The Little Ball O' Fire; or, the Life and Adventures of John Marston Hall

by G. P. R. James

  CHAPTER XXIV.

  Leaving Monsieur de Villardin to set out with Turenne, for the purposeof reconnoitring the enemy's position, I put myself at the head of mytroop, and advanced towards Virmont. It was the fifth of April, and asbeautiful a spring morning as ever was seen; and, winding away fromthe banks of the Loire, I led the troop through the shady and obscureroads in the neighbourhood of Briare, every inch of which I well knew.The Duke had left the choice of my quarters to myself, as we were notyet sufficiently acquainted with the enemy's dispositions to enablehim to decide for me; but, before quitting head-quarters, I had fixedin my own mind upon the ground that I would select, if I found itpracticable on nearer inspection. I soon learned that it was so, foras we proceeded I met several peasants on the road, from whose reportI was convinced that the post I proposed to take up was sufficientlyremoved from the enemy's line to permit of my occupying it with littlerisk. Without further hesitation, then, I advanced to the top of thehill above Virmont, and entered the village which I had already fixedupon for my quarters. The hamlet itself was situated in the midst of agrove of tall trees, upon the slope of the hill looking towardsBriare; but, on the other side of the highway, commanding a view downinto the valley on the side of Virmont and Montargis, was placed alittle auberge, at which we had frequently paused upon our huntingexpeditions, and to the landlord of which I was consequently wellknown. The enemy's extreme outpost was, as I have said, at Virmont,with the exception of a few cravattes thrown forward to a farm-houseby the side of the river. Thus the village that I occupied, being onthe other side of the hill, was out of sight of any of their quarters,while the whole ground covered by their avant-garde could be seen fromthe back window and garden of the little auberge at which I took up myabode. The grove of trees already mentioned hid the village itselffrom Briare: but I had remarked, as we came, that a windmill, detachedfrom the rest of the houses, was clearly to be seen at thehead-quarters of Monsieur de Turenne.

  The landlord of the inn was evidently delighted to see me, as heexpected every hour to be put under contribution by the enemy; and hesoon gave me a complete insight into all their movements since theirarrival at Montargis. He set my mind at ease, too, in regard to thehousehold at the ch?teau, assuring me that the officer who commandedat the village of Virmont had not suffered his men to commit anyexcess, nor even to penetrate within the walls of the park. All thiswas very satisfactory; but, of course, I determined to follow exactlythe orders of Monsieur de Villardin; and, sending down a flag oftruce, I demanded an interview with the commandant in the village.This he immediately granted, and riding down with two or three men, Imet him in one of the meadows, by the side of a stream, across whichour conversation was carried on. Explaining to him that it was theobject of Monsieur de Villardin to remove his daughter and householdto a place of greater security, I asked him, for courtesy's sake, topermit me to carry that purpose into effect.

  To this he at once replied, that having the pleasure of being slightlyacquainted with Monsieur de Villardin, he should be delighted to givehim any proof of his high consideration and respect. He added, that Ishould be at liberty to pass the river with a serjeant's guard, if Ithought it necessary, in order to escort the young lady to Briare orGien.

  As it was now near five o'clock, however, it was too late to takeadvantage of his offer that evening, and the officer charged himselfto communicate to Father Ferdinand that I would be at the ch?teau thenext morning, in order to guard himself and his charge to a place ofsecurity. Some farther conversation ensued in regard to the hour; and,in the midst of it, a horseman, followed by several attendants, cameup at full speed, to communicate something to the officer with whom Ihad been speaking. The new comer sprang to the ground at once, and,amidst feathers, and plumes, and lace, and embroidery, I recognisedimmediately my old enemy Gaspard de Belleville. I saw that hisremembrance of me was not less quick, but, as he turned his backtowards me, and seemed desirous of avoiding every appearance ofrecognition, I assumed an air of perfect unconsciousness, and, biddingthe officer adieu, with many thanks for his courtesy and politeness, Imounted my horse and again rode up the hill. The distance was abouttwo miles, and almost all the farmers who occupied the ground from theriver to the village were either tenants or vassals of Monsieur deVillardin and Monsieur Loris, and consequently completely at mycommand.

