"
"And how could we do so? "said I.
"To-night," returned he, "when all your guests have retired, and
Versailles is in a manner deserted, I will fetch you; we have keys
which open the various gates in the park, and walking through
which, and the gardens, we can reach Trianon unobserved. No
person will be aware of our excursion, and we shall return with
the same caution with which we went. We will, after our visit,
cause our clothes to be burnt, take a bath, and use every possible
precaution to purify ourselves from all chance of infection. When
that is done you may venture into the apartment of his majesty,
even if that malady which at present hangs over him should turn
out to be the small-pox."
I thought but little of the consequences of our scheme, or of the
personal danger I incurred, and I promised my brother-in-law
that I would hold myself in readiness to accompany him. We then
conversed together upon the state of the king, and, what you will
have some difficulty in crediting, not one word escaped either of
us relative to our future plans or prospects; still it was the
point to which the thoughts of comte Jean must naturally
have turned.
We were interrupted in our < tete-a-tete > by the arrival of the
marechale, whose exactitude I could not but admire. Comte Jean,
having hastily paid his compliments, left us together.
"Well, my dear countess," said she, taking my hand with a friendly
pressure, "and how goes on the dear invalid?"
"Better, I hope," replied I, "and indeed, this illness, at first
so alarming to me, seems rather calculated to allay my former
fears and anxieties by affording the king calm and impartial
reflection; the result of it is that my dreaded rival of the
is dismissed.
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