proceed to make a grand display in the Rue Neuve
St. Gilles. The "lady," who played the part of
queen in the travestie got up for the Prince de
Rohan's benefit, had been promised fifteen thousand
francs (six hundred pounds)—handsome
enough terms for one night's performance in a
single scene, had they been adhered to. She
received, however, no more than four thousand
francs.

The evening following that on which the
cardinal was so cleverly duped, young Beugnot, who
was strolling idly about the "quartier" of the
Marais, near to where Madame de la Motte
resided, looked in at the Rue Neuve St. Gilles, on
the chance of finding her at home. He was
told that all the family were out, with the exception
of Mademoiselle Colson, a lively spinster,
and madame's "dame de compagnie:" a woman
wanting neither in wit nor malice, and who
proceeded to inform Beugnot that "their royal
highnesses the count and countess were just
then occupied with some grand project. 'They
pass their time,' said she, 'in secret councils,
to which the first secretary, Villette, is alone
admitted. His reverence the second secretary
(a certain Father Loth, who was madame's
spiritual confessor and man-of-all-work) is
consequently reduced to listening at the door.
He makes three journeys a day to the Palais
Cardinal without guessing a single word of the
treacherous messages they confide to him. The
monk is inconsolable at this, since he is as
curious as an old devotee.' Two hours were thus
passed," says Beugnot, "in thus slandering our
neighbours, and in making guesses and
prophesying, until at last we heard the sound of a
carriage entering the court, and saw descend
from it M. and Madame de la Motte, Villette,
and a woman of about twenty-five years of age:
a blonde, very pretty, and a remarkably fine
figure. The two women were dressed with
elegance, but with simplicity; the men wore
dress-coats, and had the air of having just
returned from some country party. They
talked plenty of nonsense together, laughed,
hummed, and seemed as if they could not
keep their legs stilL The 'unknown' shared
the common mirth, but restrained herself within
due bounds, and displayed a certain timidity.
They took their seats at table, the merriment
continued, it increased, and finally became
noisy. Mademoiselle Colson and I wore dull
and astonished looks, such as one is forced to
put on in the presence of very gay people when
one is ignorant of what they are laughing at.
Meanwhile, the party indulging in this excess
of hilarity seemed inconvenienced by our
presence, as it prevented them from speaking
openly of the subject of their mirth. M. de la
Motte consulted Villette as to whether there
would be any risk in speaking? Villette
replied that he 'did not admit the truth of the
adage that one is betrayed only by one's own
people—in fact,' said he, 'anybody and everybody
were ready to betray you, and discretion—'
Here Madame de la Motte, by whose
side the first secretary was sitting, suddenly put
her hand on his mouth, and said, in an imperative
tone, 'Hold your tongue! M. Beuguot is
too upright a man for your confidence.' I give
her words without changing a syllable. The
compliment would have been a flattering one if
the countess had not been ordinarily in the
habit of using the words 'upright man' and
'fool' as though they were synonymous.

"When the supper had come to an end, I
asked Madame de la Motte to lend me her
horses to take me home. She raised only a
slight difficulty; it was necessary that she
should send home the 'unknown,' and eventually
decided that the one living the furthest off
should put down the other on the way. I
objected to this arrangement, and asked permission
of the lady to conduct her to whatever
quarter she lived in; expressing my regret that,
however distant this might be, it would still be
too near. This woman's countenance had, at
the first glance, caused me that kind of uneasiness
which one feels when one is conscious of
having seen a person before, but cannot
recollect when or where. I addressed several
questions to her on our way, but was unable to
draw anything out of her; either Madame
de la Motte, who had spoken to her in private
before she left, had recommended her to be
discreet with me; or, what seemed more probable,
she had naturally more inclination for holding
her tongue than for talking. I set down my
silent companion in the Rue de Cléry. The
uneasiness I felt in her presence was, I
afterwards called to mind, due to her striking
resemblance to the queen. The lady proved to
be no other than Mademoiselle d'Oliva, and the
mirth of my companions was occasioned by the
complete success of the knavish trick they had
played off, only the night before, in the park of
Versailles upon the Cardinal de Rohan."

                     CHAPTER II.

THE sudden possession of a large sum of
money produced in Madame de la Motte a
strong desire to display herself at Bar-sur-
Aube. A couple of years before, the De la
Mottes had left the place with borrowed money;
now they returned in their own carriage, with
steward, couriers, and saddle-horses, and
actually required a waggon to convey their wardrobe.
The count and countess spent several
weeks at Bar-sur-Aube, gave grand dinner and
supper parties, and discharged all their debts—
with the cardinal's money. M. de la Tour, who
had married De la Motte's sister, at once saw
that there was something wrong, and the countess
quailed beneath his cutting sarcasms.

"I chanced to be alone," says Beugnot,
"with M. de la Tour on the day of Madame de
la Motte's arrival. 'Am I not right a thousand
times,' said he to me, 'when I assert that
Paris contains some of the very worst people
in the world?  in what other place, I ask you,
would this little vixen and her big lanky
husband have been able to obtain by swindling, the
things which they are now displaying before our
astonished eyes? Your good father excepted '
—Beugnot's father, it will be remembered, had
lent the De la Mottes a thousand francs a few