in the instance of the audience to Eugene
de Canaples, so upon this occasion did it chance that the Cardinal's
fears touching St. Auban's purpose had been roused, for he bade me stand
behind the curtains in his cabinet.

"The Marquis spoke bluntly enough, and with rude candour he stated that
since Mazarin had failed to bring the Canaples estates into his family
by marriage, he came to set before his Eminence a proof so utter of
Canaples's treason that it would enable him to snatch the estates
by confiscation. The Cardinal may have been staggered by St. Auban's
bluntness, but his avaricious instincts led him to stifle his feelings
and bid the Marquis to set this proof before him. But St. Auban had
a bargain to drive--a preposterous one methought. He demanded that in
return for his delivering into the hands of Mazarin the person of Armand
de Canaples together with an incontestable proof that the Chevalier was
in league with the frondeurs, and had offered to place a large sum of
money at their disposal, he was to receive as recompense the demesne
of Canaples on the outskirts of Blois, together with one third of the
confiscated estates. At first Mazarin gasped at his audacity, then
laughed at him, whereupon St. Auban politely craved his Eminence's
permission to withdraw. This the Cardinal, however, refused him, and
bidding him remain, he sought to bargain with him. But the Marquis
replied that he was unversed in the ways of trade and barter, and that
he had no mind to enter into them. From bargaining the Cardinal passed
on to threatening and from threatening to whining, and so on until the
end--St. Auban preserving a firm demeanour--the comedy was played out
and Mazarin fell in with his proposal and his terms.

"Mille diables!" I cried. "And has St. Auban set out?"

"He starts to-morrow, and I go with him. When finally the Cardinal
had consented, the Marquis demanded and obtained from him a promise in
writing, signed and sealed by Mazarin, that he should receive a third
of the Canaples estates and the demesne on the outskirts of Blois, in
exchange for the body of Armand de Canaples, dead or alive, and a proof
of treason sufficient to warrant his arrest and the confiscation of his
estates. Next, seeing in what regard the Seigneur is held by the people
of Blois, and fearing that his arrest might be opposed by many of his
adherents, the Marquis has demanded a troop of twenty men. This Mazarin
has also granted him, entrusting