at
liberty; and this last opinion was unanimously concurred in.

All the delays greatly irritated me, and rendered my impatience to
witness the termination of the affair greater than it had ever been. The
stranger had promised to make her appearance on the following day; it
passed away, however, without my hearing anything of her. On the day
following she came; I immediately sent to apprize M. d'Aiguillon, who,
with M. de la Vrilliere and the chancellor, entered my apartments ere
the lady had had time to commence the subject upon which she was there
to speak. This unexpected appearance did not seem to disconcert her in
the least, nor did her _sang-froid_ and ordinary assurance in any degree
fail her. She reproached me for having intrusted the secret to so many
persons, but her reproof was uttered without bitterness, and merely as
if she feared lest my indiscretion might compromise our safety. She was
overwhelmed with questions, and the chancellor interrogated her with the
keenest curiosity; but to all the inquiries put to her she replied with
a readiness and candour which surprised the whole party. She was desired
to give the names of those engaged in the conspiracy, as well as of
him who first informed her of it. She answered that her own name was
Lorimer, that she was a widow living upon her own property. As for the
man, her informant, he was a Swiss, named Cabert, of about thirty years
of age, and had long been her intimate friend: however, the embarrassed
tone with which she pronounced these last words left room for the
suspicion, that he had been something dearer to her than a friend. She
was then urged to give up the names of the four parliamentarians, but
she protested that she had not yet been able to prevail on Cabert
to confide them to her, that she was compelled to use the utmost
circumspection in her attempts at discovering the facts already
disclosed, but flattered herself she should yet succeed in gaining a
full and unreserved disclosure. M. de Maupeou encouraged her, by every
possible argument, to neglect no means of arriving at so important a
discovery.

The examination over, and the 100,000 francs she had demanded given to
her, she retired, but followed at a distance by a number of spies, who
were commissioned to watch her slightest movement.

Cabert, the Swiss, was arrested in a furnished lodging he occupied in
rue Saint Roch, and sent without delay to Versailles, where, as before,
M. d'Aiguillon w