Pierre Pevel - By The Alchemist in the Shadows Page 0,90

there?'

'So lull of questions!' exclaimed Mirebeau in a jovial manner. 'Come now, monsieur. Make haste.

Bertrand is already saddling a horse for you.'

3

Upon their return to the Hotel de l'Epervier, Agnes and Marciac waited for La Fargue who, barely a quarter of an hour later, returned with Almades from the Palais-Cardinal.

'I know,' he said, seeing Agnes looking both angry and worried. 'The cardinal just informed me of your . . . mission.'

'Damn it, captain! What is going on ... ? Did you agree to this!?'

'Hold your horses, Agnes. I did not agree to anything at all. As I just told you, I was summoned to the Palais-Cardinal to have this fait accompli presented to me.'

They were in the fencing room, where the young woman was pacing up and down.

'And you accepted this?' she asked angrily, as if La Fargue had betrayed her.

'Yes,' he said. 'Because we are the Cardinal's Blades. Not La Fargue's Blades. And even less, de Vaudreuil's Blades . . . His Eminence gives the orders. And we obey them . . .'

With a resigned air, Agnes let herself fall into an armchair.

'Merde!' she exclaimed.

'You will only be joining the queen's suite temporarily,' the old gentleman explained in a patient tone. 'Your sole mission will be to keep your eyes and ears wide open. It's not so terrible . . .'

'But this is simply a manoeuvre, captain. A manoeuvre!'

'That's quite possible.'

'It's damn certain, you mean! Just think for a minute! One evening I go to meet the former Mother Superior General about an affair that might very well prove embarrassing to the Chatelaines, and the very next morning I find myself

summoned by the current Superior General. And given an assignment where I will be unable to upset anyone. Come now! You may fool others, but not me!'

La Fargue nodded.

'It may well be true that Mere de Vaussambre wants to keep you away from certain matters. But she did not hesitate in calling upon the cardinal in order to achieve her aims: the threat against the queen could very well be real . . .'

'I don't believe that for a second.'

'But what if La Donna's plot was directed at the queen rather the king?' interjected Marciac.

Agnes shrugged.

'The duchesse de Chevreuse? Scheming against the queen . . . ? It's impossible.'

'As far as I can recall,' said Almades, who spoke so rarely that everyone pricked up their ears when he did, 'La Donna always referred to a plot "against the throne". She never said anything about a plot "against the king". We were the ones who concluded that the person of the king was under threat . . .'

'Nevertheless,' insisted the young baronne de Vaudreuil. 'La Chevreuse and the queen are sincere friends. Whenever the duchesse has been involved in a scheme, it has been against the king or the cardinal. Never against the queen.'

In this, Agnes was right.

'Be that as it may,' said La Fargue after a silence, 'there is nothing we can do. I'm sorry, Agnes, but if the Superior General wanted you out of the way, then she has succeeded.'

'We'll see about that,' declared Agnes before turning round and striding away.

Where are you going?' La Fargue called after her.

'To find a dressmaker who can work miracles, by God! I'm going to need something decent to wear at court . . .'

Alter their stroll in the Tuileries gardens, Laincourt and Aude de Saint-Avoid returned looking pleased with themselves and with one another, sharing a sense of being guilty of a delicious prank.

They were still laughing as they descended from the

coach in the courtyard of the Hotel de Chevreuse, simply two carefree young people on a fine summer day in June. For the space of a few sunny hours, Laincourt had forgotten his mission. He had forgotten about the perils that weighed upon France, the Alchemist's plot, madame de Chevreuse's intrigues and the war being prepared against Lorraine. He had forgotten his hated profession as a spy and felt like a schoolboy.

Indeed, hadn't they just been playing truant? It was not a serious misdemeanour and the duchesse, who had boldly committed so many of her own, would no doubt forgive them. She might even be amused by their escapade, given her own fondness for the pleasures of life. As for madame de Jarville, the aunt they had been st> careful not to wake, she would have to accept matters. It must be said that Laincourt had behaved like the perfect attending gentleman. Thoughtful and courteous, he had offered his arm