104f MEMOIRS OF A PHYSICIAN". the evening, when the marshal rose, being obliged as Nicole covered her face with her hands, taking care, he said to pay his court to the king at Versailles. [ however, to leave space enough between her fingers In passing through the apartment to take his hat, he i to allow her to observe every look and gesture of met Nicole, who had always something to do wherever I Eichelieu. M. de Eichelieu was. j "You are really adorable!" said the duke, whom My girl," said he, tapping her on the shoulder, "you ' none of these little'tricks could escape; "why am I not " Uit shall see me out. I want yoti to carry a bouquet which Madame de Noailles cut for me in her garden, and which she commissioned me to present to the Countess d'Egmont." Nicole curtsied like the peasant girls in M. Eousseau's comic operas, whereupon the marshal took leave of 'atlier and daughter, exchanged a significant glance with Taverney, made a youthful bow to- Andrée, and retired. With the reader's permission, we wiil leave the baron and Andrée conversing about the fresh mark of favor conferred on Philip, and follow the marshal. By this means we shall know what was his errand at the Eue Saint Claude, where he arrived at such a fearful mo- ment. Eichelieu descended the stairs resting on Nicole's shoulder, and as soon as they were in the garden he stopped, and looking in her face, said ; "Ah, little one ! so we have a lover?" "I, my Lord Marshall" exclaimed Nicole, blushing crimson and retreating a step backwards. " Oh! perhaps you are not called Nicole Legay?" " Yes, my Lord Marshal." " Well, Nicole Legay has a lover." "Oh, indeed!" " Yes, faith ; a certain well-looking rascal, whom she used to meet in the Eue Coq-Heron, and who has fol- lowed her to Versailles." " My Lord Duke, I swear-----" "A sort of exempt, called----- Shall I tell you, child, how Mademoiselle Legay's lover is called?" Nicole's last hope was that the marshal was ignorant of the name of the happy mortal. "Oh, yes, my Lord Marshal 1 tell me, since you have made a beginning." " Who is called M. de Beausire," repeated the mar- shal, "and who, in truth, does not belie his name." Nicole clasped her hands with an affectation of prudery which did not in the least impose on Eiche- lieu. " It seems," said he, " we make appointments with him at Trianon. Peste! in a royal chateau! That is a serious matter. One may be discharged for these freaks, my sweet one; and M. de Sartines sends all young ladies who are discharged from the royal chateau to the Salpétrière." Nicole began to be uneasy. " My Lord," said she, " I swear to you that if M. Beausire boastaof being my lover he is a fool and a villain, for indeed I am innocent." " I shall not contradict you," said Eichelieu. " But have you made appointments with him or not?" " My Lord Duke, a rendezvous is no proof of-----" "Have you or have you not? Answer me." ', 'My Lord-----" "You have. Very well; I do not blame you, my dear child. Besides, I like pretty girls who display their charms, and I liave alwayo assisted them in so doing to the utmost of my power. Only as your friend and protector I warn you." " But have I been seen then?" asked Nicole. " It seems so, since I am aware of it." "My.Lord," said Nicole resolutely, "I have not been seen; it is impossible!" "As to that, I know nothing; but the report is very prevalent, and must tend to fasten attention on your mistress. Now you must be aware that being more the friend of the Taverneys than of the Legays, it is my duty to give the baron a hint." "Oh, my Lord!" exclaimed Nicole, terrified at the turn the conversation was taking, " you will ruin me. Although innocent, I shall be discharged on the mere suspicion." "In that case, my poor child, you shall be discharged at all events, for even now some evil-minded person or other, having taken offence at the rendezvous, inno- cent though they be, has informed Madam-) de Noailles of them." " Madame de Noailles! good Heavens I" "Yes, you see the danger is urgent." Nicole clasped her hands in despair. "It is unfortunate, I am aware," said Eichelieu; " but what the deuce can you do?" " And you, who said just now you were my protector —you who have proven yourself to be such—can you no longer protect me?" asked Nicole with a wheedling cunning, worthy of a woman of thirty. " Yes, pardieu ! lean protect you." "Well, my Lord?" Yes, but I will not." ' "Oh! my Lord Duke." é " Yes I you are pretty. I know that, and your beauti- ful eyes are telling me all sorts of things; but I have lately become rather blind, my poor Nicole, and I no longer understand the language of lovely eyes. Once I would have offered you an asylum in my pavilion of Hanover, but those days are over." "Yet you once before received me there," said Nicole, angrily. " Ah? that is ungrateful in you, Nicole, to reproach me with having taken you there, when I did so to ren- der you a service; for confess that without M. Eafte's assistance, who made you a charming brunette, you would never have entered Trianon, which, after all, perhaps, would have been better than to be dismissed from it now. But why the devil did you give a rendez- vous to M. de Beausire, and at the very gate of the stables too?" "So you know that also?" said Nicole, who saw that she must change her tactics, and place herself at the marshal's discretion. " Parble/u! you