DucorandProst，apothecariestohismajesty，
hadbeencollectedtogetherforthispurposebytheducd’Aiguillon。
Thesegentlemencametoreporttheterminationoftheirexperiments
attheverymomentwhenthechancellorandlieutenantofpolice
enteredtheroom；theducdelaVrillierehadprecededthemby
aboutfiveminutes；theducd’Aiguillonrequestedthesegentlemen
tobeseated。
ThedoctorsQuesnayandlaMartinierewere
introduced，anddesiredtomakeknowntheresultoftheiroperations。
Mynewly-arrivedguests，whoasyetunderstoodnothingofwhat
wasgoingon，werestruckwithastonishmentathearingitsaid，
thatthefourbottlesoforange-flowerwatercontaineda
considerableproportionofamostactivepoison，ofwhichafew
dropswouldbesufficienttocauseinstantaneousdeath。
Having
thusexecutedtheircommission，themedicalgentlemenbowed
andretired。
M。d’Aiguillonthenexplainedtomywonderingfriendsthehorrible
affairwhichhadoccasionedtheirbeingsentforsohastily。
I
cannottellyouwhateffectthisdisclosureproducedonM。dela
VrilliereorM。deMaupeou，mywholeattentionbeingfixedupon
M。deSartines。
Youmaysupposethatalieutenantofpolice，
particularlyonewhopiquedhimselfuponknowingeverything，
couldnotfeelverymuchathisease，wheneachwordthatwas
utteredconvictedhimeitherofincapacityornegligence。
His
browbecamecontracted，hehemmed，choked，fidgetedabout，and
appearedasthoughhewouldhavegiveneverythingintheworldf
orlibertytojustifyhimself，butetiquetteforbadeit，andhe
wasonlypermittedtospeakafterthesecretariesofstatethen
present，orifcalleduponbyeitherofthem。
WhenM。d’Aiguillonhadceasedspeaking，thechancellorinhis
turntookuptheconversation。
M。deMaupeouwasbynaturecold
andsarcastic，delightinginannoyinganyperson；but，onthe
presentoccasion，theill-natureinherentinhimwasstillexcited
bythedecidedhatredheboretotheunfortunateM。deSartines。
Hebeganbysaying，thattheconspiracywasevident，andwas
easilyexplainedbythestateofexasperationinwhichtheJesuits
andparliamentariansnowwere；bothorderslookingfornoother
prospectofamendmentintheirconditionthansuchasmightarise
fromsomesuddenconvulsionofthekingdom。
Heexpressedhis
opinionofthenecessityofinstitutingarigorousinquiryintothe
conductofthesetwobodies；andthen，turningtoM。deSartines，
whosecheekgrewpaleatthemovement，hechargedhimtolay
beforethecouncilallthoseparticularswhichhemustnecessarily
possessasheadofthepolice，eitherrespectingthepresentplot，
orrelatingtoanyoftheancientmembersofparliamentorthe
orderofJesuits。
ThiswasadaggertotheheartofM。deSartines，whoinvain
soughttoframeasuitablereply:butwhatcouldhesay？
Hedid
notinrealitypossessanyoftheinformationforwhichhehad
receivedcredit，andaftermanyawkwardendeavoursatexplaining
himself，hewascompelledfranklytoconfess，thatheknewnota
wordmoreoftheconspiracythanhehadjustthenheard。
ItwasnowtheturnofM。delaVrillieretospeak。
Healso
wouldfainhaveattackedtheunfortunatelieutenantofpolice；
but，whetherM。deMaupeouthoughtthathisowncorrectionhad
beensufficientlystrong，orwhetherhebegrudgedanyother
personinterferingwithhisvengeanceuponhispersonalfoe，he
abruptlyinterruptedthetiradeofM。delaVrilliere，byobserving，
thataconspiracyconductedbyonlyeightpersonsmightvery
possiblyescapetheeyeofthepolice；but，furnishedasitnow
waswithsomanycircumstancesandparticulars，itwasimpossible
thattheplotshouldanylongerdefytheirvigilantresearches。
M。d’Aiguillonfullyconcurredinthisobservation，andM。de
Sartines，recoveredinsomemeasurefromhisfirstalarm，promised
everythingtheycoulddesire；anditwasfinallyarrangedthat
thepoliceshouldthisnightuseeveryprecautionarymeasurein
Paris，andthattheofficersoftheguardshouldreceiveorders
toredoubletheirzealandactivityinwatchingthechateau；and
thatwhentheunknownfemalecalledagainonme，sheshouldbe
conductedbymadamedeMirepoixtotheducd’Aiguillon，who
wouldinterrogateherclosely。
Thesemeasuresdecidedon，thecouncilbrokeup，andIwentto
receivetheking，whowasthiseveningtodomethefavourof
takinghissupperinmyapartments。
Conclusionofthisaffair-Aletterfromtheincognita——Her
