"Can you suppose such a thing?" said Saint-Aignan, disdainfully. "What!
abandon the chief post of honor, the proximity to the king, a privilege conceded only to princes of the blood, to dukes, and peers! Permit me to tell you, my dear Monsieur de Malicorne, that you must be out of your senses."
"Monsieur," replied the young man, seriously, "you commit two mistakes.
My name is Malicorne, simply; and I am in perfect possession of all my senses." Then, drawing a paper from his pocket, he said, "Listen to what I am going to say; and afterwards, I will show you this paper."
"I am listening," said Saint-Aignan.
"You know that Madame looks after La Valliere as carefully as Argus did after the nymph Io."
"I do."
"You know that the king has sought for an opportunity, but uselessly, of speaking to the prisoner, and that neither you nor myself have yet succeeded in procuring him this piece of good fortune."
"You certainly ought to know something about the subject, my poor Malicorne," said Saint-Aignan, smiling.
"Very good; what do you suppose would happen to the man whose imagination devised some means of bringing the lovers together?"
"Oh! the king would set no bounds to his grat.i.tude."
"Let me ask you, then, M. de Saint-Aignan, whether you would not be curious to taste a little of this royal grat.i.tude?"
"Certainly," replied Saint-Aignan, "any favor of my master, as a recognition of the proper discharge of my duty, would a.s.suredly be most precious."
"In that case, look at this paper, monsieur le comte."
"What is it--a plan?"
"Yes; a plan of M. de Guiche"s two rooms, which, in all probability, will soon be your two rooms."
"Oh! no, whatever may happen."
"Why so?"
"Because my rooms are the envy of too many gentlemen, to whom I certainly shall not give them up; M. de Roquelaure, for instance, M. de la Ferte, and M. de Dangeau, would all be anxious to get them."
"In that case I shall leave you, monsieur le comte, and I shall go and offer to one of those gentlemen the plan I have just shown you, together with the advantages annexed to it."
"But why do you not keep them for yourself?" inquired Saint-Aignan, suspiciously.
"Because the king would never do me the honor of paying me a visit openly, whilst he would readily go and see any one of those gentlemen."
"What! the king would go and see any one of those gentlemen?"
"Go! most certainly he would ten times instead of once. Is it possible you can ask me if the king would go to an apartment which would bring him nearer to Mademoiselle de la Valliere?"
"Yes, indeed, delightfully near her, with a floor between them."
Malicorne unfolded the piece of paper which had been wrapped round the bobbin. "Monsieur le comte," he said, "have the goodness to observe that the flooring of Mademoiselle de la Valliere"s room is merely a wooden flooring."
"Well?"
"Well! all you would have to do would be to get hold of a journeyman carpenter, lock him up in your apartments, without letting him know where you have taken him to, and let him make a hole in your ceiling, and consequently in the flooring of Mademoiselle de la Valliere"s room."
"Good heavens!" exclaimed Saint-Aignan, as if dazzled.
"What is the matter?" said Malicorne.
"Nothing, except that you have hit upon a singular, bold idea, monsieur."
"It will seem a very trifling one to the king, I a.s.sure you."
"Lovers never think of the risk they run."
"What danger do you apprehend, monsieur le comte?"
"Why, effecting such an opening as that will make a terrible noise: it could be heard all over the palace."
"Oh! monsieur le comte, I am quite sure that the carpenter I shall select will not make the slightest noise in the world. He will saw an opening three feet square, with a saw covered with tow, and no one, not even those adjoining, will know that he is at work."
"My dear Monsieur Malicorne, you astound, you positively bewilder me."
"To continue," replied Malicorne, quietly, "in the room, the ceiling of which you will have cut through, you will put up a staircase, which will either allow Mademoiselle de la Valliere to descend into your room, or the king to ascend into Mademoiselle de la Valliere"s room."
"But the staircase will be seen."
"No; for in your room it will be hidden by a part.i.tion, over which you will throw a tapestry similar to that which covers the rest of the apartment; and in Mademoiselle de la Valliere"s room it will not be seen, for the trapdoor, which will be a part of the flooring itself, will be made to open under the bed."
"Of course," said Saint-Aignan, whose eyes began to sparkle with delight.
"And now, monsieur le comte, there is no occasion to make you admit that the king will frequently come to the room where such a staircase is constructed. I think that M. Dangeau, particularly, will be struck by my idea, and I shall now go and explain to him."
"But, my dear Monsieur Malicorne, you forget that you spoke to me about it the first, and that I have consequently the right of priority."
"Do you wish for the preference?"
"Do I wish it? Of course I do."
"The fact is, Monsieur de Saint-Aignan, I am presenting you with a Jacob"s ladder, which is better than the promise of an additional step in the peerage--perhaps, even with a good estate to accompany your dukedom."
"At least," replied Saint-Aignan, "it will give me an opportunity of showing the king that he is not mistaken in occasionally calling me his friend; an opportunity, dear M. Malicorne, for which I am indebted to you."
"And which you will not forget to remember?" inquired Malicorne, smiling.
"Nothing will delight me more, monsieur."
"But I am not the king"s friend; I am simply his attendant."
"Yes; and if you imagine that that staircase is as good as a dukedom for myself, I think there will certainly be letters of n.o.bility at the top of it for you."