‘... I place at your disposal, Captain D’Eon, a brave officer, an accomplished diplomatist, and possessing all the virile qualities of manhood so far as his head is concerned. I bring to the King the keys of an iron safe securely sealed with my own seal, and in safe deposit, and containing all the papers it is necessary for the King to have. It is thus that I served the late King in the case of another exile whose pen was dreaded.[293] At any rate, the King and you may remain perfectly well assured that matters in England will remain _in statu quo_ during my absence, when completing with you the task I have commenced with D’Eon.... I take advantage of the first sure opportunity for having a letter posted at Calais to inform you, without its being known in London, that I have placed in the King’s hands certain papers, and an individual whom it was sought, at any price, to employ against him ... people are curiously inquiring what I am doing here!...’[294] [Sidenote: SUBMISSION!] The letter intimating to Beaumarchais, for the first time, that D’Eon should, in the future, be considered a female, was succeeded two months later by another ministerial despatch, in which allusion is made, also for the first time, to the necessity for his complete change of sex by the assumption of female attire; the Count de Vergennes, as will be noticed, still referring to the Chevalier by employing the personal pronoun of the masculine gender. ‘... However great my desire to see, to know, and to converse with M. D’Eon, I do not conceal from you that I have one cause for anxiety. His enemies are on the alert, and will not easily forgive him for all he has said of them. Should he come here, however prudent and circumspect he may be, they might impute to him conduct in opposition to the reserve imposed by the King; denials and justifications are always embarrassing and odious to the well-meaning. Should M. D’Eon consent to disguise himself, all would be well; it is a proposition that can emanate from himself alone; but in his own interest it is desirable that he should avoid, at least for some years, a residence in France and necessarily in Paris. You may make such use of these observations as you think proper.’[295]