The moment I arrived, I found out the residence of Gourville, who was then lodging at a small house in the Rue St. Thomas; and, after some difficulty, which showed me that he was not very much at his ease in regard to his own situation, I was admitted to his apartments, and found a young man of a shrewd, intelligent countenance, and simple but not vulgar manners. Following a habit I had acquired of examining every new face closely ere I said a word myself, I paused a moment or two before I delivered the letter with which I was charged from Monsieur de Villardin, and I could easily see that Gourville was annoyed and alarmed by the visit of a person so completely a stranger to him, and whose manners, I believe, appeared somewhat extraordinary. The moment, however, that I had explained to him the object of my coming, his countenance cleared, but still he said not one word which could have committed himself in any way, till he had first read Monsieur de Villardin's letter. Nor was he even satisfied with that, without first speaking to me himself upon various matters which I very well understood were more designed to draw out my character, and ascertain whether I were really trustworthy, than to gain any information of another kind. As it was not at all unlike the conduct which I should have pursued myself under similar circumstances, I did not certainly feel in the least offended; and, after about half an hour spent in this sort of spider-like investigation, which did not take place less upon my side than upon his, we began more clearly to understand each other, and the conversation turned to the objects which brought me thither. "Well, Monsieur de Juvigny," said Gourville, at length, "plainly and straightforwardly, what is it that you want to know?" "Plainly and straightforwardly, then," I replied, "what I want to know is, whether there is any chance of the liberation of the Princes, and whether that chance is immediate or remote." Gourville smiled, and paused for a moment or two, and then, assuming an air of frankness, which I never saw put on suddenly but when it was intended to deceive, he replied, "Oh! indubitably; there is every chance of their liberation. The Princess Dowager, as you well know, is every day presenting some new petition either to the Court or to the Parliament, and undoubtedly her just complaints will be in the end attended to: and the Princes will be restored to that liberty of which they have been most unjustifiably deprived."