Page 39 - Third Book of Reading Lessons

38 THIRD BOOK OF
INDISCRETION (-cresh'-), n., rashness. F. indiscretion, om cerno, L., om krino, G., I see, sift, judge, &c.
Rrnw'uLOus, a., laughable, contemptible. L. ridiculus, om rideo, I . laugh.
1. THE duchess of Longueville, whose great quali­ ties merited r her universal esteem, being unable to obtain om Lewis XIV a vour which she par­ ticularly requested, was so sensibly morti ed, as to let ll some expressions of disrespect. The only one who heard her, related them to the ki , who immediately spoke on the subject to the Great Conde, brother to the duchess. The prince assured his m esty, that his sister never could have spoken in those terms if she had not lost her senses. " ell," said Lewis, "I shall believe herself if she say the contrary." The prince accordingly went to his sis­ ter, who owned the entire. He endeavoured in vain, r a whole afternoon, to persuade her, that her usual sincerity, on such an occasion, would be nothing better than ridiculous simplicity; that he, in justify­ ing her in the king's eyes, had believed he spoke truth ; and that, at all events, she would please his
majesty better by denying, than by acknowledgin her ult. "Do you wish," said the duchess, "that I should endeavour to repair one ult by commit­ ting a still greater one, and that not solely against the king? I cannot prevail on myself to deceive him, when he has the generosity to depend on my word. He who betrayed me, acted unkindly, but I will not make him pass r a calumniator, as in reality he is not such."
2. She went the llowing day to the court, threw herself at the king's et, avowed her indiscretion, and assured him that she would much rather own the ult, than be justi ed at the expense of another.