sing through two or three apartments, enter at the Tuileries the little room with the arched window, so

Louis XVIII., was carelessly listening to a man of fifty or fifty-two years of age, with gray hair, aristocratic bearing, and exceedingly gentlemanly attire, and meanwhile making a marg

sir--" sai

ceedingly dis

sion of the seven fat kine

enty and seven years of scarcity; and with a king as full of fo

scourge are you afra

n to believe that a storm

ed, and know positively that, on the contrary, it is very fine weather in th

will your majesty send into Languedoc, Provence, and Dauphiné, trusty men, who w

the king, continuing the

the quotation, "your majesty may be perfectly right in relying on the good feeling

wh

or, at least, b

king, "you with your alarm

ent me from sleeping

such a delightful note on the Pastor quum trah

ther note on the margin of his Horace, and then looking at the duke with the air of a man who

ear duke, go

ors destitute of foundation which thus disquiet me; but a serious-minded man, deserving all my confidence, and charged by me to watch over the south" (

" continued Louis XVI

ty wish me to dr

r duke; but just str

hi

u please-ther

e, s

there. You will find yesterday's report of the minister of police. But here is M.

latest news of M. de Bonaparte; do not conceal anything, however serious, -let us see, the Island of El

fully on the back of a chair

ty perused yest

d anything, what the report contains-give him the pa

nts of his majesty must approve of the latest intellige

even raise his head. "Bonaparte, " continued the baron, "is mortally wear

self for amusement

quired the duke, "what

reat man, this hero, this demigod, is attacked with a

nister of police, "we are almost assured that, i

san

s on the seashore, flinging stones in the water and when the flint makes 'duck-and-drake' five or six times, he appears as del

ghing; "the greatest captains of antiquity amused themselves by cas

efort, who did not choose to reveal the whole secret, lest another should reap all the ben

not yet convinced; let us proceed, therefore, to the

king at the king and Dandré, who spoke alternately

ly, my d

way con

es. Tell him all

a review, and as two or three of his old veterans expressed a desire to return to France, he gave them the

ed the king triumphantly, and pausing for a mo

as he has the guardianship of the safety and honor of your majesty, it is probable that I am in error. However, sire, if I mig

e, but you must not expect me to be too confiding. Baron, have you any report

xpecting one; it may have ar

ntinued Louis XVIII., "make one; that is the usual

umstantial denunciations, coming from hosts of people who hope for some return for services which they seek to rende

is XVIII., "and remember

turn, sire; I shall b

. de Blacas, "will go

armorial bearings; I will give you an eagle with outstretched wings, holding i

1

De Blacas, biting his

now it refers to a stag flying from a wolf. Are you not a sportsman and

stag you refer to, for he has posted two hund

hen we have a telegraph which transmits messages in three or fo

so much ardor, to give your majesty useful information. If only for the sake of M. de

x, my brother'

, si

at Mars

ites me

to you of thi

. de Villefort, and begs me to

the king, "is the messeng

, si

mes from M

pers

name at once?" replied the ki

is name was unknow

d elevated understanding, ambitious, too,

fat

Noir

irondin?-Noirti

hims

has employed the s

told you Villefort was ambitious, and to attain this ambit

e, may I p

nt, duke! W

elow, in m

him at

ten to

really sincere royalism made him youthful again. Louis XVIII. rema

enacem propo

ut, excited the susceptibility of M. de Brezé, who was all astonishment at finding that this young man had the audacity to enter before the king in such attire. The duke, however, overcame

ft him. On opening the door, Villefort found himself facing

llefort, " said th

a few steps, waited until the

he Duc de Blacas assures me you have some

d I believe your majesty wil

1

hing else, sir, is the news as bad in

nt, but I hope, by the speed I have

he emotion which had showed itself in Blacas's face and affected Villefort's vo

orgiveness if my anxiety leads to some obscurity in my language." A glance at the king after this di

but an actual conspiracy-a storm which menaces no less than your majesty's throne. Sire, the usurper is arming three ships, he meditates some project, which, however mad, is yet, perhaps, terrible. At this moment he will have left Elba, to go whithe

nformation that the Bonapartist clubs have had meetings in the Rue Sain

or, of turbulent character, and whom I suspected of Bonapartism, has been secretly to the Island of Elba. There he saw the grand-marshal, who charged him with an oral message to a Bon

re is th

ison,

ter seems se

the very day of my betrothal, I left my bride and friends, postponing everything, that I might ha

re not a marriage engagement between

your majesty's mos

us talk of this plo

ore than a plot; I fe

resent, and the future. For the last ten months my ministers have redoubled their vigilance, in order to watch the shore of the Mediterranean. If Bonaparte landed at Naples, the whole coalition would be on foot before he could even reach Piombino; if he land

lice appeared at the door, pale, trembling, and as if ready to faint. Villef