LEY.

"Riding towards the cortege at a slow pace, and with a sorrowful
countenance, the guards could hardly see anything very terrific in my
approach. They seemed, however, to expect an attack. 'Be persuaded,
gentlemen,' said I to them, 'that I come not to wage war, but rather to
ask favours.' I then begged of them to continue their progress without
any distrust, and as we went along I made my solicitations. They
consulted together to ascertain in what way they should entertain my
request. The chief of them spoke for the rest. He said that the
orders they had received to watch the prisoners vigilantly were of the
strictest kind; that, however, I seemed so interesting a young man,
that they might be induced to relax a little in their duty; but that I
must know, of course, that this would cost me something. I had about
sixteen pistoles left, and candidly told them what my purse contained.
'Well,' said the gendarme, 'we will act generously. It shall only cost
you a crown an hour for conversing with any of our girls that you may
prefer-- that is the ordinary price in Paris.'

"I said not a word of Manon, because I did not wish to let them know of
my passion. They at first supposed it was merely a boyish whim, that
made me think of amusing myself with these creatures but when they
discovered that I was in love, they increased their demands in such a
way, that my purse was completely empty on leaving Mantes, where we had
slept the night before our arrival at Passy.

"Shall I describe to you my heart-rending interviews with Manon during
this journey, and what my sensations were when I obtained from the
guards permission to approach her caravan? Oh! language never can
adequately express the sentiments of the heart; but picture to yourself
my poor mistress, with a chain round her waist, seated upon a handful
of straw, her head resting languidly against the panel of the carriage,
her face pale and bathed with tears, which forced a passage between her
eyelids, although she kept them continually closed. She had not even
the curiosity to open her eyes on hearing the bustle of the guards when
they expected our attack. Her clothes were soiled, and in disorder;
her delicate hands exposed to the rough air; in fine, her whole angelic
form, that face, lovely enough to carry back the world to idolatry,
presented a spectacle of distress and anguish utterly indescribable.

"I spent some moments gazing at her as I rode alongs