rty of speech and the freedom
of the press have made great strides, and the shade of Louis XIV having
lost its terrors, the case of the Iron Mask is freely discussed, and yet
even now, at the end of my life and seventy years after the death of the
king, people are still asking who the Man in the Iron Mask really was.

"This question was one I put to the adorable princess, beloved of the
regent, who inspired in return only aversion and respect, all her love
being given to me. As everyone was persuaded that the regent knew the
name, the course of life, and the cause of the imprisonment of the
masked prisoner, I, being more venturesome in my curiosity than others,
tried through my princess to fathom the secret. She had hitherto
constantly repulsed the advances of the Duc d' Orleans, but as the
ardour of his passion was thereby in no wise abated, the least glimpse
of hope would be sufficient to induce him to grant her everything she
asked; I persuaded her, therefore, to let him understand that if he
would allow her to read the 'Memoires du Masque' which were in his
possession his dearest desires would be fulfilled.

"The Duc d'Orleans had never been known to reveal any secret of state,
being unspeakably circumspect, and having been trained to keep every
confidence inviolable by his preceptor Dubois, so I felt quite certain
that even the princess would fail in her efforts to get a sight of the
memoranda in his possession relative to the birth and rank of the masked
prisoner; but what cannot love, and such an ardent love, induce a man to
do?

"To reward her goodness the regent gave the documents into her hands,
and she forwarded them to me next day, enclosed in a note written in
cipher, which, according to the laws of historical writing, I reproduce
in its entirety, vouching for its authenticity; for the princess always
employed a cipher when she used the language of gallantry, and this note
told me what treaty she had had to sign in order that she might obtain
the documents, and the duke the desire of his heart. The details are not
admissible in serious history, but, borrowing the modest language of the
patriarchal time, I may say that if Jacob, before he obtained possession
of the best beloved of Laban's daughters, was obliged to pay the price
twice over, the regent drove a better bargain than the patriarch. The
note and the memorandum were as follows: "'2. 1. 17. 12. 9. 2. 20. 2. 1.
7. 14 20. 10. 3. 21. 1. 11. 14. 1. 15.