I could not but feel melancholy as I rode away from the chÂteau, and passed by many of the spots which were engraven upon the tablet of my memory by acts and feelings that could never suffer them to be effaced. It was not, indeed, that I entertained any sad or gloomy anticipation in regard to the future; for, through life, the noblest blessing of all the many with which Heaven has heaped up my lot, has been that indestructible hopefulness of disposition, which always presents a bright prospect in the coming years: but it was, that memory, as if stimulated by the act of leaving the place, called up again, and passed in long review before my eyes, all those dark hours and terrible deeds which had filled up my residence in Brittany. It was against my will that these recollections swarmed upon me: but there are moments when we have no power to bid memory cease her recapitulations--when the heart, often from some mere trifling accident, is cast prostrate before the past, and cannot struggle up against the torrent of remembrances that pour over it; and such was then the case with myself.

If I had given a world, I could not have banished from my thoughts the violent death, the dying countenance, the bloody grave of the Count de Mesnil, the gentle looks, the melancholy fate of Madame de Villardin--the gloomy swimming down that fatal stream in the endeavour to find her, the long torch-light search for her body, and the terrible nights of watching I had spent by the bedside of her delirious and culpable husband.

As memory would have way, I strove to turn it into some gentler course, and tried to fix it upon something sweeter in the past. There were only two or three acts, however, which I could recal, that afforded a pleasant resting-place for thought in all that had occurred to me since I first entered the house of Monsieur de Villardin. The efforts I had made to remove from the mind of the Duke the wild suspicions that he had then entertained of his wife, were now, of course, most grateful in remembrance. Nor, indeed, do I recollect, amongst all that I ever did in my life, anything which gave me greater pleasure than I experienced at that moment, in calling to mind the rescue of sweet little Laura de Villardin from the same stream that had afterwards proved fatal to her mother, though, after all, it was but the service of a water-dog. Neither, indeed, did the memory of all the little kindnesses I had shown to Jacques Marlot prove at all ungrateful to me, though, I confess, they had been done more in a spirit of merriment, perhaps, than benevolence. One is almost always beneficent when one laughs, with the exception, perhaps, of a few human hyenas, who scarcely deserve the name of men; and, notwithstanding all his misfortunes and distresses, the worthy printer was always connected in my mind with associations of a gay and jocose character.

It was upon him, then, by this train of associations, that my thoughts last rested as I rode away from the chÂteau of Dumont; and as my constant attendance upon Monsieur de Villardin had prevented my seeing MaÎtre Jacques for nearly six weeks, I was suddenly seized with a great desire to take leave of him ere I went to Paris. The road by his house was as near, though somewhat rougher, and I turned my bridle thitherward almost as soon as his image rose up before my mind. At his door I met with Father Ferdinand, whom I had left a couple of hours before in the park; and, after explaining to the good Priest that I was bound to Paris, on the business of Monsieur de Villardin, I received his benediction and one or two injunctions in regard to my conduct; and, while he pursued his way back to the chÂteau, I knocked loudly with the butt of my whip at the door of the ci-devant printer. He came out immediately, and but few words passed between us, as I had not time to dismount. Nor, indeed, did he ask me to come in when he found that I was bound upon an errand of importance, but, wishing me all prosperity, and that I might live long enough to save a great number of honest men from the gallows, he bade me adieu, and suffered me to depart.

I have marked this visit, for, strange enough to say, it was the last time that I saw the good printer for nearly six years; and, by the end of that period, I need hardly say that we had both undergone many changes, at least in personal appearance.

From Juvigny I rode on as fast as possible to the next post relay, and there leaving my horse with the servant who had accompanied me, I set out with my postillion for Paris as fast as I could go. Remembering the directions which I had received, I certainly did not fail to make all speed; and I found it no difficult thing to induce the post-boys to put much more celerity into their beasts than the law required, or, indeed, allowed. By this means, and by utter forgetfulness of all personal fatigue, I reached Paris full two days sooner than I should otherwise have done, and much earlier, I am convinced, than Monsieur de Villardin himself anticipated.

