‘The delightful discovery,’ says D’Eon, ‘was made by the fair Marquise de Pompadour, who, one evening in June 1763, relieved the pocket of her lover, as he lay fast asleep, of several papers, amongst which was a letter from me in cypher, deciphered, signed _Auguste_. To rid himself of the importunate questions of this second Maintenon, Louis XV. simply replied: “It is from a woman of letters who is of no importance in England, and who has my permission to give me special news.” This new Herodias—inquisitive, restless, jealous and piqued—with the aid of the enlightened Duke de Choiseul fixed her suspicions on me; and as she could not have my head brought by her daughter on a charger, had recourse to one of her worthless adulators,[108] who readily undertook to dispose of me by poison, and thus possess himself of all my letters as he would have the right to do, in the position of ambassador which he was about to occupy in London.’ [Sidenote: BETRAYED TO THE MARQUISE.] D’Eon attributed de Pompadour’s attention being directed towards himself to the action of an informer with whom he had long been acquainted. We quote his own narrative:— ‘During the time that the negotiations in support of the pretensions of the Prince de Conti to the throne of Poland and to the hand of the Empress Elizabeth were being conducted, a secret correspondence had been organised between the King, the Prince, M. Tercier, the Count Woronzoff, the Chevalier Douglas, and myself. The Sieur Monin, private secretary to the Prince de Conti, was not only privy to it, but was also the most active agent at work with the Chevalier Douglas, in behalf of myself, and of M. Tercier who had unlimited confidence in him. M. Tercier, the most honest of men, and who fancied that everybody else was like himself, had concealed nothing from friend Monin. He had frequently shown him, in my presence, the various communications received from ambassadors and ministers, whether in Poland or in Russia. Unhappily, friend Monin had formerly been tutor to the Count de Guerchy, who had received from him his fine education, and in token of gratitude to the Prince de Conti, the Count de Guerchy turned this counsellor over to him. Monin, in his turn, wishing to testify to his own gratitude, considered it his duty to apprise the Count de Guerchy of what he knew concerning me, so soon as his pupil had become an ambassador and he himself was aware of the inquisition instituted by Madame de Pompadour. He declared to de Guerchy that I had been for a long time in secret correspondence with the King, and that he strongly suspected me of being a link in the mysterious chain which united the House of Broglio to the sovereign. Count de Guerchy lost no time in communicating his conjectures to his friend of thirty years’ standing, the