ur de Magny is in her Highness's private service,
and in her confidence I have heard, I would not venture to apprehend him
without your Highness's permission."

'The Prince's Master of the Horse, a friend of the old Baron de
Magny, who was present at the interview, no sooner heard the strange
intelligence than he hastened away to the old general with the dreadful
news of his grandson's supposed crime. Perhaps his Highness himself
was not unwilling that his old friend and tutor in arms should have the
chance of saving his family from disgrace; at all events, Monsieur de
Hengst, the Master of the Horse, was permitted to go off to the Baron
undisturbed, and break to him the intelligence of the accusation pending
over the unfortunate Chevalier.

'It is possible that he expected some such dreadful catastrophe, for,
after hearing Hengst's narrative (as the latter afterwards told me), he
only said, "Heaven's will be done!" for some time refused to stir a
step in the matter, and then only by the solicitation of his friend
was induced to write the letter which Maxime de Magny received at our
play-table.

'Whilst he was there, squandering the Princess's money, a police visit
was paid to his apartments, and a hundred proofs, not of his guilt with
respect to the robbery, but of his guilty connection with the Princess,
were discovered there,--tokens of her giving, passionate letters
from her, copies of his own correspondence to his young friends at
Paris,--all of which the Police Minister perused, and carefully put
together under seal for his Highness, Prince Victor. I have no doubt he
perused them, for, on delivering them to the Hereditary Prince, Geldern
said that, IN OBEDIENCE TO HIS HIGHNESS'S ORDERS, he had collected
the Chevalier's papers; but he need not say that, on his honour, he
(Geldern) himself had never examined the documents. His difference with
Messieurs de Magny was known; he begged his Highness to employ any other
official person in the judgment of the accusation brought against the
young Chevalier.

'All these things were going on while the Chevalier was at play. A run
of luck--you had great luck in those days, Monsieur de Balibari--was
against him. He stayed and lost his 4000 ducats. He received his uncle's
note, and such was the infatuation of the wretched gambler, that, on
receipt of it, he went down to the courtyard, where the horse was in
waiting, absolutely took the money which the poor old gentleman had