The moment I arrived, I found out the residence of Gourville, who was then lodging at a small house in the Rue St. Thomas; and, after some difficulty, which showed me that he was not very much at his ease in regard to his own situation, I was admitted to his apartments, and found a young man of a shrewd, intelligent countenance, and simple but not vulgar manners. Following a habit I had acquired of examining every new face closely ere I said a word myself, I paused a moment or two before I delivered the letter with which I was charged from Monsieur de Villardin, and I could easily see that Gourville was annoyed and alarmed by the visit of a person so completely a stranger to him, and whose manners, I believe, appeared somewhat extraordinary. The moment, however, that I had explained to him the object of my coming, his countenance cleared, but still he said not one word which could have committed himself in any way, till he had first read Monsieur de Villardin's letter. Nor was he even satisfied with that, without first speaking to me himself upon various matters which I very well understood were more designed to draw out my character, and ascertain whether I were really trustworthy, than to gain any information of another kind. As it was not at all unlike the conduct which I should have pursued myself under similar circumstances, I did not certainly feel in the least offended; and, after about half an hour spent in this sort of spider-like investigation, which did not take place less upon my side than upon his, we began more clearly to understand each other, and the conversation turned to the objects which brought me thither.

"Well, Monsieur de Juvigny," said Gourville, at length, "plainly and straightforwardly, what is it that you want to know?"

"Plainly and straightforwardly, then," I replied, "what I want to know is, whether there is any chance of the liberation of the Princes, and whether that chance is immediate or remote."

Gourville smiled, and paused for a moment or two, and then, assuming an air of frankness, which I never saw put on suddenly but when it was intended to deceive, he replied, "Oh! indubitably; there is every chance of their liberation. The Princess Dowager, as you well know, is every day presenting some new petition either to the Court or to the Parliament, and undoubtedly her just complaints will be in the end attended to: and the Princes will be restored to that liberty of which they have been most unjustifiably deprived."

As I have said before, from the very air of candour with which he began to speak, I had perceived that Gourville intended to deceive me; and, therefore, I only smiled incredulously as a reply. "It is very true, I can assure you," he added; and I saw that, either from doubting my judgment, on account of my youth, or from some suspicion of my character, he was so far determined to give me no real information, that I must employ other means to extort it from him than any I had hitherto used. As I knew, however, that he could be depended upon for secrecy at least, I affected, at length, to receive what he said as truth; and replied, "Well, well, since such is the case--and of course I cannot doubt your word--I will immediately write to Monsieur de Villardin, informing him that there is no necessity whatever for his committing himself by joining the Princess and Monsieur de Bouillon at Bordeaux, as the Princes are certain of obtaining their liberation, without his taking a step which might embroil him with many of his best friends, as well as with the Court." This, of course, did not suit Gourville's plans at all, and, as I had foreseen, it forced him into an explanation.

"No, no, sir! no, no!" he replied. "Do not do that too hastily. Wait at least a day or two, that we may see the effect of the means we are using at present."

"That, I am sorry to say," replied I, "is quite out of the question. I came here, as you well know, to investigate for Monsieur de Villardin what were the chances in favour of the immediate liberation of the Princes; and I promised him to write immediately after I had seen you, to give him such information as would determine the part that he was to take. Come, come, Monsieur Gourville, you are not acting candidly with me. If you speak frankly, you have nothing to fear. If you do not speak frankly, you may prevent Monsieur de Villardin from throwing his whole weight into the scale of the Princes. You may speak freely to me, I assure you. I am not so much of a boy as I may seem."

"It appears not, indeed," replied my companion; "and, therefore, I suppose I must speak frankly with you: but there is one thing, young gentleman, I would have you remark, which is, that if I do admit you to my confidence, you must take your part also in the schemes which I am pursuing; and as I tell you that they are just as likely to conduct every one concerned in them to the gallows, as to produce any other result, you may judge whether this is the sort of confidence that you would like."

I smiled at his reply; and said, that I was too much accustomed to danger of all kinds to fear the gallows more than any other sort of death.

