...of the king's speech

"To the great three words I want to add a fourth," he said, "so that henceforth the motto of the French shall be 'Liberty, Equality, Fraternity, and Opportunity.'"

The king his head still down, waited for applause, and when none came he looked out over the thunderstruck gathering. The delegates were hypnotised with horror. They stared glassily back at the king. They seemed scarcely to breathe.

Pippin IV had planned to bow at this point and to leave with dignity on the heels of his applause, but there was only aching silence. Uproar he could have understood. He had even prepared himself for denunciation, but the silence held him and confused him. He took off his pince-nez and mounted it on his forefinger.

[The Short Reign of Pippin IV, Steinbeck, J.]