第23章

youtoo，ducdeRichelieu，doyoujointhecryof

thechancellor？“

“Iwouldtearouttheeyesofthesegentlemen，“Iadded，“if

theythoughtdifferentlyfromme。“

“Oh，“saidtheking，laughing，“thispunishmentwouldnotbeone

forM。Maupeou:justiceoughttobeblind:andasforyou，M。de

Richelieu，youhaveyourleft。“

“Whichhehasnoblygained，“Ireplied，“byfightingagainstyour

majesty’senemies，andofwhichhestillcontinuesworthy，bynow

defendingmefrommyfoes。“

“Thisrebellion，“saidtheking，“cannotlast，andIseemyself

compelledtoholda(ajudicialsittingorbed)。“

“AndIsweartoyou，thatIwillreceivenobodyintomineuntilI

havebeenpresented。“

Thissallyamusedtheking，whosaid，“Well，sinceitmustbeso，

youshallbepresented。“

AtthisIleapedontheking’sneck，givingacrywhichmighthave

beenheardbymyrivals。

Afterthat，Iadvancedtothetwo

gentlemenwhohadadvocatedmycausesowell，extendingahandto

each，whichtheytookandkissedwithgreatgallantry。

LouisXVbecamethoughtful，andcontinuedtomutterbetweenhis

teeth，“Iwashmyhandsofit——theywillcryout，theywillclamor，

butitmustbeso。“

Isawthefeelingsoftheking，andtookcare

nottoallowhimtogoawayinthisstate。

WhilstIsoughtto

composehimbymycaresses，theducdeRichelieutoldusoneof

histhousandandoneadventures，whichhetoldsowell。

Iknow

notifitwillpleaseyou，butsuchasitisIshallgiveyouan

abridgmentofit。

“Iwas，youknow，“hebegan，“averygood-looking，averywild

fellow:womenhavenoobjectiontothis。

Iwastravelling，and

inmywaythro’D——，M。，theintendantofthecity，insistedon

mytakingupmyabodeathishouse。

Hisladyaddedherentreaties，

andIconsented。

Imusttellyouthattheladywashandsome。

I

hadpassedthenightwithher；butwhen，onthenextmorning，as

Isoughttogooutofherapartment，Ifoundtheouterdoordouble

lockedandbolted。

Ilookedroundmeonallsides，butfoundno

egress。

WhilstIwaslamentingthiswiththelady’s

chambre>，whowasnearlyasmuchdistressedashermistress，I

sawinadetachedclosetagreatmanymachinescoveredwithpaper，

andallofdifferentshapes。

Oninquiry，Iwasinformedthatthe

followingMondaywasthelady’sbirthday，whichtheywereto

celebratewithfireworks。

Ilookedatthebeautifulfuseesand

brilliantsunswithmuchadmiration。

Suddenly，thinkingofthe

lady’shonorwhichmightbecompromised，Itookalightandset

firetoaRomancandle；inamomentthewholewasinflames，and

everybodytookalarm。

Greatwastheconsternationinthehouse，

whichwasturnedoutofwindows；andintheuproar，thehouse-door

beingbrokenopen，acrowdofpersonsru