Castles in the Air | Page 5

was to breathe once more the pure air of
heaven. I had spent an exceedingly agitated five minutes, and even now
my anxiety was not altogether at rest. I dared not walk too fast lest I
attracted attention, and yet I wanted to put the river, the Pont Neuf, and
a half dozen streets between me and the Chancellerie of the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs. No one who has not gone through such an exciting
adventure as I have just recorded can conceive what were my feelings
of relief and of satisfaction when I at last found myself quietly
mounting the stairs which led to my office on the top floor of No. 96
Rue Daunou.

3.
Now, I had not said anything to Theodore about this affair. It was
certainly arranged between us when he entered my service as
confidential clerk and doorkeeper that in lieu of wages, which I could
not afford to pay him, he would share my meals with me and have a
bed at my expense in the same house at Passy where I lodged;
moreover, I would always give him a fair percentage on the profits
which I derived from my business. The arrangement suited him very

well. I told you that I picked him out of the gutter, and I heard
subsequently that he had gone through many an unpleasant skirmish
with the police in his day, and if I did not employ him no one else
would.
After all, he did earn a more or less honest living by serving me. But in
this instance, since I had not even asked for his assistance, I felt that,
considering the risks of New Caledonia and a convict ship which I had
taken, a paltry four hundred francs could not by any stretch of the
imagination rank as a "profit" in a business--and Theodore was not
really entitled to a percentage, was he?
So when I returned I crossed the ante-chamber and walked past him
with my accustomed dignity; nor did he offer any comment on my
get-up. I often affected a disguise in those days, even when I was not
engaged in business, and the dress and get-up of a respectable
commissionnaire was a favourite one with me. As soon as I had
changed I sent him out to make purchases for our luncheon--five sous'
worth of stale bread, and ten sous' worth of liver sausage, of which he
was inordinately fond. He would take the opportunity on the way of
getting moderately drunk on as many glasses of absinthe as he could
afford. I saw him go out of the outer door, and then I set to work to
examine the precious document.
Well, one glance was sufficient for me to realize its incalculable value!
Nothing more or less than a Treaty of Alliance between King Louis
XVIII of France and the King of Prussia in connexion with certain
schemes of naval construction. I did not understand the whole
diplomatic verbiage, but it was pretty clear to my unsophisticated mind
that this treaty had been entered into in secret by the two monarchs, and
that it was intended to prejudice the interests both of Denmark and of
Russia in the Baltic Sea.
I also realized that both the Governments of Denmark and Russia
would no doubt pay a very considerable sum for the merest glance at
this document, and that my client of this morning was certainly a secret
service agent--otherwise a spy--of one of those two countries, who did
not choose to take the very severe risks which I had taken this morning,

but who would, on the other hand, reap the full reward of the daring
coup, whilst I was to be content with four hundred francs!
Now, I am a man of deliberation as well as of action, and at this
juncture--feeling that Theodore was still safely out of the way--I
thought the whole matter over quietly, and then took what precautions I
thought fit for the furthering of my own interests.
To begin with, I set to work to make a copy of the treaty on my own
account. I have brought the study of calligraphy to a magnificent
degree of perfection, and the writing on the document was easy enough
to imitate, as was also the signature of our gracious King Louis and of
M. de Talleyrand, who had countersigned it.
If you remember, I had picked up two or three loose sheets of paper off
M. de Marsan's desk; these bore the arms of the Chancellerie of
Foreign Affairs stamped upon them, and were in every way identical
with that on which the original document had been drafted. When I had
finished my work I flattered myself that not the greatest calligraphic
expert could have detected the