It's a nasty day.

Richelieu had been standing on the threshold of the king’s office for half an hour, not daring to enter. The king was not in a good mood and the cardinal was afraid to anger him even more. Although everyone said that the first minister had equal and almost greater power in France, even he was in awe of the heated Louis. —Your Majesty?.. The monarch, who had been standing at the window for a quarter of an hour, turned around sharply, and his eyes flashed furiously. —You dare to come, after everything that happened?” The king spoke quietly, but the minister knew that hysteria was about to follow this imaginary calm. —What do you want? Have you come to ask for mercy or are you looking for reconciliation, hiding behind “concerns about urgent matters of national importance”? Go away, I don’t want to see you. The Cardinal understood that his usual scene would now begin, during which Louis the Just would scold him for his failures, then begin to remember the cardinal’s old mistakes, complain about life, injustice, problems in the state, threats from neighbors, Anna’s coldness and bad luck in the recent hunt. Nevertheless, he was ready to endure everything. Richelieu knew very well that he should not leave the king in a bad mood. — Sir, I deeply regret what happened… — Enough! — Louis moved away from the window and began to pace around the room, waving his arms along the way. — Enough! I am tired of this! Seeing that Richelieu did not intend to leave, the king went to the window, trying to collect his thoughts. “For the first ten minutes he will stand with his head submissively bowed and a mournful look, then he will begin to apologize, and will end with threats to resign. Ha, how predictable. If the ending of the drama is known in advance, what is the point of watching the whole performance?” The king let out a quiet chuckle. Richelieu, who during this time had managed to move closer to the king’s desk, raised his eyebrows in surprise, waiting to see what would happen next. Louis turned around, giving his “cousin” a charming, full of beauty and grace, cunning and playfulness, mockery, a charming royal smile, peculiar only to him. — Are you surprised? — Louis asked, as if flirtatiously and even flirting. — Are you surprised that the king is able to do without hysterics? —Your Majesty. — I see, don’t continue. Louis approached the cardinal, stopping at arm’s length. He looked at him appraisingly. Chewing his lips and seeming to think, he finally said: — How do you feel about taking a walk through the palace garden?