Chapter XIV. The King's Supper.
The king, while these matters were being arranged, was sitting at thesupper-table, and the not very large number of guests for that day hadtaken their seats too, after the usual gesture intimating the royalpermission. At this period of Louis XIV.'s reign, although etiquette wasnot governed by the strict regulations subsequently adopted, the Frenchcourt had entirely thrown aside the traditions of good-fellowship andpatriarchal affability existing in the time of Henry IV., which thesuspicious mind of Louis XIII. had gradually replaced with pompous stateand ceremony, which he despaired of 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 exercisesof the 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 in criticising 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 separated,each of the soups by a glass of old wine. He ate quickly and somewhatgreedily. Porthos, who from the beginning had, out of respect, beenwaiting for a jog of D'Artagnan's arm, seeing the king make such rapidprogress, turned to the musketeer and said in a low voice:
"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 a manner that, if he should happen to addressa remark to you, he will 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 athis table."
"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 acertain well-bred enthusiasm.
The king occasionally looked at the different persons who were attable with him, and, _en connoisseur_, could appreciate the differentdispositions of his guests.
"Monsieur du Vallon!" he said.
Porthos was enjoying a _salmi de lievre_, and swallowed half of theback. His name, pronounced in such a manner, 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 du Vallon," said theking; "do you like brown meats, M. du Vallon?"
"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 plate.
"Well?" said the king.
"Exquisite," said Porthos, calmly.
"Have you as good mutton in your part of the country, Monsieur duVallon?" 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 the otherhand, 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 whole."
"_Whole?_"
"Yes, sire."
"In what manner, Monsieur du Vallon?"
"In this, sire: my cook, who is a German, first stuffs the lamb inquestion with small sausages he procures from Strasburg, force-meatballs from Troyes, and larks from Pithiviers; by some means or other,which I am not acquainted with, he bones the lamb as he would do a fowl,leaving the skin on, however, which forms a brown crust all over theanimal; when it is cut in beautiful slices, in the same way as anenormous sausage, a rose-colored gravy pours forth, which is asagreeable to the eye as it is exquisite to the palate." And Porthosfinished 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 du Vallon. Isit possible! a whole lamb!"
"Absolutely an entire lamb, sire."
"Pass those pheasants to M. du Vallon; 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. du Vallon--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 _entrements_, but without losing sightof Porthos, who continued to play his part in the best manner.
"You have an excellent appetite, M. du Vallon," said the king, "and youmake an admirable guest at table."
"Ah! sire, if your majesty were ever to pay a visit to Pierrefonds,we would both of us eat our lamb together; for your appetite is not anindifferent one by any means."
D'Artagnan gave Porthos a kick under the table, which made Porthos colorup.
"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 withquite too much refinement to be called for one moment a great eater."
The king seemed charmed at his guest's politeness.
"Will you try some of these creams?" he said to Porthos.
"Sire, you majesty treats me with far too much kindness to prevent mespeaking the whole truth."
"Pray do so, M. du Vallon."
"Will, 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 model of gastronomy. It was in such a manner that ourfathers, who so well knew what good living was, used to _eat_, whilewe," added his majesty, "do nothing but tantalize with our stomachs."And as he spoke, he took the breast of a chicken with ham, while Porthosattacked a dish of partridges and quails. The cup-bearer filled hismajesty's glass. "Give M. du Vallon 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 swallow the halfof that boar's head I see yonder," said he to Porthos, "I shall believeyou will be a duke a
nd peer within the next twelvemonth."
"Presently," said Porthos, phlegmatically; "I shall come to that by andby."
In fact it was not long before it came to the boar's turn, for the kingseemed to take pleasure in urging on his guest; he did not pass anyof the 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 were obliged to give up half-way. Theking soon began to get flushed and the reaction of the blood to his faceannounced that the moment of repletion had arrived. It was then thatLouis XIV., instead of becoming gay and cheerful, as most good liversgenerally do, became dull, melancholy, and taciturn. Porthos, on thecontrary, was lively and communicative. D'Artagnan's foot had more thanonce 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 towards the entrance-door, andhe was heard occasionally to inquire how it happened that Monsieur deSaint-Aignan was so long in arriving. At last, at the moment whenhis majesty 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 towards the king'stable, and Louis rose at his approach. Everybody got up 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.