"He will have it about him?" I said.
She sobbed a moment, but presently confessed. "Yes; or it will
be in the hollow of the most easterly tree. He was to leave it
there, if the agent could not keep the appointment."
"Good!" I said; and then, having assured myself by one or two
questions of that, of which her state of distress and agitation
left me in little doubt--namely, that she was telling the truth
--I committed her to my wife's care; bidding the Duchess lock her
up in a safe place upstairs, and treat her to bread and water
until I had taken the steps necessary to prove the fact, and
secure the paper.
After this--but I should be tedious were I to describe the
alternations of hope and fear in which I passed the period of
suspense. Suffice it that I informed no one, not even Maignan,
of what I had discovered, but allowed those in the secret of the
loss still to pursue their efforts; while I, by again attending
the Court, endeavoured at once to mitigate the King's impatience
and persuade the world that all was well.
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