The time at their disposal was increased by the fact; that when I
reached the Arsenal I found the Louvre vacant, the queen, who lay
at Fontainebleau, having summoned the King thither. Ferret, his
secretary, however, awaited me with a letter, in which Henry,
after expressing his desire to see we, bade me nevertheless stay
in Paris a day to transact some business. "Then," he continued,
"come to me, my friend, and we will discuss the matter of which
you know. In the meantime send me your papers by Ferret, who
will give you a receipt for them."
Suspecting no danger in a course which was usual enough, I
hastened to comply. Summoning Maignan, who, whenever I
travelled, carried my portfolio, I unlocked it, and emptying the
papers in a mass on the table, handed them in detail to Ferret.
Presently, to my astonishment, I found that one, and this the
most important, was missing. I went over the papers again, and
again, and yet again. Still it was not to be found.
It will be remembered that whenever I travelled on a mission of
importance I wrote my despatches in one of three modes, according
as they were of little, great, or the first importance; in
ordinary characters that is, in a cipher to which the council
possessed the key, or in a cipher to which only the King and I
held keys.
Pages:
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145