"You surprise me, I own," replied De Blenau, "by showing me that you are acquainted with an adventure, which I thought buried in my own bosom, or only confided to one equally faithful to me."
"You mean your Page," said Chavigni, with the same easy tone in which he had spoken all along. "You have no cause to doubt him. He has never betrayed you (at least to my knowledge). But these things come about very simply, without treachery on any part. The stag never flies so fast, nor the hare doubles so often, but they leave a scent behind them for the dogs to follow,--and so it is with the actions of man; conceal them as he will, there is always some trace by which they may be discovered; and it is no secret to any one, now-a-days, that there are people in every situation of life, in every town of France, paid to give information of all that happens; so that the schemes must be well concealed indeed, which some circumstance does not discover. I see, you shake your head, as if you disapproved of the principle.
"De Blenau, you and I are engaged in different parties. You act firmly convinced of the rectitude of your own cause--Do me the justice to believe that I do the same. You hate the Minister--I admire him, and feel fully certain that all he does is for the good of the State. On the other hand, I applaud your courage, your devotion to the cause you have espoused, and your proud unbending spirit--and I would bring you to the scaffold to-morrow, if I thought it would really serve the party to which I am attached."
The interesting nature of his conversation, and the bold candour it displayed, had made De Blenau tolerate Chavigni's society longer than he had intended, and even his dislike to the Statesman had in a degree worn away before the easy dignity and frankness of his manner. But still, he did not like to be seen holding any kind of companionship with one of the Queen's professed enemies; and taking advantage of the first pause, he replied--
"You are frank, Monsieur de Chavigni, but my head is well where it is. And now may I ask to what does all this tend?"
"You need not hurry the conversation to a conclusion," replied Chavigni. "You see that we are in direct progress towards that part of the Park where her Majesty is most likely to be found." But seeing that De Blenau seemed impatient of such reply, he proceeded: "However, as you wish to know to what my conversation tends, I will tell you. If you please, it tends to your own good. The Cardinal wishes to see you----"