course to
you."

"To him, to me, to us all, chevalier, for each one in such circumstances
should tax himself according to his means. I have little ready money,
but I have many diamonds and pearls; therefore want for nothing, I beg.
All the world has not your disinterestedness, and there is devotion
which must be bought."

"Above all, be prudent," said the cardinal.

"Do not be uneasy," replied D'Harmental, contemptuously. "I have
sufficient grounds of complaint against the regent for it to be
believed, if I were taken, that it was an affair between him and me, and
that my vengeance was entirely personal."

"But," said the Comte de Laval, "you must have a kind of lieutenant in
this enterprise, some one on whom you can count. Have you any one?"

"I think so," replied D'Harmental; "but I must be informed each morning
what the regent will do in the evening. Monsieur le Prince de Cellamare,
as ambassador, must have his secret police."

"Yes," said the prince, embarrassed, "I have some people who give me an
account."----"That is exactly it," said D'Harmental.

"Where do you lodge?" asked the cardinal.

"At my own house, monseigneur, Rue de Richelieu, No. 74."

"And how long have you lived there?"

"Three years."

"Then you are too well known there, monsieur; you must change quarters.
The people whom you receive are known, and the sight of strange faces
would give rise to questions."

"This time your eminence is right," said D'Harmental. "I will seek
another lodging in some retired neighborhood."

"I undertake it," said Brigaud; "my costume does not excite suspicions.
I will engage you a lodging as if it was destined for a young man from
the country who has been recommended to me, and who has come to occupy
some place in an office."

"Truly, my dear Brigaud," said the Marquis de Pompadour, "you are like
the princess in the 'Arabian Nights,' who never opened her mouth but to
drop pearls."

"Well, it is a settled thing, Monsieur l'Abbe," said D'Harmental; "I
reckon on you, and I shall announce at home that I am going to leave
Paris for a three months' trip."

"Everything is settled, then," said the Duchesse de Maine joyfully.
"This is the first time that I have been able to see clearly into our
affairs, chevalier, and we owe it to you. I shall not forget it."

"Gentlemen," said Malezieux, pulling out his watch, "I would observe
that it is four o'clock in the morning, and that we shall kill our dear
duchess