"Well, well, if that be the case," he replied, "the matter will soon be settled. Monsieur de Villardin here tells me to trust you entirely, and Monsieur de Rochefoucault enjoins me to trust in him in the same manner. So that, of course, I must obey, whatever be the consequences; though I do not, I confess, like to confide secrets of such vital importance to more people than necessary."

He then proceeded to inform me,--though with a great deal of difficulty and hesitation, even after having made up his mind to do so,--that a plan was, at that moment, in progress, for the liberation of the Prince de CondÉ, by means of the soldiers of the guard in garrison at Vincennes, where the Prince was at that time confined. These men, many of whom had served under CondÉ, and all of whom admired and loved him, Gourville represented as uniformly favourable to the scheme; and I learned, that the execution of the whole was merely put off till the Sunday following, in order that the attempt might be made while the governor and officers were at vespers in the chapel.

"The only difficulty," he continued, "which presents itself in the course of the whole undertaking, is to prepare the Princes themselves for the effort that is to be made in their favour. No one is allowed to see them except Pallu, the surgeon of the Prince de CondÉ, who visits him three times a week, in order to dress the wound in his arm. Now Pallu is himself as much attached to the Prince as any man can be, but he is as timid as a child; and, notwithstanding all my persuasions, will not be the bearer of a message to his Highness."

"But cannot you contrive to introduce some one else?" I demanded. "I should think that might be easily done."

"Indeed!" said Gourville, with a smile. "I have turned it in my head in every way I can think of; and yet I not only do not see any easy method, but I confess that I perceive no possible means of conveying the information to Monsieur le Prince. We are, therefore, preparing to execute our scheme as well as we can without."

I mused a moment ere I answered, and then merely asked what was the post which Gourville intended to assign me in the matter, and which he had declared was dangerous.

"Simply this," he replied; "and you will see at once, that it is not more perilous than that of any other person concerned. We are about to station twenty or thirty cavaliers in the different villages round Vincennes, divided into parties of three or four, and each provided with led horses, to afford the Princes the means of escape, whatever direction they may judge fit to take. If any of the parties are caught, they will be hanged, to a certainty, but each man must of course make his mind up to his risk; and what I proposed was, that you should be joined to one of these bodies, and act as guide to the Princes into Brittany, in case that they should determine upon pursuing that road; for I judge, by your tongue, that you are a Breton, and doubt not that you know the country well."

"That I do, most assuredly," replied I; "but nevertheless I think I can serve you better in another way--and not without exposing myself," I added, seeing a slight smile curl my companion's lip; "fully as much, if not more, than any of you."

"And pray what do you propose?" he said.

"Simply," I answered, "to convey the tidings of our design to the Princes themselves."

"Impossible," he replied; "depend upon it, that is quite impossible."

"Not near so much so, rest assured, as you imagine," I answered. "The fact is, I know Monsieur de Pallu well, for he attended long upon a gentleman to whom I was much attached, and I saw him regularly every day. Now I know all his manners and his habits so well, that I could fearlessly take upon myself to feign myself one of his assistants, and to give such an account of himself and his person, if by any chance I should be questioned, that I am certain I should escape detection. I doubt not in the least," I added, seeing Gourville's countenance begin to brighten as my plan developed itself, "I doubt not in the least that, although he cannot be prevailed upon to deliver the message to the Princes himself, he may easily be induced to neglect his visit to Vincennes for one single day. As soon as that is determined, I will take advantage of the fact, and dressing myself as a garÇon apothicaire, I will present myself at Vincennes, with dressings and plasters, and, declaring that Monsieur de Pallu is ill, or called by some urgent case elsewhere, will demand to see the Prince and dress his arm."

