Foreseeing that some who do not love me will be swift to allege that in the preparation of these memoirs I have set down only such things as redound to my credit, and have suppressed the many experiences not so propitious which fall to the lot of the most sagacious while in power, I take this opportunity of refuting that calumny. For the truth stands so far the other way that my respect for the King's person has led me to omit many things creditable to me; and some, it may be, that place me in a higher light than any I have set down. And not only that: but Ipropose in this very place to narrate the curious details of an adventure wherein I showed to less advantage than usual; and on which I should, were I moved by the petty feelings imputed to me by malice, be absolutely silent.
One day, about a fortnight after the quarrel between the King and the Duchess of Beaufort, which I have described, and which arose, it will be remembered, out of my refusal to pay the christening expenses of her second son on the scale of a child of France, Iwas sitting in my lodgings at St. Germains when Maignan announced that M. de Perrot desired to see me. Knowing Perrot to be one of the most notorious beggars about the court, with an insatiable maw of his own and an endless train of nephews and nieces, I was at first for being employed; but, reflecting that in the crisis in the King's affairs which I saw approaching--and which must, if he pursued his expressed intention of marrying the Duchess, be fraught with infinite danger to the State and himself--the least help might be of the greatest moment, I bade them admit him;privately determining to throw the odium of any refusal upon the overweening influence of Madame de Sourdis, the Duchess's aunt.
Accordingly I met him with civility, and was not surprised when, with his second speech, he brought out the word FAVOUR. But Iwas surprised--for, as I have said, I knew him to be the best practised beggar in the world--to note in his manner some indications of embarrassment and nervousness; which, when I did not immediately assent, increased to a sensible extent.
"It is a very small thing, M. de Rosny," he said, breathing hard.
On that hint I declared my willingness to serve him. "But," Iadded, shrugging my shoulders and speaking in a confidential tone, "no one knows the Court better than you do, M. de Perrot.
You are in all our secrets, and you must be aware that at present--I say nothing of the Duchess, she is a good woman, and devoted to his Majesty--but there are others--""I know," he answered, with a flash of malevolence that did not escape me. "But this is a private favour, M. de Rosny. It is nothing that Madame de Sourdis can desire, either for herself or for others."That aroused my curiosity. Only the week before, Madame de Sourdis had obtained a Hat for her son, and the post of assistant Deputy Comptroller of Buildings for her Groom of the Chambers.
For her niece the Duchess she meditated obtaining nothing less than a crown. I was at pains, therefore, to think of any office, post, or pension that could be beyond the pale of her desires;and in a fit of gaiety I bade M. de Perrot speak out and explain his riddle.
"It is a small thing," he said, with ill-disguised nervousness.
"The King hunts to-morrow."
"Yes," I said.
"And very commonly he rides back in your company, M. le Marquis.""Sometimes," I said; "or with M. d'Epernon. Or, if he is in a mood for scandal, with M. la Varenne or Vitry.""But with you, if you wish it, and care to contrive it so," he persisted, with a cunning look.
I shrugged my shoulders. "Well?" I said, wondering more and more what he would be at.
"I have a house on the farther side of Poissy," he continued.
"And I should take it as a favour, M. de Rosny, if you could induce the King to dismount there to-morrow and take a cup of wine.""That is a very small thing," I said bluntly, wondering much why he had made so great a parade of the matter, and still more why he seemed so ill at ease. "Yet, after such a prelude, if any but a friend of your tried loyalty asked it, I might expect to find Spanish liquorice in the cup.""That is out of the question, in my case," he answered with a slight assumption of offence, which he immediately dropped. "And you say it is a small thing; it is the more easily granted, M. de Rosny.""But the King goes and comes at his pleasure," I replied warily.
"Of course, he might-take it into his head to descend at your house. There would be nothing surprising in such a visit. Ithink that he has paid you one before, M. de Perrot?"He assented eagerly.
"And he may do so," I said, smiling, "to-morrow. But then, again, he may not. The chase may lead him another way; or he may be late in returning; or--in fine, a hundred things may happen."I had no mind to go farther than that; and I supposed that it would satisfy him, and that he would thank me and take his leave.
To my surprise, however, he stood his ground, and even pressed me more than was polite; while his countenance, when I again eluded him, assumed an expression of chagrin and vexation so much in excess of the occasion as to awaken fresh doubts in my mind. But these only the more confirmed me in my resolution to commit myself no farther, especially as he was not a man I loved or could trust; and in the end he had to retire with such comfort as I had already given him.
In itself, and on the surface, the thing seemed to be a trifle, unworthy of the serious consideration of any man. But in so far as it touched the King's person and movements, I was inclined to view it in another light; and this the more, as I still had fresh in my memory the remarkable manner in which Father Cotton, the Jesuit, had given me a warning by a word about a boxwood fire.
After a moment's thought, therefore, I summoned Boisrueil, one of my gentlemen, who had an acknowledged talent for collecting gossip; and I told him in a casual way that M. de Perrot had been with me.
"He has not been at Court for a week," he remarked.
"Indeed?" I said.
