“Continue to seek for this man, sir,” said the king to the minister of police; “for if, as I am all but convinced, General Quesnel, who would have been so useful to us at this moment, has been murdered, his assassins, Bonapartists or not, shall be cruelly punished.” It required all Villefort’s coolness not to betray the terror with which this declaration of the king inspired him.
“How strange,” continued the king, with some asperity; “the police think that they have disposed of the whole matter when they say, ‘A murder has been committed,’ and especially so when they can add, ‘And we are on the track of the guilty persons.’”
“Sire, your majesty will, I trust, be amply satisfied on this point at least.”
“We shall see. I will no longer detain you, M. de Villefort, for you must be fatigued after so long a journey; go and rest. Of course you stopped at your father’s?” A feeling of faintness came over Villefort.
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“No, sire,” he replied, “I alighted at the Hotel de Madrid, in the Rue de Tournon.”
“But you have seen him?”
“Sire, I went straight to the Duc de Blacas.”
“But you will see him, then?”
“I think not, sire.”
“Ah, I forgot,” said Louis, smiling in a manner which proved that all these questions were not made without a motive; “I forgot you and M. Noirtier are not on the best terms possible, and that is another sacrifice made to the royal cause, and for which you should be recompensed.”
“Sire, the kindness your majesty deigns to evince towards me is a recompense which so far surpasses my utmost ambition that I have nothing more to ask for.”
“Never mind, sir, we will not forget you; make your mind easy. In the meanwhile” (the king here detached the cross of the Legion of Honor which he usually wore over his blue coat, near the cross of St. Louis, above the order of Notre-Dame-du-Mont-Carmel and St. Lazare, and gave it to Villefort)—“in the meanwhile take this cross.”
“Sire,” said Villefort, “your majesty mistakes; this is an officer’s cross.”
“Ma foi!” said Louis XVIII., “take it, such as it is, for I have not the time to procure you another. Blacas, let it be your care to see that the brevet is made out and sent to M. de Villefort.” Villefort’s eyes were filled with tears of joy and pride; he took the cross and kissed it.
“And now,” he said, “may I inquire what are the orders with which your majesty deigns to honor me?”
“Take what rest you require, and remember that if you are not able to serve me here in Paris, you may be of the greatest service to me at Marseilles.”
“Sire,” replied Villefort, bowing, “in an hour I shall have quitted Paris.”
“Go, sir,” said the king; “and should I forget you (kings’ memories are short), do not be afraid to bring yourself to my recollection. Baron, send for the minister of war. Blacas, remain.”
“Ah, sir,” said the minister of police to Villefort, as they left the Tuileries, “you entered by luck’s door—your fortune is made.”
“Will it be long first?” muttered Villefort, saluting the minister, whose career was ended, and looking about him for a hackney-coach. One passed at the moment, which he hailed; he gave his address to the driver, and springing in, threw himself on the seat, and gave loose to dreams of ambition.
Ten minutes afterwards Villefort reached his hotel, ordered horses to be ready in two hours, and asked to have his breakfast brought to him. He was about to begin his repast when the sound of the bell rang sharp and loud. The valet opened the door, and Villefort heard someone speak his name.
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“Who could know that I was here already?” said the young man. The valet entered.
“Well,” said Villefort, “what is it?—Who rang?—Who asked for me?”
“A stranger who will not send in his name.”
“A stranger who will not send in his name! What can he want with me?”
“He wishes to speak to you.”
“To me?”
“Yes.”
“Did he mention my name?”
“Yes.”
“What sort of person is he?”
“Why, sir, a man of about fifty.”
“Short or tall?”
“About your own height, sir.”
“Dark or fair?”
“Dark,—very dark; with black eyes, black hair, black eyebrows.”
“And how dressed?” asked Villefort quickly.
“In a blue frock-coat, buttoned up close, decorated with the Legion of Honor.”