"Bravo! mon cher Breton!" cried Gourville, catching me in his arms and actually embracing me; "bravo! bravo! Pallu will consent, of course; and if he do not, a little gentle force, or some good-natured ruse, will easily bring the matter to bear, as far at least as he is concerned. Diable! I would keep him in his house with a pistol at his throat sooner than such a hopeful enterprise should fail.--But are you sure, my good young friend, that your courage will hold out?" he added, as he began to reflect; the very delight he felt at my proposal making him apprehensive lest it should fail. "Remember, for Heaven's sake, that Vincennes is a terrible looking place; and what with its drawbridges, its guards, and its chains, its gloomy passages and frowning stone walls, you may lose your presence of mind at the very moment when it is most necessary; and not only forfeit your own life, but overthrow our whole scheme."

"No fear! no fear!" I answered, smiling; "I am more accustomed to such work than you know of, and have no apprehensions."

"Well, well," answered Gourville, "have your will then; though I must say you look to me very young to have much acquaintance with proceedings dangerous in themselves, and ten thousand times more dangerous in their consequences. You cannot be above sixteen?"

"Not so much," I replied; "and yet for many a year I have lived amongst scenes to which all that is passing in these foolish wars is but child's play. But now let us concert our plans, that nothing may go wrong."

After some more conversation on the subject, Gourville proceeded to the house of Pallu, and finding him at home, went in, while I remained in the street. On his return he informed me that all was arranged with the worthy surgeon, who consented to show an apparent neglect to the Prince de CondÉ; but required that, in order to screen himself completely from the ire of the Court, in case of our detection, a fictitious letter, demanding his immediate presence at St. Germain, should be sent to him at the very hour in the evening that he usually visited his patient in Vincennes.

All this was settled with the surgeon, and nothing remained but for me to play my part. The time for executing my design was, of necessity, three o'clock on the following day, as that was the usual period of Pallu's visit; and having proceeded to the house of the well-known fripier Martin, where every sort of dress under the sun was to be procured for a little more than its real value, I furnished myself with the complete equipment of a surgeon's ÉlÈve. I spent the rest of that evening in concluding my arrangements with Gourville, who gave me all that minute information which was necessary to the accomplishment of what I had undertaken.

On the following morning early, I rode out to St. Maur to see Lord Masterton, but found that both Lord Langleigh and himself were absent in Normandy. I saw the Lady Emily, however, and could not but feel what a contrast her bright and smiling looks afforded to those which had latterly appeared upon the countenance of poor Madame de Villardin, once as gay and happy as her own.

On my return to Paris, it was nearly time to set out for Vincennes; and, mounted on a little sturdy horse, which seemed made on purpose for a surgeon's pony, furnished with ointments and plasters in boundless profusion, and habited as a garÇon chirurgien, I rode off upon my expedition, and soon approached the prison of the Princes. The castle had nothing very formidable in its aspect to my eyes; but, nevertheless, in gazing up at the donjon, and remembering the purpose of my visit, I felt more as I used to do in days of old than I had done for some time. I was little "Ball o' Fire" all over; and I could almost have fancied myself upon some of my expeditions during the civil wars of England. This feeling tended to put me much more at my ease than I might otherwise have been; and as there is nothing so serviceable as effrontery under such circumstances, it proved of real use to me.

On entering the gate, the first question asked me was by a grim-looking guardsman, who came up as the sentry stopped me, and demanded what I wanted there?

I answered, with all the naÏvetÉ in the world, that I wanted to see the Prince de CondÉ.

"Indeed!" exclaimed the guard, not a little astonished at my coolness. "And, pray, what may be your name, my good youth?"

"I am called Jerome," I replied; "and I am assistant to Monsieur de Pallu, the surgeon, who sent me here, because he was obliged----"

"Oh, if that be the case," cried the soldier, interrupting me, "you must come to Monsieur de Bar. We cannot let you in without his authority, for we must not even speak to the Prince ourselves."

