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."