  At each of the farm-houses, as I went, I paused for a few minutes,and, explaining to the farmers the necessity of keeping an acute watchupon the enemy, I made them promise that in case they saw, during thenight, any movement in advance, they would each, one after another,set fire to a pile of brushwood in their court-yard; and, for thepurpose of rendering our intelligence more secure, two or three ofthose in the immediate vicinity of the river agreed to take it byturns each night to sit up and mark the motions of the adverse force.On my arrival at the village, also, I rode directly to the mill, whichluckily proved to be built of stone, with a little sort of platformnear the top, by means of which the miller reached and regulated thesails. Much to his surprise, and somewhat to his consternation, Icaused this little parapet to be loaded with brushwood, and then,explaining to him that it might be necessary to set fire to the pile,I told him to do his best to prevent the building itself from catchingfire, in the event of our being compelled to use his mill as a standfor our beacon. Leaving half a dozen men to give him assistance inremoving the sails and everything combustible from the neighbourhoodof the platform, I returned to the little inn, and wrote a letter toMonsieur de Villardin, telling him what I had done, and informing himthat if he saw my beacon lighted on the mill, he might be sure thatthe enemy were making some decided movement, preparatory to an attackupon the royal army. This I instantly sealed and sent off--though notwithout letting the Duke know that I had seen Gaspard de Belleville atthe enemy's outpost; but leaving him to draw his own deductions.

  Although these precautions might be very well justified by the generalcircumstances of the case, I confess that I should not have been soprudent as to take them, had no particular suspicion been superadded;but the simple fact of the appearance of Gaspard at the adverseavant-garde had set my mind upon forming a train of conclusions, whichI shall now state, and which, though wild enough in themselves,ultimately proved correct. I have before said, that on being sent toBordeaux by Monsieur de Villardin, the page, at his lord'ssolicitation, had received a commission in the regiment of the Duke deBouillon. That regiment, officers and soldiers, had afterwards goneover to the Prince de Cond?, and the last that we had heard of Gaspardde Belleville was, that he had gained considerable favour with thePrince, and had distinguished himself highly in his service during therevolt in Guienne. Every one believed that Cond? was still in thatprovince, hemmed in by the Count de Harcourt and the Mar?chal deGramont. But Gaspard de Belleville, who was not the brightest geniusthat ever lived, had contrived to effect his passage through theforces of Harcourt and Gramont, and had joined the army of the Dukesof Beaufort and Nemours. Where he could pass, I thought, surely Cond?could pass also; and I asked myself if there were not a thousandreasons for supposing he would make the attempt, if the enterprisewere feasible. He could do little or nothing in Guienne--the Dukes ofNemours and Beaufort were wasting their time, and ruining a fine armyby their dissensions--no one could put an end to those disputes butCond?, and if he could but contrive to join their force, instead ofbeing cooped up in a distant corner of the kingdom, without power toact, he would be at the head of a superior force, and interposed in anadvantageous position between the capital and the royal army. Thus Ithought there was every inducement for him to make the attempt; thatit might be made with success was proved by the appearance of Gaspardde Belleville; and I doubted not that the great Cond? himself was bythis time at the head of the troops opposed to us. The next conclusionwas, that if he really were so, we should not be long without havingreason to be quite certain of his presence; and such were the motivesthat induced me to take the precautions I have related.

  Nay, more; s
o strong was the impression upon my mind that many hourswould not elapse before we should have cause for activity andexertion, that I would not take off my own clothes; but, after havingsuffered the horses to rest for five or six hours, I ordered them tobe again saddled towards nine o'clock, and, placing a sentry at theend of the garden, I lay down for an hour or two on the table in theinn kitchen, the door of which was left open, that I might hear thefirst alarm. Everything remained quiet, however, till midnight, whenthe sentry paused by the door to inform me that he had seen somelights moving through the wood in the direction of Montargis. Iinstantly sprang up and went out into the garden: but the lights haddisappeared; and though I gazed out for several minutes, I could seenothing to confirm the soldier's account. As I was about to turn away,I heard a dull sort of sound, coming up from the valley; and themoment afterwards a small spot of light appeared in the direction ofthe farm-house nearest to the stream. In a moment it grew larger,increased into a blaze, my other watchers took up the signal, fireafter fire blazed up along the side of the hill, and, ordering thebeacon on the mill to be instantly fired, I commanded the men to mountand draw out upon the high road, while I went down to reconnoitre whatwas passing in the valley. Scarcely had I taken a dozen steps in thatdirection, however, when one of the farmers on whom I could dependcame up in breathless haste, to inform me that the avant-garde of theenemy had marched out of the village, and were taking their way downthe course of the stream. Another large body, he said, was advancingby the high road in the same direction; and, as I doubted not now thatthe lights which the sentry had seen towards the north-west had been athird division following the road from Ch?tillon, it seemed clear thatthe enemy's whole force were advancing upon the quarters of theMar?chal d'Hocquincourt at Bl?nau. Instantly sending off a trooperwith this intelligence to Monsieur de Turenne, and another to Monsieurd'Hocquincourt with the same news--which last courier, by the way, Ichose because he was famous for speed, I prepared to lead my troopinto the valley, in order to take advantage of anything that mightoccur, rather choosing to risk a little without orders than to remainin inactivity. When I had proceeded half-way down a steep and narrowlane, which conducted directly towards one of the gates of the park, Icaught a glimpse of a large body of the enemy winding over a hill,which lay flat and dark against the sky, now faintly lighted by thebeams of the rising moon. From what I saw, I concluded that it wastheir rear-guard which was thus accidentally exposed to my sight; butthe moment after, a dull reddish colour began to tinge the clouds,just above the ch?teau of Virmont, growing brighter and brighter everymoment, with a sort of flickering reflection, which showed that somelarge mass of buildings was on fire in that direction. The trees ofthe park prevented us from seeing what was the precise cause; but,filled with apprehension in regard to Mademoiselle de Villardin andgood Father Ferdinand, I hurried our advance as much as the nature ofthe ground would admit, forded the river opposite the park, and,forcing the gate, which was locked, soon found myself in one of thealleys that led directly to the ch?teau.

