The moment that he was left alone, the man who bore the family name of Louis XIII.'s great minister turned sharply towards the little black cabinet by the wall. With a cold hand, his limbs stiffened, all apprehension stifled by his eagerness, he unlocked the door, thrust his hand inside to that little box that lay just where he had placed it on the night before, extracted therefrom four of the small, round, dry mushrooms, placed them in an inner pocket of his coat, closed the door again, relocked it, put the key on the mantel, in the shadow of a porcelain vase, and was sitting down, tapping the floor impatiently with his foot, when the lackey returned—empty-handed.
"The pin does belong to madame, Monsieur le Duc. Her maid tells me that she wore it for the first time last evening, and will thank you much for returning it."
Richelieu came very near to laughing. Only by making a strong effort did he control his expression. "I am delighted that it was found," he murmured; and thereupon he rapidly departed from that small apartment where, it seemed, dwelt more people than M. and Mme. de Mailly.
After all, du Plessis could not have disposed of his pearls to better advantage. He had not been designed by nature for such a part as he was playing now; and the affair could scarcely have been conducted with less prudence. Providence—or Satan—had favored him in a most unexpected way; for who was there now to tell of his early and unwonted visit to the de Mailly household? Certainly not the clever person who had made five or ten thousand livres out of it. On his return walk towards the palace, Monsieur le Duc mused appreciatively on the past incident.
"I wonder if it behooves me quietly to signify to Claude that such a man as his first lackey is wasting a valuable life in his present position? No. On the contrary, I will let Claude discover that for himself. When that man is discharged, I should very much like to employ him.
CHAPTER X
"Vol-au-Vent Royal"
Twelve miles from Versailles, or fourteen by the Sceaux road, nearly eight from Paris, situated upon the bank of the Seine, shaded with woods and flanked by a tiny hamlet, stood the most famous retreat of Louis XV., the château or palace called Choisy-le-Roi. As Marly, with its rows of cold salons, its stiff corridors and great suites of rooms, was Louis XIV.'s ideal of a private house, so Choisy, with its tiny apartments, cosey fireplaces, little, circular reception-room, and miniature salle-à-manger, with ample kitchen and magnificent appurtenances on the first floor in the rear, was the present Bourbon's great delight. Here for ten years, now, ever since the first months of Louise de Mailly's reign, Louis, in increasing fits of ennui or weariness, and, later still, perhaps, during periods of regret, had been accustomed to seek relief from the formality of his existence in parties taking different degrees of freedom, which, more often than not, rose towards their end to a pitch of positive rowdyism. Only a certain set of the Court was ever asked here; and nothing, perhaps, could more plainly illustrate the difference in the characters of Louis XV. and of his grandfather than the contrast between the list for Marly in the old days and that for Choisy half a century later.
The gayety to be attained by this party of the 7th of December, however, promised to be less notable in several respects than was usually the case. First, the whole thing must take place in the afternoon, since the King was to return to her Majesty's salon at Versailles in the evening. Secondly, the gentlemen of the company would have been all day in the saddle, and were certain to be weary and inclined to eat, rather than talk. Thirdly, according to general rumors, his Majesty, and, in consequence, the pages of the Court, would be occupied in the kitchen till refreshments were served, thus leaving the lesser lights alone to entertain the women for an hour or more. After the repast it would be necessary to depart speedily for Versailles, in order to be in time to make a toilet for the Queen's salon.
As a matter of fact, this entire affair had been planned with the greatest care by Louis himself, who, with purpose very different from usual in visiting Choisy to-day, had taken care to leave no loophole for impropriety, which, in its wholesale form, was the most distasteful thing that Mme. de Châteauroux ever had to endure.