"At the same time, the Princess de Condé, while making a similar request, does not conceal that, by the influence used in Paris, she trusts to see her husband at liberty in a few weeks. Now, as the only motive which could induce me to join the party of the Princes would be their continued imprisonment, I much desire, without calling attention upon myself, to ascertain the real state of the negotiations in Paris." He then explained to me, that it was his wish I should instantly set out for the capital, and, conferring with Gourville--an attendant of the Duke de Rochefoucault, then in Paris, employed in endeavouring to effect the liberation of the Princes,--that I should make myself fully acquainted with every particular of their situation. At the same time he proposed to send Gaspard de Belleville to the Duke de Bouillon and the Princess de Condé, charged with a message to the purport that he would join them at the end of three weeks, if he found that the Princes were not likely to be liberated within a month. Of course, I willingly undertook the task; and I could plainly see also that Monsieur de Villardin, although he was unwilling to commit himself again with the Court, was secretly delighted with the prospect of once more entering upon an active course of life, which, by constant employment, would afford the means of withdrawing his thoughts from all the painful subjects on which they now rested. Eagerly and rapidly he drew up a letter to Gourville, bidding him confide entirely in me; and, having given it to me, he made me remark that he had written on the back. "By the hands of Monsieur de Juvigny." "You must, on no account," he added, "appear as a foreigner, which, in Paris, would instantly call upon you a degree of attention that is to be avoided by all means. You have now no longer the slightest accent, except, indeed, it be a touch of the _patois_ of Bretagne; which, however, will the more confirm the Parisians in the belief that you are a Frenchman, and you may boldly pass yourself as a Breton even upon Gourville himself. I must furnish you, however, with plenty of that golden oil which makes all doors turn easily upon their hinges; and, remember, spare no expense to reach Paris soon, and to return quickly; for every hour spent upon the road is lost to better purposes. Not so, however, with your inquiries: let them be diligent and minute; do not come away without knowing everything that can be known; and remember, that should fortune, which has been favourable to you in many instances, put it in your power to aid or serve the Prince de Condé, you have my strongest injunction to do so."