  The light we had seen no longer wanted any explanation. Through thelong perspective of the trees I saw the house and all its offices inone general blaze, while on the terrace, in front of the ch?teau, asmall body of infantry appeared, drawn up in military array,contemplating the spectacle which their own hands had produced. Wewere at such a distance, and the noise in the neighbourhood of theburning building was so great, that the enemy neither saw nor heardour first entrance into the park, although the bright light in whichthey stood enabled us to remark their movements as well as if it hadbeen day. I had at this time about eighty men with me, almost everyone of them born in the neighbourhood; and well knowing what are thefeelings of those who see the flame of warfare brought to their ownhomestead, I merely said, "Now, my men, if you have the feelings ofmen, follow me, to avenge your lord and your commander. You, Bourdon,lead your men round by the alley on the left, where they will not seeyou; I will take round by the right; and when we get to the slopingground which leads up to the terrace, let us charge them on bothflanks, and drive them into the flames they have kindled."

  This plan was executed as soon as proposed. Bourdon, my lieutenant,led one half of the troop to the left of the terrace, at the samemoment that I appeared on the other side; and though the enemy had bythis time become aware of our approach, and received us with a severefire of musketry, we charged them with all the determination of hatredand revenge, and cut them down almost to a man. At that moment,however, an event occurred, which, in the passion and heat of thecircumstances, I had not at all anticipated. A much larger body ofinfantry than that which had occupied the terrace drew out from thecourt behind, and I had just time to recognise in their commander myold enemy, Gaspard de Belleville, when the word was given to fire. Tenor twelve of my men dropped round about me in a moment; a violent blowseemed to strike my right shoulder, and with a strange feeling offaintness I fell headlong from my horse. I made one ineffectual effortto rise; but as I did so, the terrace, the park, the conflict that wasstill going on, and the burning ch?teau, swam round and round beforemy eyes; the feeling of faint sickness increased more and more, and inanother instant complete forgetfulness of everything came over me.Nearly two hours must have passed as I lay in this state; andwhen I recovered my senses, I found myself cast carelessly upon abaggage-wagon, stiff, bruised, and in great pain, though a number ofbandages round my neck and shoulders showed me that I had been tendedwith some degree of care. It was still night, but there was a slighttinge of grey in the sky, which spoke that morning was not fardistant, and by the noise of other wagons and the tramp of marchingmen, I judged that I was carried along with a retreating army. In thefront part of the wagon, at a very short distance from me, sat afemale figure, the countenance of which I could not distinguish in thedarkness; but a groan breaking from my lips, as the jolts of thevehicle gave me a degree of agony indescribable, caused her toapproach and take my head in her lap, adding a few words of comfort.The voice I recognised at once as that of Suzette, who had been the_servante_ of Madame de Villardin; but it was so changed in its tone, solow and sad, that I was almost led to doubt whether my ear had notdeceived me. A feeling of abhorrence towards the woman--excitedcertainly more by my suspicions than by my knowledge--would have mademe shrink from her, had it been possible. So weak, however, had Ibecome, that I could neither move hand nor foot, and the pain of theattempt only called another groan from my bosom, which drew herattention still more towards me. Whether she had any particular motivein the care she took of me, or whether it sprung alone from thattender-heartedness which even the worst of women feel on beholdingsuffering and distress, of course I could not tell; but to do her butjustice, she certainly tended me most kindly, and just as day wasbreaking, we found ourselves at the little town of Ch?teau Renard.Here she descended from the wagon, and was giving directions to thedrivers to lift me gently into a little auberge, when Gaspard deBelleville himself, riding up at full speed, caught her by theshoulder, and giving her a rude shake, exclaimed, "Get up!--get up!You are not going to halt here!"--and then turning to the wagoners, hecursed them brutally for having paused at all, ordering them to makeall speed onward towards Champagne.

