She advised the king to marry again; he heard her in sobs,
and with much difficulty got out this sentence: '_Non, j'aurai des
maitresses_' To which the queen made no other reply than '_Ah, mon Dieu!
cela n'empeche pas._' 'I know,' says Lord Hervey, in his Memoirs, 'that
this episode will hardly be credited, but it is literally true.'
She then fancied she could sleep. The king kissed her, and wept over
her; yet when she asked for her watch, which hung near the chimney, that
she might give him the seal to take care of, his brutal temper broke
forth. In the midst of his tears he called out, in a loud voice, 'Let it
alone! _mon Dieu!_ the queen has such strange fancies; who should meddle
with your seal? It is as safe there as in my pocket.'
The queen then thought she could sleep, and, in fact, sank to rest. She
felt refreshed on awakening and said, 'I wish it was over; it is only a
reprieve to make me suffer a little longer; I cannot recover, but my
nasty heart will not break yet.' She had an impression that she should
die on a Wednesday: she had, she said, been born on a Wednesday, married
on a Wednesday, crowned on a Wednesday, her first child was born on a
Wednesday, and she had heard of the late king's death on a Wednesday.
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