第82章

Onthedayfollowingshecame；Iimmediatelysentto

apprizeM。d’Aiguillon，who，withM。delaVrilliereandthe

chancellor，enteredmyapartmentseretheladyhadhadtimeto

commencethesubjectuponwhichshewastheretospeak。

This

unexpectedappearancedidnotseemtodisconcertherintheleast，

nordidherandordinaryassuranceinanydegree

failher。

Shereproachedmeforhavingintrustedthesecrettoso

manypersons，butherreproofwasutteredwithoutbitterness，and

merelyasifshefearedlestmyindiscretionmightcompromiseour

safety。

Shewasoverwhelmedwithquestions，andthechancellor

interrogatedherwiththekeenestcuriosity；buttoalltheinquiries

puttohersherepliedwithareadinessandcandourwhichsurprised

thewholeparty。

Shewasdesiredtogivethenamesofthose

engagedintheconspiracy，aswellasofhimwhofirstinformed

herofit。

SheansweredthatherownnamewasLorimer，thatshe

wasawidowlivinguponherownproperty。

Asfortheman，her

informant，hewasaSwiss，namedCabert，ofaboutthirtyyearsof

age，andhadlongbeenherintimatefriend:however，theembarrassed

tonewithwhichshepronouncedtheselastwordsleftroomforthe

suspicion，thathehadbeensomethingdearertoherthanafriend。

Shewasthenurgedtogiveupthenamesofthefourparliamentarians，

butsheprotestedthatshehadnotyetbeenabletoprevailon

Caberttoconfidethemtoher，thatshewascompelledtousethe

utmostcircumspectioninherattemptsatdiscoveringthefacts

alreadydisclosed，butflatteredherselfsheshouldyetsucceed

ingainingafullandunreserveddisclosure。

M。deMaupeou

encouragedher，byeverypossibleargument，toneglectnomeans

ofarrivingatsoimportantadiscovery。

Theexaminationover，andthe100，000francsshehaddemanded

giventoher，sheretired，butfollowedatadistancebyanumber

ofspies，whowerecommissionedtowatchherslightestmovement。

Cabert，theSwiss，wasarrestedinafurnishedlodgingheoccupied

inrueSaintRoch，andsentwithoutdelaytoVersailles，where，as

before，M。d’Aiguillonwithhistwocolleagueswaitedinmystudy

toreceiveandquestiontheprisoner。

Cabertwasayoungand

handsomeman，whosecountenanceboreevidentmarksofadissolute

andprofligatelife。

Heconfessed，withoutanydifficulty，that

hisonlymeansofgainingalivelihoodwerederivedfromthe

generosityofafemalefriend，butwhenhewaspresseduponthe

subjectoftheconspiracy，henolongerrepliedwiththesame

candour，butmerelyansweredinshortandimpatientnegatives

themanyquestionsputtohim，accompaniedwithfervent

protestationsofinnocence；adding，thatimplacableenemieshad

fabricatedthewholestory，onlythattheymighthaveanopportunity

ofwreakingtheirvengeance，byimplicatinghiminit。

“Accusenotyourenemies，“criedI，forthefirsttimemingling

intheconversation，“butratherblameyourbenefactress；itis

madameLorimerwhohasdenouncedyou，andfarfromintendingto

harmyoubysodoing，shepurposesdividingwithyouthe100，000

livreswhicharetorewardherdisclosures。“

Ieasilyfound，bythefrowninglooksdirectedtowardsmebythe

threegentlemenpresent，thatIhadbeenguilt