see I know it; and Madame de Noail- les too. This very evening you have another appoint- ment." "That is true, my Lord; but on my faith I shall not go." "Ot course, you are warned; but'M. de Beausire is not warned, and he will be seized. Then, as he will not like, of course, to be taken for a thief and be hanged, ar for a spy and be whipped, he will prefer to say- especially as there is no disgrace in confessing it—' Un- hand me ! I am the lover of the pretty Nicole." "My Lord Duke, I will send to warn him." "Impossible, my poor child! By whom could you fifty years younger? No matter. Parbleu! Nicole, I will bring you out of the scrape." " Oh, my Lord! if you do that, my gratitude-----" " I don't want it, Nicole. On the contrary, I shall give you most disinterested assistance." "Oh! how good of you, my Lord; I thank you from the bottom of my heart." "Do not thank me yet; as yet you know nothing. Diable! wait till you hear more." "I will submit to anything, provided Mademoiselle Andrée does not dismiss me." "Ah! then you are very fond of Trianon?" " Very, my Lord." " Well, Nicole, in the very first place, get rid of this feeling." " But why so, if I am not discovered, my Lord." " Whether you are discovered or not, you must leave Trianon." "Oh! why?" " I shall tell you ; because if Madame de Noailles has found you out, no one, not even the king, could save you." "Ah! if I could only see the kingl" " In the second placet even if you are not found out, I myself should be the means of dismissing you." "You?" "Immediately." " In truth, my Lord Marshal, I do not understand you." " It is as I have had the honor of telling you." "And that is your protection, is it?" "If you do not wish for it, there is yet time; you have only to say the word, Nicole." "Oh, yes! my Lord, on the contrary, I do wish for it." "And I will grant it." "Well?!' " Well, this is what I will do for you. Hark ye[ " "Speak, my Lord." "Instead of getting you discharged, and perhaps im- prisoned, I willmake you rich and free." "Eich and free?" "Yes." " And what must I do in order to be rich and free?" " Almost nothing." "But what-----?" " What I am about to tell you." "Is it difficult?" " Mere chila s play." "Then." said Nicole, "there is something to do?" send ! By him who betrayed you, perhaps? "Alas! that is true," said Nicole, feigning despair. "What a becoming thing remorse is!" exclaimed Biohelieu. " Ah, Dame ! you know the motto of this world of ours, Nicole—nothing for nothing !" "And that which I have to do, is it for myself or for you?" The duke looked at Nicole. '.' Tudieu 1" said he, "the little masker, how cunning she is I" "Well, finish, my Lord Duke." "Well! it is for yourself," replied he, boldly. " Ah !" said Nicole, who, perceiving that the marshal bad need of her services, already feared .him no longer, while her ingenious brain was busy endeavoring to dis- cover the truth among the windings which, from habit, her companion always used; " what shall I do for my- self, my Lord Duke?" "This: M. de Beausire comes at half-past eleven, does he not?" "Yes, my Lord Marshal, that is his hour." "It is now ten minutes past seven." "That is also true." " If I say the word he will be arrested." . " Yes, but you will not say it." "No. You will go to him and tell him—but in the first place, Nicole, do you love this young man?" "Why, I have given him a rendezvous. " That is no reason you may wish to. marry him. Women take such-strange caprices." Nicole burst into a loud laugh. "Marry him!" said she. "Hal ha! ha!" Eichelieu was astounded ; he had not, even at court, met many women of this stamp. "Well," said he, "so be it. You do not wish to marry him; but in that case you love him. So much the bet- ter." "Agreed! I love M. de Beausire. Let us take that for granted, my Lord, and proceed !" " Peste ! what strides you make!" " Of course. You may readily imagine that I am anxious to know what remains for me to do." " In the first place, since you love him, you must fly with him." "Dame! if you wish it particularly, I suppose I must." "Oh ! I wish nothing about it—not so fast, little one. " Nicole saw that she was going too far, and that as yet she had neither the secret nor the money of her cunning opponent. She stooped, therefore, only to rise again afterwards. "My Lord," said she, "I await ybiir orders." "Well! you must go to M. Beausire, and saytohm; ' We are discovered ; but I have a protector who will save you from Saint Lazarus, and me from the Salpe- triere. Let us fly.'" Nicole looked dc Eichelieu. "Fly?" repeated she. Eichelieu understood her cunning and expressive look. " Parbleu !" said he, " of course 1 shall pay the ex- penses." "'Nicole asked for no farther explanation. Itjwas plain that she must know all since she was to be paid. The marshal saw what an important point Nicole had gained, and hastened to say all he had to say, just as a gambler is eager to pay when he has lost, in order to have the disagreeable task of paying over. "Do you know what you are thinking of, Nicole?" said he. "Faith, no," replied the girl; "but 1 suppose you, my Lord Marshal, who know so many things, can guess it." "Nicole," he replied, "you were reflecting that if you fled, your mistress, might require you during the night, and not finding you, might give the alarm, which would expose you to the risk of being overtaken and seized. "No," said