From the man's tone, I doubted not that this was one of the serjeants of the guard, whom Gourville had spoken of as in the interest of the Princes; but of course I had nothing to do but to go through with my part as garÇon apothicaire; and, therefore, assuming as stupid an air as possible, I suffered myself to be led to the presence of Monsieur de Bar, the governor. I never saw a less prepossessing fellow, or one better framed by the hand of nature for a gaoler. As soon as I had informed him that Monsieur de Pallu, having been sent for to St. Germain on a case of life and death, had despatched me to dress the Prince's arm, which he thought could not remain till the following day, the governor knit his brows, and stared me all over with a heavy frown, as if I had committed some offence. But, without taking any notice, or showing the slightest agitation, I stood upon one leg, like an awkward boy, and looked round the room with an air of stolid curiosity, which completely deceived him.

"Monsieur de Pallu should not have gone away on any pretext," said the governor, abruptly, when he had satisfied himself with his examination of my person. "It is disgraceful of him to send a stupid boy like you to dress the Prince's wound. I have a great mind to send you back."

I gazed at him for a moment with open mouth and eyes; and then assuring him that I could dress the wound as well as Monsieur de Pallu himself, I proceeded to detail exactly that surgeon's method of proceeding, which I had watched attentively during his attendance on Lord Masterton. The governor cut me short, with an oath, however; and telling me that he did not want to learn surgery, rose, and took the key of the apartments in which the Princes were confined.

Throwing open the door, he pushed me in by the shoulders, bidding me to knock loudly at that same door when I had done, and not to stop longer than necessary. I now found myself alone, in a little ante-chamber; and as it had but one other door, of course I advanced towards it, and entered the next room without ceremony. Here, seated at a table, which was covered with pots of beautiful carnations, sat a young man of about five or six and twenty, busily tending and arranging his flowers. He was alone--though I heard voices in a chamber beyond; and from the whole appearance of the apartment, the neglect and poverty of the furniture, and the simplicity of the young man's own attire, I might have imagined that he was some valet-de-chambre, admitted to the prison in order to attend upon the Princes, had he not looked up: as he did so, however, the eagle-eye could not be mistaken, and I felt that I must be in the presence of the great CondÉ.

"Who are you, my boy?" he asked, as soon as he saw me. "Good faith, this is a pleasing novelty: I have not seen a new face these two months; let me look at you;" and rising from his seat, he approached the window near which I passed as I entered from the ante-room. He was neither very tall nor very strongly made, but there was the promise of extraordinary activity in every limb. His features were slightly aquiline, and in general good, without being very striking. But his eye was, indeed, remarkable. It was deep set, it is true, and not particularly large; but there was a light, and a keenness, and an intensity in its slightest glance, that are quite indescribable. It was quick, too, as the lightning; and I observed, that at almost every other word the corner of the eyebrow next the nose was drawn forward, and rounded, as it were, so as to shade the eye in a degree, and to cut off every ray of light but those which fell upon the object at which he was looking.

"Who are you, my boy? Who are you--who are you?" he repeated, quickly. "Has Monsieur de Bar forgotten himself, and learned to believe that gentlemanly conduct is consistent with the office of a gaoler?"

For a moment I was in doubt how to answer; but as I still heard voices in the other room, I thought it best to be cautious, and being obliged to speak loud, on account of my distance from the Prince at the moment, I told him the same story that I had passed upon the governor.

"Ha!" he said, "Pallu should have come to me first. He forgets that he is my oracle as well as surgeon, and the only human thing that I see from week's end to week's end, except the grim visages of my gaolers, or the gloomy ones of my fellow-prisoners. However, if there was life or death in the case, as you say, of course he could not come."

While he was speaking I advanced quietly to the table, and putting down the packet of salves and dressings upon it, I approached closer to the Prince without saying a word. He looked at me sharply as I did so, seeming to comprehend at once that there was something extraordinary in this man[oe]uvre; and when I was within about a yard of him, he put out his hand to stop my further advance, saying, "Stay, stay; no nearer, if you please, till I hear more of your business."

I bowed low, and replied, in a tone that could only be heard by himself, "If your Highness will sit down and permit me to dress your arm, or, at least, to seem to do so, I may prove more oracular than Monsieur de Pallu. I come from your Highness's faithful friend and servant, Monsieur de Villardin, and from your no less faithful servant, Gourville."

