CHAPTER XX
OF HOW THE CHEVALIER DE CANAPLES BECAME A FRONDEUR
It wanted an hour or so to noon next day as I drove across the Pont Neuf in
a closed carriage, and was borne down the Rue St. Dominique to the portals
of that splendid palace, facing the Jacobins, which bears the title of the
"H?tel de Luynes," and over the portals of which is carved the escutcheon
of our house.
Michelot--in obedience to the orders I had given him--got down only to be
informed that Madame la Duchesse was in the country. The lackey who was
summoned did not know where the lady might be found, nor when she might
return to Paris. And so I was compelled to drive back almost despairingly
to the Rue St. Antoine, and there lie concealed, nursing my impatience,
until my aunt should return.
Daily I sent Michelot to the H?tel de Luynes to make the same inquiry, and
to return daily with the same dispiriting reply--that there was no news of
Madame la Duchesse.
In this fashion some three weeks wore themselves out, during which period I
lay in my concealment, a prey to weariness unutterable. I might not
venture forth save at night, unless I wore a mask; and as masks were no
longer to be worn without attracting notice--as during the late king's
reign--I dared not indulge the practice.
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