The Queens Necklace | Page 8

at forty?"
"Because, madame," said Cagliostro, smiling, "it suits me better to be a
man of forty, still healthy and vigorous, than a raw youth of twenty."
"Oh!" said the countess.
"Doubtless, madame," continued Cagliostro, "at twenty one pleases
women of thirty; at forty, we govern women of twenty, and men of
sixty."
"I yield, sir," said the countess, "for you are a living proof of the truth
of your own words."
"Then I," said Taverney, piteously, "am condemned; it is too late for
me."

"M. de Richelieu has been more skilful than you," said La Pérouse
naïvely, "and I have always heard that he had some secret."
"It is a report that the women have spread," laughed Count Haga.
"Is that a reason for disbelieving it, duke?" asked Madame Dubarry.
The old duke colored, a rare thing for him; but replied, "Do you wish,
gentlemen, to have my receipt?"
"Oh, by all means."
"Well, then, it is simply to take care of yourself."
"Oh, oh!" cried all.
"But, M. Cagliostro," continued Madame Dubarry, "I must ask more
about the elixir."
"Well, madame?"
"You said you first used it at forty years of age----"
"Yes, madame."
"And that since that time, that is, since the siege of Troy----"
"A little before, madame."
"That you have always remained forty years old?"
"You see me now."
"But then, sir," said De Condorcet, "you argue, not only the
perpetuation of youth, but the preservation of life; for if since the siege
of Troy you have been always forty, you have never died."
"True, marquis, I have never died."

"But are you, then, invulnerable, like Achilles, or still more so, for
Achilles was killed by the arrow of Paris?"
"No. I am not invulnerable, and there is my great regret," said
Cagliostro.
"Then, sir, you may be killed."
"Alas! yes."
"How, then, have you escaped all accidents for three thousand five
hundred years?"
"It is chance, marquis, but will you follow my reasoning?"
"Yes, yes," cried all, with eagerness.
Cagliostro continued: "What is the first requisite to life?" he asked,
spreading out his white and beautiful hands covered with rings, among
which Cleopatra's shone conspicuously. "Is it not health!"
"Certainly."
"And the way to preserve health is?"
"Proper management," said Count Haga.
"Right, count. And why should not my elixir be the best possible
method of treatment? And this treatment I have adopted, and with it
have preserved my youth, and with youth, health, and life."
"But all things exhaust themselves; the finest constitution, as well as
the worst."
"The body of Paris, like that of Vulcan," said the countess. "Perhaps,
you knew Paris, by the bye?"
"Perfectly, madame; he was a fine young man, but really did not
deserve all that has been said of him. In the first place, he had red hair."

"Red hair, horrible!"
"Unluckily, madame, Helen was not of your opinion: but to return to
our subject. You say, M. de Taverney, that all things exhaust
themselves; but you also know, that everything recovers again,
regenerates, or is replaced, whichever you please to call it. The famous
knife of St. Hubert, which so often changed both blade and handle, is
an example, for through every change it still remained the knife of St.
Hubert. The wines which the monks of Heidelberg preserve so
carefully in their cellars, remain still the same wine, although each year
they pour into it a fresh supply; therefore, this wine always remains
clear, bright, and delicious: while the wine which Opimus and I hid in
the earthen jars was, when I tried it a hundred years after, only a thick
dirty substance, which might have been eaten, but certainly could not
have been drunk. Well, I follow the example of the monks of
Heidelberg, and preserve my body by introducing into it every year
new elements, which regenerate the old. Every morning a new and
fresh atom replaces in my blood, my flesh, and my bones, some particle
which has perished. I stay that ruin which most men allow insensibly to
invade their whole being, and I force into action all those powers which
God has given to every human being, but which most people allow to
lie dormant. This is the great study of my life, and as, in all things, he
who does one thing constantly does that thing better than others, I am
becoming more skilful than others in avoiding danger. Thus, you would
not get me to enter a tottering house; I have seen too many houses not
to tell at a glance the safe from the unsafe. You would not see me go
out hunting with a man who managed his gun badly. From Cephalus,
who killed his wife, down to the regent, who shot the prince in the eye,
I have