The Valets Tragedy | Page 6

Charles II. was negotiating the famous, or infamous, secret treaty
with Louis XIV.--the treaty of alliance against Holland, and in favour
of the restoration of Roman Catholicism in England--Roux de Marsilly,
a French Huguenot, was dealing with Arlington and others, in favour of
a Protestant league against France.
When he started from England for Switzerland in February 1669,
Marsilly left in London a valet, called by him 'Martin,' who had quitted
his service and was living with his own family. This man is the
'Eustache Dauger' of our mystery. The name is his prison pseudonym,
as 'Lestang' was that of Mattioli. The French Government was anxious
to lay hands on him, for he had certainly, as the letters of Marsilly
prove, come and gone freely between that conspirator and his English
employers. How much Dauger knew, what amount of mischief he
could effect, was uncertain. Much or little, it was a matter which,
strange to say, caused the greatest anxiety to Louis XIV. and to his
Ministers for very many years. Probably long before Dauger died (the
date is unknown, but it was more than twenty-five years after Marsilly's
execution), his secret, if secret he possessed, had ceased to be of
importance. But he was now in the toils of the French red tape, the
system of secrecy which rarely released its victim. He was guarded, we
shall see, with such unheard-of rigour, that popular fancy at once took
him for some great, perhaps royal, personage.
Marsilly was publicly tortured to death in Paris on June 22, 1669. By
July 19 his ex-valet, Dauger, had entered on his mysterious term of

captivity. How the French got possession of him, whether he yielded to
cajolery, or was betrayed by Charles II., is uncertain. The French
ambassador at St. James's, Colbert (brother of the celebrated Minister),
writes thus to M. de Lyonne, in Paris, on July 1, 1669:* 'Monsieur Joly
has spoken to the man Martin' (Dauger), 'and has really persuaded him
that, by going to France and telling all that he knows against Roux, he
will play the part of a lad of honour and a good subject.'
*Transcripts from Paris MSS. Vol. xxxiii., Record Office.
But Martin, after all, was NOT persuaded!
Martin replied to Joly that HE KNEW NOTHING AT ALL, and that,
once in France, people would think he was well acquainted with the
traffickings of Roux, 'AND SO HE WOULD BE KEPT IN PRISON
TO MAKE HIM DIVULGE WHAT HE DID NOT KNOW.' The
possible Man in the Iron Mask did not know his own secret! But, later
in the conversation, Martin foolishly admitted that he knew a great deal;
perhaps he did this out of mere fatal vanity. Cross to France, however,
he would not, even when offered a safe-conduct and promise of reward.
Colbert therefore proposes to ask Charles to surrender the valet, and
probably Charles descended to the meanness. By July 19, at all events,
Louvois, the War Minister of Louis XIV., was bidding Saint- Mars, at
Pignerol in Piedmont, expect from Dunkirk a prisoner of the very
highest importance--a valet! This valet, now called 'Eustache Dauger,'
can only have been Marsilly's valet, Martin, who, by one means or
another, had been brought from England to Dunkirk. It is hardly
conceivable, at least, that when a valet, in England, is 'wanted' by the
French police on July 1, for political reasons, and when by July 19 they
have caught a valet of extreme political importance, the two valets
should be two different men. Martin must be Dauger.
Here, then, by July 19, 1669, we find our unhappy serving-man in the
toils. Why was he to be handled with such mysterious rigour? It is true
that State prisoners of very little account were kept with great secrecy.
But it cannot well be argued that they were all treated with the
extraordinary precautions which, in the case of Dauger, were not
relaxed for twenty-five or thirty years. The King says, according to

Louvois, that the safe keeping of Dauger is 'of the last importance to his
service.' He must have intercourse with nobody. His windows must be
where nobody can pass; several bolted doors must cut him off from the
sound of human voices. Saint-Mars himself, the commandant, must
feed the valet daily. 'YOU MUST NEVER, UNDER ANY PRETENCE,
LISTEN TO WHAT HE MAY WISH TO TELL YOU. YOU MUST
THREATEN HIM WITH DEATH IF HE SPEAKS ONE WORD
EXCEPT ABOUT HIS ACTUAL NEEDS. He is only a valet, and does
not need much furniture.'*
*The letters are printed by Roux Fazaillac, Jung, Lair, and others.
Saint-Mars replied that, in presence of M. de Vauroy, the chief officer
of Dunkirk (who carried Dauger thence to Pignerol), he had threatened
to run Dauger through the body if he ever