this reason. As there was no dressing-closet adjoining La
Valliere's room, she had solicited, and had that very morning obtained,
a large screen intended to serve as a partition. The screen that had
been allotted her was perfectly sufficient to conceal the opening, which
would, besides, be hidden by all the artifices skilled cabinet-makers
would have at their command. The opening having been made, the workman
glided between the joists, and found himself in La Valliere's room. When
there, he cut a square opening in the flooring, and out of the boards he
manufactured a trap so accurately fitting into the opening that the most
practised eye could hardly detect the necessary interstices made by its
lines of juncture with the floor. Malicorne had provided for everything:
a ring and a couple of hinges which had been bought for the purpose,
were affixed to the trap-door; and a small circular stair-case, packed
in sections, had been bought ready made by the industrious Malicorne,
who had paid two thousand francs for it. It was higher than what was
required, but the carpenter reduced the number of steps, and it
was found to suit exactly. This staircase, destined to receive so
illustrious a burden, was merely fastened to the wall by a couple of
iron clamps, and its base was fixed into the floor of the comte's room
by two iron pegs screwed down tightly, so that the king, and all his
cabinet councilors too, might pass up and down the staircase without any
fear. Every blow of the hammer fell upon a thick pad or cushion, and
the saw was not used until the handle had been wrapped in wool, and the
blade steeped in oil. The noisiest part of the work, moreover, had taken
place during the night and early in the morning, that is to say, when
La Valliere and Madame were both absent. When, about two o'clock in the
afternoon, the court returned to the Palais Royal, La Valliere went up
into her own room. Everything was in its proper place--not the smallest
particle of sawdust, not the smallest chip, was left to bear witness to
the violation of her domicile. Saint-Aignan, however, wishing to do his
utmost in forwarding the work, had torn his fingers and his shirt
too, and had expended no ordinary amount of perspiration in the king's
service. The palms of his hands were covered with blisters, occasioned
by his having held the ladder for Malicorne. He had, moreover, brought
up, one by one, the seven pieces of the staircase, each consisting of
two s