"You know the news, brother?" The Prince de Maulear was then playing a game of chess with Monte-Leone. "We have now, thank God and M. Angles, one miserable Jacobin the less to deal with."
"Check to your king!" said the Prince to Monte-Leone.
"To be sure," said she, following out the tenor of her own thoughts, "it would be check to the King, if the opinions of those persons were to triumph. M. Angles, however, watches over them and us."
For an instant the Count neglected his game. He as well as Taddeo heard what she had said, and both seemed anxious to hear her out.
"May I venture to inquire, Countess," said the Count, holding his piece in his hand, and hesitating to place it on the board, "who is the terrible Jacobin from whom the world is delivered?"
"One of the most dangerous alive, Count," said the old lady, with an air of triumph. "The man, it is said, had his connections established through the whole army."
"Check to your king," said the Prince, who was weary of the delay.
"True," said the Count, with visible abstraction; and he played his game so badly that the Prince won it without difficulty. The latter said:
"Yes, brother," said the Countess, "a great victory. For the Jacobin is a general. General B----, one of those vile Buonapartists, to whom, at a time like this, a regiment should never have been trusted."
The Count and Taddeo grew pale when they heard the General's name. He was one of the seven chiefs of ventas at the house of Von Apsberg.
"Why was the General arrested?" said the Prince.
"Oh, some plot. The Jacobins and Buonapartists are always at that business. The details are not yet known. It is certain, however, that he was arrested this morning at his hotel. I heard so at the Duchess de Feltre's, whom I visited to-day."
"Strange!" said the Prince; "on the day before yesterday he gave a ball. Were you not there, Count?" said he to Monte-Leone.
"Yes," said the Count; "I was one of the last to leave. It was then two o'clock in the morning."
"At noon his generalship was in the Conciergerie. A bad business for him, for the government has decided to use the greatest severity against all conspirators. Happily, the police is very expert, and it is said of every three conspirators one is a spy. A thing very satisfactory to society, but decidedly unfortunate for the plotters."