vid had one, Barkilphedro
the other. However, to enter straight into a bedchamber was, in the old
code of manners, a thing not in the least out of the way. Thence
resulted incidents. La Ferte, suddenly drawing back the bed curtains of
Mademoiselle Lafont, found inside Sainson, the black musketeer, etc.,
etc.
Barkilphedro excelled in making the cunning discoveries which place the
great in the power of the little. His walk in the dark was winding,
soft, clever. Like every perfect spy, he was composed of the inclemency
of the executioner and the patience of a micograph. He was a born
courtier. Every courtier is a noctambulist. The courtier prowls in the
night, which is called power. He carries a dark lantern in his hand. He
lights up the spot he wishes, and remains in darkness himself. What he
seeks with his lantern is not a man, it is a fool. What he finds is the
king.
Kings do not like to see those about them pretend to greatness. Irony
aimed at any one except themselves has a charm for them. The talent of
Barkilphedro consisted in a perpetual dwarfing of the peers and princes
to the advantage of her Majesty's stature, thus increased in proportion.
The master-key held by Barkilphedro was made with two sets of wards, one
at each end, so as to open the inner apartments in both Josiana's
favourite residences--Hunkerville House in London, Corleone Lodge at
Windsor. These two houses were part of the Clancharlie inheritance.
Hunkerville House was close to Oldgate. Oldgate was a gate of London,
which was entered by the Harwich road, and on which was displayed a
statue of Charles II., with a painted angel on his head, and beneath his
feet a carved lion and unicorn. From Hunkerville House, in an easterly
wind, you heard the peals of St. Marylebone. Corleone Lodge was a
Florentine palace of brick and stone, with a marble colonnade, built on
pilework, at Windsor, at the head of the wooden bridge, and having one
of the finest courts in England.
In the latter palace, near Windsor Castle, Josiana was within the
queen's reach. Nevertheless, Josiana liked it.
Scarcely anything in appearance, everything in the root, such was the
influence of Barkilphedro over the queen. There is nothing more
difficult than to drag up these bad grasses of the court--they take a
deep root, and offer no hold above the surface. To root out a
Roquelaure, a Triboulet, or a Brummel, is almost impossible.
From day to day, and more and more, did the qu
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