examination——ArrestofCaberttheSwiss——HediesintheBastilleof
poison——MadameLorimerisarrestedandpoisoned——Theinnocence
oftheJesuitsacknowledged——MadamedeMirepoixandthe
100，000francs——Forgetfulnessonthepartofthelieutenantof
police——AvisitfromcomteJean——MadamedeMirepoix
M。deSartinesdidnotsleeponhispost，buthisresearcheswere
fruitless；and，onthefollowingday，threesuccessivemessengers
cametoannouncetousthattheyhadasyetmadenodiscovery。
Thedaypassedwithoutbringinganyfreshintelligence，andour
anxietyincreaseddaily。
Atlengtharrivedtheperiodfixedfor
thevisitofthe。
Iawaitedthecomingofthisfemale
withanimpatienceimpossibletodescribe。
Aboutmid-dayanote
wasbroughtme；Iinstantlyrecognizedthewritingasthatofmy
mysteriousfriend，andhastilybreakingtheseal，readasfollows:
“MADAM，——Imustentreatyourpardonforbreaking
theappointmentforto-day，imperativedutiesstill
detainmeinParis。
“SinceourlastinterviewIhavebeenunceasingly
occupiedinendeavouringtodiscoverthenamesof
theeightpersonsofwhomIspoketoyou，and，I
amsorrytosay，Ihavebutpartiallysucceeded。
Thepersonwhohashithertofurnishedmewithmy
informationobstinatelyrefusestostatewhoare
theparliamentariansconcernedintheconspiracy。
Iam，however，enabledtoforwardyouthenames
ofthefourJesuits，withsomefewparticularsrelating
totheseworthyfathers。
“TheJesuitsinquestionareMessrs。
Corbin，
Berthier，Cerulti，andDumas；thefirstofwhom
wasemployedintheeducationofthedauphin，
thesecondandthethirdaresufficientlyknown；
asforthefourth，heisaboldandenterprising
Parisian，capableofconceivingandexecutingthe
mostdaringschemes。
Whilsttheorderremained
inpossessionofpowerhehadnoopportunityof
displayinghisextraordinarytalents，andconsequently
heobtainedbutatriflingreputation；butsinceits
banishmenthehasbecomeitsfirmestsupportand
principalhope。
Allthetreasuresofthebrotherhood
areathisdisposal，andIlearn，thattheday
beforeyesterdayhereceivedaconsiderablesum
fromLyons。
“Thisintrepidanddaringspiritistheverysoul
oftheconspiracy；heitiswhoconceivedthe
planandsetthewholemachineinaction。
Itwould
beeffectuallyextinguishedcouldwebutonce
securehim，butthisisbynomeansaneasytask；
hehasnofixedabode；neversleepstwonights
followinginthesamehome；onedayhemaybe
foundinonepartofParisandthenextatthevery
oppositecorner；hechangeshismannerofdress
asfrequentlyashedoeshisabode。
“Ishallhavethehonourofseeingyouto-morrow
orthedayafteratfurthest。
Meanwhilelayaside
alluneasinessforhismajesty’ssafety:Ipledge
youmywordheisforthepresentinperfect
security。
Theexecutionoftheplotisstill
deferredforthewantofaDamienssufficiently
sanguinarytoundertakethetask。
“Deign，madam，toaccepttheassuranceofmy
sinceredevotion，andbelievethatIwillneglect
noopportunityofaffordingyouproofsofit。
“Yours，madam，etc。，etc。“
Iimmediatelycommunicatedthislettertotheducd’Aiguillon，who
convokedafreshmeetingofthepersonswhohadbeenpresenton
theprecedingday。
Itwasatfirstdeliberatedwhetherornotto
arrestthewholebodyofJesuitstheninParis，butthis，although
theadviceofM。d’Aiguillon，wasbynomeansapprovedofbythe
chancellor。
M。deSartinesandM。dela
Vrillierewerefor
carryingtheideaintoexecution，buttheobjectionsofM。de
Maupeouweretoopowerfultobeoverruled，andtheschemewasfor
thepresentabandoned。
Thechancellormaintainedthattheother
conspirators，warnedoftheirown，dangerbytheseizureoftheir
friends，wouldeitherescapethevengeanceofthelawsbyflight
orbycloseconfinementintheirhouses；hegreatlydreadedas
itwas，thathisfoes，theparliamentarians，wouldavoidthe
punishmenthelongedtoinflictonthem。
Indeed，inhisestimation，
itseemedasthougheverymeasurewouldbeanticipatedsolongas
thefemale，whoseemedsointimatelyacquaintedwiththeirdesign，
wasatliberty；andthislastopinionwasunanimouslyconcurredin。
Allthedelaysgreatlyirritatedme，andrenderedmyimpatience
towitnesstheterminationoftheaffairgreaterthanithadever
been。
Thestrangerhadpromisedtomakeherappearanceonthe
followingday；itpassedaway，however，withoutmyhearinganything
ofher。