s secret, and his
ally, although perhaps but a feeble kind of one. It was through Jacques
that the plan of communication, by means of a nosegay of pinks, had been
devised; and it was Jacques who procured him the last disguise that
Clement was to use in Paris--as he hoped and trusted. It was that of a
respectable shopkeeper of no particular class; a dress that would have
seemed perfectly suitable to the young man who would naturally have worn
it; and yet, as Clement put it on, and adjusted it--giving it a sort of
finish and elegance which I always noticed about his appearance and which
I believed was innate in the wearer--I have no doubt it seemed like the
usual apparel of a gentleman. No coarseness of texture, nor clumsiness
of cut could disguise the nobleman of thirty descents, it appeared; for
immediately on arriving at the place of rendezvous, he was recognized by
the men placed there on Morin's information to seize him. Jacques,
following at a little distance, with a bundle under his arm containing
articles of feminine disguise for Virginie, saw four men attempt
Clement's arrest--saw him, quick as lightning, draw a sword hitherto
concealed in a clumsy stick--saw his agile figure spring to his
guard,--and saw him defend himself with the rapidity and art of a man
skilled in arms. But what good did it do? as Jacques piteously used to
ask, Monsieur Flechier told me. A great blow from a heavy club on the
sword-arm of Monsieur de Crequy laid it helpless and immovable by his
side. Jacques always thought that that blow came from one of the
spectators, who by this time had collected round the scene of the affray.
The next instant, his master--his little marquis--was down among the feet
of the crowd, and though he was up again before he had received much
damage--so active and light was my poor Clement--it was not before the
old gardener had hobbled forwards, and, with many an old-fashioned oath
and curse, proclaimed himself a partisan of the losing side--a follower
of a ci-devant aristocrat. It was quite enough. He received one or two
good blows, which were, in fact, aimed at his master; and then, almost
before he was aware, he found his arms pinioned behind him with a woman's
garter, which one of the viragos in the crowd had made no scruple of
pulling off in public, as soon as she heard for what purpose it was
wanted. Poor Jacques was stunned and unhappy,--his master was out of
sight, on before; and the old gardener