Auban preserving a firm demeanour--the comedy was played out
and Mazarin fell in with his proposal and his terms.
"Mille diables!" I cried. "And has St. Auban set out?"
"He starts to-morrow, and I go with him. When finally the Cardinal had
consented, the Marquis demanded and obtained from him a promise in writing,
signed and sealed by Mazarin, that he should receive a third of the
Canaples estates and the demesne on the outskirts of Blois, in exchange for
the body of Armand de Canaples, dead or alive, and a proof of treason
sufficient to warrant his arrest and the confiscation of his estates.
Next, seeing in what regard the Seigneur is held by the people of Blois,
and fearing that his arrest might be opposed by many of his adherents, the
Marquis has demanded a troop of twenty men. This Mazarin has also granted
him, entrusting the command of the troop to me, under St. Auban. Further,
the Marquis has stipulated that the greatest secrecy is to be observed, and
has expressed his purpose of going upon this enterprise disguised and
masked, for--as he rightly opines--when months hence he enters into
possession of the demesne of Canaples in the character of purchaser, did
the Blaisois recognise in him the man who sold the Chevalier, his life
would stand in hourly peril.
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