"But to give you proof at once that what I advance is more than a mere jest--Do you think that your romantic expedition to Languedoc escaped me? Monsieur de Blenau, you start, as if you dreamed that in such a country as this, and under such an administration, any thing could take place without being known to some member of the government. No, no, Sir! there are many people in France, even now, who think they are acting in perfect security, because no notice is apparently taken of the plans they are forming, or the intrigues they are carrying on; while, in reality, the hundred eyes of Policy are upon their every action, and the sword is only suspended over their heads, that it may eventually fall with more severity." "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?"