  "What in the devil's name have you there?" he exclaimed, pointingtowards me, whose face he could not very well see.

  "Only a wounded officer," replied Suzette.

  "And what business has a wounded officer on your wagon?" cried he,sharply; "but get up, get up, and lose no time;" and riding on to thewagons which had preceded us, and which had likewise halted, heapparently gave more particular orders, and then galloped back,calling to Suzette as he passed to make the best of her way to Marou,and wait his coming there.

  As I had never heard of Marou in my life, I was of course at a loss toknow in what direction I was about to be borne; but, to tell thetruth, in the state of feebleness and pain in which I then was, Icared so little what became of me, that I did not give the matter asecond thought. The wagon rolled on; but at a little village, aboutfive m
iles farther on, we were obliged to pause till fresh horsescould be procured; and as this was not to be done without compulsion,a good deal of time was lost, while, lying on the top of the packageswith which the vehicle was loaded, wounded, exhausted, and feverish, Isuffered more than it is possible to describe. It luckily happenedthat the sky was dull and cloudy; for had it been one of those hotoppressive days which are sometimes met with in April, I do not thinkI should have been alive at night. Suzette, however, was kinder than Iimagined she could have been: brought me drink several times toassuage the burning thirst that now consumed me, assured me thatbefore night I should have a surgeon to dress my wounds, and did allin her power to keep up my spirits and to soothe my pain. A change hadapparently taken place in her feelings since last I had beheld her,and a change had also taken place in her appearance, for I saw--andremembered afterwards, though it made but little impression on my mindat the time--that her dress was very different from that in which shehad appeared in Bordeaux; and, indeed, the only mode of conveyancewhich was assigned to her would have rendered any other apparel thanthat of the simplest kind both ridiculous and cumbersome.

  Through the whole of that day we travelled on, accompanied, as itappeared to me, by a small party of horse; but, nevertheless, Gaspardde Belleville did not again make his appearance, and towards night wehalted at a village near Joigny. Here a surgeon was procured for me,who, though none of the best, contrived to extract the ball out of myside, after putting me to terrible torture for nearly half an hour.The relief, however, that I experienced was immediate; and the woundbeing properly dressed, I fell sound asleep, even before I was removedfrom the table on which the operation had been performed. The nextmorning early I found Suzette again by the side of the straw-bed onwhich I was stretched; and by this time I had recovered sufficientstrength to ask her what had become of Father Ferdinand andMademoiselle de Villardin, when the ch?teau of Virmont had beenburned. She replied, that she could not tell, as she had not come uptill afterwards; and she added, at the same time, an injunction not totrouble myself about other people, but to keep as quiet ascircumstances would permit, out of consideration for myself.

  This warning was uttered with a touch of that flippancy which had beenher characteristic while in the service of Madame de Villardin, but itwas the only remaining trait of the kind that I now remarked. It wassufficient, however, to make me turn from her again in some degree ofdisgust, by awakening all the memories of the past; but she did notseem to perceive any emotion of the sort, and the party being oncemore prepared to set out, I was again placed on the wagon, though apile of straw had been spread to form a sort of bed for me on the topof the packages, and a piece of canvas had been drawn across as anawning for my head. Another day's journey brought us about twentymiles further in Champagne, and towards four o'clock, the wagon inwhich I was placed stopped at the turning of a cross-road, near whichwas a farmhouse. A number of the peasants were called up to the sideof the vehicle; and, under the directions of Suzette, several of thepackages which it contained were carried down the road. A couple ofplanks were then procured, and, being tied together, I was placedthereon, and lifted up from the ground by four stout men, whoproceeded to bear me in the direction which those who carried thebaggage had already taken. At the distance of about a mile and a halffrom the high road we came to a house, which, though distinguishablein every respect from a farm, did not at all deserve the name of ach?teau. It was, indeed, one of those dwellings which, at that time,were commonly called in France a _gentilhommi?re_, and which weregenerally inhabited by persons of gentle birth but small fortunes,who, after having served in the army the customary five or six years,retired to fit their younger children for becoming lawyers, abb?s, andsoldiers of fortune, while the heir to the estate prepared to treadexactly in his father's footsteps, and follow the same laudable andquiet path.

