'His dogs would sit in council boards
Like judges in their seats:
We question much which had most sense,
The master or the curs.'
Then what capital stories Charles would tell, as he unbent at night
amid the faithful, though profligate, companions of his exile! He told
his anecdotes, it is true, over and over again, yet they were always
embellished with some fresh touch--like the repetition of a song which
has been encored on the stage. Whether from his inimitable art, or from
his royalty, we leave others to guess, but his stories bore repetition
again and again: they were amusing, and even novel to the very last.
To this seducing court did De Grammont now come. It was a delightful
exchange from the endless ceremonies and punctilios of the region over
which Louis XIV. presided. Wherever Charles was, his palace appeared to
resemble a large hospitable house--sometimes town, sometimes country--in
which every one did as he liked; and where distinctions of rank were
kept up as a matter of convenience, but were only valued on that score.
In other respects, Charles had modelled his court very much on the plan
of that of Louis XIV., which he had admired for its gaiety and spirit.
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