have a lamb dressed quite whole."
"Quite whole?"
"Yes, sire."
"In what manner, then?"
"In this, sire: My cook, who is a German, first stuffs the lamb inquestion with small sausages which he procures from Strasburg,force-meat balls which he procures from Troyes, and larks which heprocures from Pithiviers: by some means or other, which I am notacquainted with, he bones the lamb as he would do a fowl, leaving-theskin on, however, which forms a brown crust all over the animal; when itis cut in beautiful slices, in the same way as an enormous sausage, arose-colored gravy pours forth, which is as agreeable to the eye as itis exquisite to the palate." And Porthos finished by smacking his lips.
The king-opened his eyes with delight, and, while cutting some of the_faisan en daube_, which was being handed to him, he said:
"That is a dish I should very much like to taste, Monsieur de Valon. Isit possible! a whole lamb!"
"Completely so, sire."
"Pass those pheasants to M. de Valon; I perceive he is an amateur."
The order was immediately obeyed. Then, continuing the conversation, hesaid: "And you do not find the lamb too fat?"
"No, sire; the fat falls down at the same time as the gravy does, andswims on the surface: then the servant who carves removes the fat with aspoon, which I have had expressly made for that purpose."
"Where do you reside?" inquired the king.
"At Pierrefonds, sire."
"At Pierrefonds; where is that, M. de Valon--near Belle-Isle?"
"Oh, no, sire; Pierrefonds is in the Soissonnais."
"I thought you alluded to the lamb on account of the salt marshes."
"No, sire; I have marshes which are not salt, it is true, but which arenot the less valuable on that account."
The king had now arrived at the _entremets_, but without losing sight ofPorthos, who continued to play his part in the best manner.
"You have an excellent appetite, M. de Valon," said the king, "and youmake an admirable guest at table."
"Ah, sire, if your majesty were ever to pay a visit to Pierrefonds, wewould both of us eat our lamb together; for your appetite is not anindifferent one, by any means."
D'Artagnan gave Porthos a severe kick under the table, which madePorthos color up.
"At your majesty's present happy age," said Porthos, in order to repairthe mistake he had made, "I was in the musketeers, and nothing couldever satisfy me then. Your majesty has an excellent appetite, as I havealready had the honor of mentioning, but you select what you eat withtoo much refinement to be called a great eater."
The king seemed charmed at his guest's politeness.
"Will you try some of these creams?" he said to Porthos.
"Sire, your majesty treats me with far too much kindness to prevent mespeaking the whole truth."
"Pray do so, M. de Valon."
"Well, sire, with regard to sweet dishes. I only recognize pastry, andeven that should be rather solid: all these frothy substances swell thestomach, and occupy a space which seems to me to be too precious to beso badly tenanted."
"Ah! gentlemen," said the king, indicating Porthos by a gesture, "hereis indeed a perfect model of gastronomy. It was in such a manner thatour fathers, who so well knew what good living was, used to eat; whilewe," added his majesty, "can do nothing but trifle with our food." Andas he spoke he took the breast of a chicken, with ham, while Porthosattacked a dish of partridges and land-rails. The cup-bearer filled hismajesty's glass. "Give M. de Valon some of my wine," said the king.This was one of the greatest honors of the royal table. D'Artagnanpressed his friend's knee.
"If you could only manage to swall
ow the half of that boar's head I seeyonder," said he to Porthos, "I shall believe you will be a duke andpeer within the next twelvemonth."
"Presently," said Porthos, phlegmatically; "I shall come to itby-and-by."
In fact it was not long before it came to the boar's turn, for the kingseemed to take a pleasure in urging on his guest. He did not pass any ofthe dishes to Porthos until he had tasted them himself, and heaccordingly took some of the boar's head. Porthos showed that he couldkeep pace with his sovereign; and instead of eating the half, asD'Artagnan had told him, he ate three-fourths of it. "It is impossible,"said the king in an undertone, "that a gentleman who eats so good asupper every day, and who has such beautiful teeth, can be otherwisethan the most straightforward, upright man in my kingdom."
"Do you hear?" said D'Artagnan in his friend's ear.
"Yes; I think I am rather in favor," said Porthos, balancing himself onhis chair.
"Oh! you are in luck's way."
The king and Porthos continued to eat in the same manner, to the greatsatisfaction of the other guests, some of whom, from emulation, hadattempted to follow them, but had been obliged to give up on the way.The king soon began to get flushed, and the reaction of the blood to hisface announced that the moment of repletion had arrived. It was thenthat Louis XIV., instead of becoming gay and cheerful, as most goodlivers generally do, became dull, melancholy and taciturn. Porthos, onthe contrary, was lively and communicative. D'Artagnan's foot had morethan once to remind him of this peculiarity of the king. The dessert nowmade its appearance. The king had ceased to think anything further ofPorthos: he turned his eyes anxiously toward the entrance-door, and hewas heard occasionally to inquire how it happened that Monsieur deSaint-Aignan was so long in arriving. At last, at the moment when hismajesty was finishing a pot of preserved plums with a deep sigh,Saint-Aignan appeared. The king's eyes, which had become somewhat dull,immediately began to sparkle. The comte advanced toward the king'stable, and Louis arose at his approach. Everybody arose at the sametime, including Porthos, who was just finishing an almond cake, capableof making the jaws of a crocodile stick together. The supper was over.
The Vicomte de Bragelonne Page 22