  Up the steps of this building was I carried by my sturdy bearers, andin the hall I found Suzette, who had preceded us by some minutes,giving orders for my accommodation to two or three servants, male andfemale, who called her Madame, and acknowledged her commands as thoseof their mistress. Carried into a neat small chamber on the groundfloor, I was undressed by the hands of the lacquey, and put to bed. Ina few hours more a surgeon visited me, and I saw no one else buthimself and the servant for two or three days, except when, once everymorning, Suzette visited my bed-side, asked briefly whether I wasgetting better, and left me as soon as I had replied.

  On the fourth day, however, when she appeared, she sat down by mybed-side, and, instead of addressing me in the usual hurried manner,she paused thoughtfully, and looked anxiously in my face, even beforeshe inquired after my health. Her whole manner, indeed, was absent andagitated; and after two or three remarks on indifferent subjects, shesaid, abruptly, "I have something to tell you, Monsieur Hall, which_must_ be told, and which _shall_ be told, though I had intended to waitfor two or three days longer, till you were well enough to hear it,and I had got courage enough to tell it; but he is coming hometo-morrow, and heaven knows, if I do not tell it now, whether I shallever be permitted to tell it at all."

  As there was much that she had in her power to communicate which Iwould have given my right hand to hear, I assured her that I was quitewell enough to attend to and remember everything she might say. Shehesitated, however, long, although it was evident that it was thequestion, how to tell her tale, not any doubt in regard to telling it,that embarrassed her; and after beginning and breaking off at leasttwenty times, she at length summoned courage, and proceeded with herstory as follows:--

  "SUZETTE'S CONFESSION.

  "I must make what I have to say a sort of history," she said, "inorder that you may understand me clearly. In my early life you, ofcourse, would find no manner of interest, and I shall therefore onlytell you, as some excuse for much that happened after, that both myparents died young, and left me, before my education had commenced, tothe care of a brother, who, though a daring, clever, courageous youngman, was wild, obstinate, and headstrong himself, and, therefore, butlittle fitted to guide or direct me. He served early in variouscapacities in the navy; but as he never thought of saving anythingwhich might have put us in a better station in life, the best that hecould do for me was to fit me for the station of waiting-woman to alady of high rank, and to obtain for me that situation in the familyof Madame de Villardin. I followed my mistress to Paris, where Ilearnt from other women in the same situation all that is bad andfoolish in the character of a Parisian soubrette, and added a vastquantity of conceit and obstinacy of my own. My mistress was gay andlight, but in those respects she was not more so than every otherwoman in Paris, while, at the same time, she differed from all of themin never suffering herself to believe that it was possible to wrongher husband, even by a thought. This purity of mind, however, whichshould have made me admire and love her, had, I am sorry to say, quitethe contrary effect. Almost every other suivante with whom I wasacquainted in Paris was the confidante of her mistress, and thedepositary of a number of secrets which would not have well suited thepublic eye. I had learned, too, from the femme-de-chambre of Madame deMontbazon and several others, that a woman was never sure of herplace, secure of her perquisites, or, in short, was half so welltreated, as when her mistress was engaged in some affair which puther, in a degree, into the power of her soubrette. Thus, thosequalities in Madame de Villardin which best entitled her to respectand affection, produced quite a different result with me. I confess,too, that I often did my best, as far as I could, without ruiningmyself in her opinion, to lead her to follow the example set her by somany of her friends and acquaintances; but though at first this wouldhave appeared an easy task, from her apparent thoughtlessness andgreat love of admiration, yet I found that the endeavour was in vain,and I soon learned that if I risked any bold counsel of the kind, Ishould soon be dismissed in disgrace.

  "About that time Monsieur de Belleville, the only son of the gentlemanto whom this property then belonged, was admitted, as a great favou
r,amongst the pages of Monsieur de Villardin. He was but fifteen, and Iwas twenty; he was the son of a gentleman, I of the class bourgeoise;but, notwithstanding all these obstacles, I determined, from themoment that he entered the family, to make it my business so tocaptivate him, as to relieve myself from a situation that I detestedby becoming his wife. To obtain this end there were few things that Iwould not have done, and I soon found that, thanks to his naturaldisposition and my own address, I was very likely to succeed, as soonas Monsieur de Villardin obtained for him that commission which it wasunderstood he was to receive at the age of seventeen or eighteen.