"Hush!" he replied, "hush!" And advancing to the door which led into the other room, he said, speaking to the Prince de Conti and the Duke de Longueville, who were within, "Messieurs, I am going to have my wound dressed; and therefore, unless you wish to learn surgery, you may stay where you are for half an hour." He then closed the door, and returning to his seat near the table, stripped off his coat, and drawing back his sleeve, presented his arm to me, saying at the same time, "Now!"

I, on my part, busied myself with the dressings, and while I did so, proceeded to explain to him, in a low tone, but as distinctly as possible, the measures that had been taken for setting him at liberty on the Sunday following. I told him that the guards, who had entered into our plan, were already provided with the means of fastening the officers into the chapel during the vesper service, that horses would be ready at each of the villages within four miles of Vincennes, that the whole garrison was in his favour, and that nothing was wanting but preparation on his part to take advantage of the opportunity when it occurred.

"Fear not," he replied, in the same tone; "fear not that I will be found unprepared. No, no; as soon as that door is open, I will be quite ready to walk out of it. But tell me," he added, "who are you that have been trusted with such an important communication, and have had courage and address sufficient to execute it?"

"I am one, your Highness," replied I, "for whom you were kind enough some time ago, at the intercession of Monsieur de Villardin, to obtain some favours at the hands of the Court."

"What! the young Englishman," he cried, "who saved his daughter's life!--Is it so?"

I replied in the affirmative; and he added, "Well, then, they were the last favours that I obtained for any one, for not three days after my arrest took place."

"Most grateful I am to your Highness," I replied; "and I thank Heaven that the commission with which Monsieur de Villardin has intrusted me enables me to be of some slight service to your cause."

"Of inestimable service, young gentleman," he replied; "for, in truth, I know none, except yourself, and perhaps Gourville, who would have undertaken the dangerous task which you have accomplished. Should you be successful,--which I will not doubt, since the scheme is so well devised and so well conducted--I shall not be found wanting in gratitude to any who have served me, especially to one who has served me so well as you have: and now, as it is clear enough that you know nothing of dressing wounds, get you gone as speedily as possible, lest Pallu himself should come, and worse should befal you."

"There is no fear, my lord," I replied; "we have taken good means to keep Monsieur de Pallu away."

"Indeed!" he answered; "then it would seem you have forgot nothing; but, nevertheless, I am anxious for your safety. Tell Gourville and the rest that I shall be ready to a moment at the hour of vespers; and, once beyond these prison-walls, the Court and Mazarin shall have something to remember which they may find it not easy to forget. Fare you well, young man; and be sure, that whether we succeed or not, CondÉ will not be found ungrateful."

My errand was done, and of course I did not feel inclined to linger in such dangerous circumstances.

Gathering up all the trumpery which I had brought with me on the pretence of dressing his wound, I took my leave, and, retiring into the ante-chamber, I knocked hard, as I had been told to do, in order to call some one to the door. During nearly ten minutes, however, I knocked in vain, and, of course, gradually increased the vehemence of my application, till the whole passages rang again with the sound. At length the governor appeared, and showered upon my head no mitigated abuse for the noise which I had made. As it was necessary, however, to proceed with the same caution in effecting my exit as I had employed in procuring admittance to the prison, I resumed my air of stupidity, and, muttering something about having knocked for ten minutes, I glided past him as he locked the door, and walked on towards the stairs. With a few more abusive epithets he suffered me to depart, and, passing down into the court, the wicket gate was thrown open for me to go out into the park.

As the soldier at the gate maliciously refused to open it any farther, I was obliged to lead my pony through the wicket; and as the aperture seemed much less than the animal conceived its own dignity and magnitude required, it cost me nearly a quarter of an hour to force it through. When this was at length effected, amidst the merriment of the soldiery, I mounted, and proceeded on my way; nor did anything occur in the course of my ride towards Paris which was worthy of remark, except the fact of my meeting, at about twenty yards from the gate of the chÂteau, one of the serjeants of the guard, who, with downcast looks, and a rapid but unsteady pace, was returning towards the castle which I had just left.