Nicole. "I was not thinking of, that, be- cause, after all, my Lord, I think I would prefer re- maining here." " But if M. de Beausire is taken?" "Well, 1 cannot help it." " But if he confess? " Let him confess." "Ah!" said Eichelieu, beginning to be uneasy, in that case, you are lost." " No; for Maelemoiselle Andrée is kindness itself, find as she loves me at heart, she will speak to the kins for me; so, even if M. de Beausire is punished, I shalt not share his punishment." The marshal bit his lip. " Nicole," said he, " I tell you you are a fool. Made- moiselle Andrée is not on such good terms with the king, and I will have you arrested immediately if you do not listen to me as I wish. Do you hear, you little viper?" Oh ! my Lord, my ears do not serve me so ill. I hear you, but I form my own conclusions." "Good. Then you will go at once and arrange your plan of flight with M. de Beausire." " But how do you imagine, my Lord Marshal, that I shall expose myself to the risk of flight, when yon tell me yourself that Mademoiselle might awake, might ask for me, give the alarm, and a great deal more which I know not, but which you, my Lord, who are a man of experience, must have foreseen?" Eichelieu bit his lip again, but this time more deeply than before. " Well, minion, if I have thought of these conse- quences, I have also thought of how to avoid them." "And how will you manage to prevent mademoiselle from calling me?" " By preventing her awaking." " Bah ! she awakes ten times during the night." "Then she has the same malady that I have," said Eichelieu, calmly. "The same that you have?" said Nicole,-laughing. " Yes. I also awake ten times every night, only I have a remedy for this sleeplessness. She must use the same remedy, or if not, you will do it for her." " What do you mean, my Lord?" " What does your mistress take in the evening before she goes to bed?" " What does she take?" " Yes, it is the fashion now to drink something in the evening. Some take orangeade or lemonade, others take eau-de-Melisse, others-----" "Mademoiselle drinks only a glass of pure water in the evening before going to bed ; sometimes sweetened and -flavored with orange-water if her nerves are- weak." "Ah! excellent 1" said Eichelieu, "just as I do my- self. My remedy will suit her admirably. " "How so?" " I pour one drop of a certain liquid in my beverage, and I then never wake all night, "j Nicole tasked her brain to discover to what end the marshal's diplomacy tended. "You do not answer," said he. "I was just thinking that mademoiselle has not your cordial." " I will give you some." "Ah!" thought Nicole, seeing at last a'ray of light through the darkness. "You must put two drops of it in your mistress* glass—neitheT more nor less, remember—and she will sleep soundly, so that she will not call you, and conse- quently you will gain time." "Oh ! if that is all, it is very simple." "You will give her'the two drops?" "Certainly." " You promise me?" " I presume it is for my own interest to do so ; besides-. I will lock the door so carefully.-----" "By no means," said Eichelieu, hastily. "That is exactly what you must not do ; on the contrary, you must leave her room door open." "Ah!"exclaimed Nicole, with suppressed joy. She now understood all. Eichelieu saw it plainly. " Is that all?" inquired she. " Absolutely all. Now you may go and tell your ex- empt to pack up his trunks." " "Unfortunately, Sir, it would be useless to tell him to fill his purse." " You know that is my affair." " Yes, I remember your Lordship was kind enough to say-----" "Come, Nicole, how much do you want?" "For what?" " For pouring in the two drops of water.''; "For that, nothing, my Lord, since you assure mefl do so for my own interest; it would not be just that you should pay me for attending to my own interest. But for leaving mademoiselle's door open—ah ! for that I warn you I must have a good round sum." "Atone word, how much?" " I must have twenty thousand francs, my Lord." Richelieu started. "Nicole," said he, with a sigh," "you will m*k» some figure in the world." "Iought to do so. my Lord, for I begin to believe now that I shall attract attention. But with your twenty thousand francs we shall smooth difficulties," "Go and warn M Beausire. Nicole; and when you return, I will give you the money." " My Lord, M. Beausire is ve'ry incredulous, and he will not believe what I tell him unless I can give him proofs. " Eichelieu pulled out a handful of bank-notes from hie pocket. "Here is something on account," said he; "in this purse there are a hundred double louis." " Your Lordship will settle the account in full, and give me the balance then, when I have spoken to M. Beausire?" " No, pardieu ! I will settle it on the spot You are a careful girl, Nicole; it will bring you luck." And Eichelieu handed her the promised sum. partly in bank-notes, and partly in louis-d'ors and half-louis. "There!" said he, "is that right?" "I think so," said Nicole; "and now, my Lord, I want only the principal thing." " The cordial?" "Yes; of course your Lordship has a bottle?" " I have my own, which I always carry about with me." Nicole smiled. "And then," said she, "Trianon is locked night, and I have not a key." " But I have one, as first gentleman tf the cham- ber." " Ah! indeed!" "Here it is." " How fortunate all this is!" said Nicole; "it is one every