  "Such was the state of things when you entered the dwelling ofMonsieur de Villardin, and some quarrel took place between you andGaspard, which ended in his conceiving a hatred for you, which neverwas and never will be quenched. He, of course, communicated his hatredto me, and more than one scheme did we form between us, for thepurpose of compelling you to quit the dwelling that we inhabited. Thiswas the extent of our design at first, but it soon spread out to baserand more criminal purposes, which, for motives that I may hereafterexplain, I am now about to reveal to you fully. The high estimation inwhich you were held by Monsieur de Villardin, of course acted uponGaspard in adding envy to dislike; but, before two months were over,he found an opportunity of gratifying both, which he did not fail toseize. You communicated, one day, it seems, to Monsieur de Villardinin his presence, that you had rescued a man from the gallows, and,without well knowing whether the consequence would be your own deathin place of the malefactor, or your imprisonment in the Bastile forlife, he found means of informing against you that very night, and hadyou not been promptly sent from Paris, you would have been arrestedthe next morning.

  "About that time the Count de Mesnil first began to visit at the hotelof Monsieur de Villardin, and I soon saw that regard for his friendwas rapidly giving place to admiration for his friend's wife; and, ofcourse, I had no objection to promote his views, though I perceivedfrom the first that Madame de Villardin looked upon him with, ifanything, less complacency than she did upon the other gentlemen whofrequented our house. As I knew, however, that the estates of Monsieurde Mesnil were in the immediate vicinity of those belonging toMonsieur de Villardin in Brittany, and as my brother, whom I was veryanxious to see, and whom I truly loved, was in that province, Idetermined to try whether I could not bring about a removal of thewhole family thither; and, taking advantage of Monsieur de Villardin'sjealousy, which I had long marked as an engine to be made use of incase of necessity, I contrived by a few well directed hints and wordsto make him quit Paris in haste, and proceed to the Pr?s Vall?e. Hisjealousy, indeed, went farther than I had intended; and he was foolishenough to give way to a vehement fit of passion with his wife, whichinflicted the first deep and painful stroke upon her domestichappiness. Although I had not intended this, I confess it did not giveme any great pain, for I sincerely disliked my mistress, whileaffecting to be very much attached to her. In the meanwhile, thehatred of Gaspard towards you increased rather than diminished, aswell as his passion for myself, which had, by this time, become asardent as I could desire it. Some of our love meetings, however, inthe woods of the Pr?s Vall?e had, as it seemed, been observed by someone, who communicated the facts to the Duchess. She immediately spoketo me upon the subject, and that in too severe a manner to beforgotten or forgiven by one of my disposition. On her accusing me oflightness of conduct towards a boy like Gaspard, I replied, 'What, ifhe choose to marry me?' But this only called down upon me a moresevere proof; and she pointed out the difference of age and station insuch a tone as made my blood boil, adding, that if ever I were seenwalking with him again, she would instantly communicate the wholeaffair to Monsieur de Villardin, and at once dismiss me from herservice. Of all this I, of course, informed Gaspard, and our prejudiceagainst you led us to conclude, though I now know that we did soerroneously, that you had acted as a spy upon our conduct. Theconsequence was, that we determined upon a plan, the object of whichwas, at once to revenge ourselves upon you and upon my mistress. Imust not paint myself or him, however, in worse colours than wedeserve, and I must say that we neither of us contemplated the fullextent of evil that was likely to ensue from the very designs that weformed. Neither Gaspard nor myself had ever received any strict orpowerful principles, and, therefore, much that was really wrong we didnot regard as any evil, while that which we really did know to beimproper, our passions induced us to undertake at all risks. The planwhich we formed I will now tell you. But you are fatigued," she added;"and the surgeon warned me to keep you from all conversation. I amobliged, indeed, to disobey his directions, for I shall have no otheropportunity than that afforded me by to-day, to relate to you eventswhich you must promise me faithfully to recapitulate, word for word,as far as you can remember, to Monsieur de Villardin. However, to-dayis still ours, and as you are now fatigued, I will leave you for acouple of hours, and finish my story when I return."

  I would fain have persuaded her to conclude it at once, andendeavoured to make her believe that I was really not fatigued; but Irather imagine that my appearance contradicted the assertion, and,adhering to her determination, she left me to repose.