wly after all on the
road; she shall sleep near me during the night, and his majesty must be
very clever if he can exchange a single word with Mademoiselle de la
Valliere."

La Valliere received the order to set off with the same indifferent
gentleness with which she had received the order to remain. But inwardly
her delight was extreme, and she looked upon this change in the
princess's resolution as a consolation which Providence had sent her.
With less penetration than Madame possessed, she attributed all to
chance. While everyone, with the exception of those in disgrace, of
those who were ill, and those who were suffering from sprains, were
proceeding toward Saint-Germain, Malicorne smuggled his workman into the
palace in one of M. de Saint-Aignan's carriages, and led him into the
room corresponding to La Valliere's room. The man set to work, tempted
by the splendid reward which had been promised him. As the very best
tools and implements had been selected from the reserve stock belonging
to the engineers attached to the king's household--and among others a
saw with teeth so sharp and well-tempered that it could, under water
even, cut through oaken joists as hard as iron--the work in question
advanced very rapidly, and a square portion of the ceiling, taken from
between two of the joists, fell into the arms of Saint-Aignan,
Malicorne, the workman, and a confidential valet, the latter being one
brought into the world to see and hear everything, but to repeat
nothing. In accordance with a new plan indicated by Malicorne, the
opening was effected in an angle of the room, and for this reason. As
there was no dressing-closet adjoining La Valliere's room, she had
solicited, and had that very morning obtained, a large screen intended
to serve as a partition. The screen which had been conceded was
perfectly sufficient to conceal the opening, which would, besides, be
hidden by all the artifices which cabinetmakers have at their command.
The opening having been made, the workman glided between the joists, and
found himself in La Valliere's room. When there, he cut a square opening
in the flooring, and out of the boards he manufactured a trap so
accurately fitting into the opening, that the most practiced eye could
hardly detect the necessary interstices made by joining the flooring.
Malicorne had provided for everything: a ring and a couple of hinges,
which had been bought for the purpose, were affixed to the trap-door;
and a