arriving
at the close in the time his devouring activity had fixed. But in the
midst of his ardent labor, the soft strokes upon the little bell placed
behind the glass sounded again, hasty, and, consequently, more urgent.

"The lady appears to be impatient," said Fouquet. "Humph! a calm! That
must be the comtesse; but, no, the comtesse is gone to Rambouillet
for three days. The presidente, then? Oh! no, the presidente would not
assume such grand airs; she would ring very humbly, then she would wait
my good pleasure. The greatest certainty is, that I do not know who
it can be, but that I know who it cannot be. And since it is not you,
marquise, since it cannot be you, deuce take the rest!" And he went on
with his work in spite of the reiterated appeals of the bell. At the end
of a quarter of an hour, however, impatience prevailed over Fouquet in
his turn: he might be said to consume, rather than to complete the
rest of his work; he thrust his papers into his portfolio, and giving a
glance at the mirror, whilst the taps continued faster than ever: "Oh!
oh!" said he, "whence comes all this racket? What has happened, and who
can the Ariadne be who expects me so impatiently. Let us see!"

He then applied the tip of his finger to the nail parallel to the one
he had drawn. Immediately the glass moved like a folding-door and
discovered a secret closet, rather deep, into which the superintendent
disappeared as if going into a vast box. When there, he touched another
spring, which opened, not a board, but a block of the wall, and he went
out by that opening, leaving the door to shut of itself. Then Fouquet
descended about a score of steps which sank, winding, underground,
and came to a long, subterranean passage, lighted by imperceptible
loopholes. The walls of this vault were covered with slabs or tiles,
and the floor with carpeting. This passage was under the street itself,
which separated Fouquet's house from the Park of Vincennes. At the end
of the passage ascended a winding staircase parallel with that by which
Fouquet had entered. He mounted these other stairs, entered by means
of a spring placed in a closet similar to that in his cabinet, and from
this closet an untenanted chamber furnished with the utmost elegance.
As soon as he entered, he examined carefully whether the glass
closed without leaving any trace, and, doubtless satisfied with
his observation, he opened by means of a small gold key the triple
fastenings of