"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.