Part 52 (1/2)
”And he does so still”
”He ed his opinion”
”No”
”You are quite sure, then?”
”Quite sure”
”But in case you should have some doubt”
”Well!”
”I can only say that I do not positively assure you that he will come”
”Yet he told you-”
”He certainly did tell me; but you know that man proposes and God disposes,-verba volant, scripta manent”
”Which is as much to say-”
”That what is spoken flies away, and what is written remains; and, as he did not write toto me, 'I will authorize you, yet without specifically instructing you,' youposition”
”What do you authorize ood tenant for them”
”I?”
”Yes, you”
”Never will I do such a thing, monsieur If he has not written to you, he has written to rees with his words”
”These are almost his very words 'To the landlord of the Beau Paon Hotel,-You will have been infored to take place in your inn between some people of importance; I shall be one of those ill meet with the others at Fontainebleau Keep for me, then, a small room for a friend ill arrive either before or after me-' and you are the friend, I suppose,” said the landlord, interrupting his reading of the letter Malicorne bowed e aparte apartment is my own affair, but I wish the price of the smaller room to be moderate, as it is destined for a felloho is deucedly poor' It is still you he is speaking of, is he not?” said the host
”Oh, certainly,” said Malicorne
”Then we are agreed; your friend will settle for his apartment, and you for your own”
”May I be broken alive on the wheel,” said Malicorne to hi at all about it,” and then he said aloud, ”Well, then, are you satisfied with the name?”
”With what naive you the guarantee you require?”
”I was going to ask you the naned?”
”No,” said the landlord, opening his eyes very wide, full of mystery and curiosity
”In that case,” said Malicorne, iiven you his name, you understand, he must have his reasons for it”
”Oh, of course”
”And, therefore, I, his friend, his confidant, ht, monsieur,” said the landlord, ”and I do not insist upon it”
”I appreciate your delicacy As for myself, as my friend told you, my room is a separate affair, so let us co friends How much is it?”
”There is no hurry”
”Never mind, let us reckon it all up all the same Room, my own board, a place in the stable for my horse, and his feed How much per day?”
”Four livres, monsieur”
”Which will make twelve livres for the three days I have been here?”
”Yes, monsieur”
”Here are your twelve livres, then”
”But why settle now?”
”Because,” said Malicorne, lowering his voice, and resorting to his former air of mystery, because he saw that the mysterious had succeeded, ”because if I had to set off suddenly, to decamp at any ht, monsieur”
”I may consider myself at home, then?”
”Perfectly”
”So far so well Adieu!” And the landlord withdrew Malicorne, left alone, reasoned with hi manner: ”No one but De Guiche or Manicamp could have written to this fellow; De Guiche, because he wishes to secure a lodging for himself beyond the precincts of the court, in the event of his success or failure, as the case ht be; Manicamp, because De Guiche must have intrusted hiued in this e apartto the lady in question a double means of exit, either in a street so the forest The sht either shelter Manicamp for a tiilant keeper of the door, or De Guiche hireater safety, the part of a master and confidant at the sa which is to take place, and which has actually taken place, in this hotel? No doubt they are persons who are going to be presented to the king And the 'poor devil,' for whom the smaller room is destined, is a trick, in order to better conceal De Guiche or Manicamp If this be the case, as very likely it is, there is only half the th of a purse string between Manicamp and Malicorne” After he had thus reasoned thethe seven travelers to occupy, and in every sense of the word to walk up and down, their several lodgings in the hotel Whenever there was nothing at court to put him out, when he had wearied hi letters which he could never find an opportunity of delivering to the people they were intended for, he returned ho upon the balcony, which was filled with nasturtiums and white pinks, for whom Fontainebleau seemed to possess no attractions with all its illus went on in this iven such full details, with its night also, in the preceding chapters On that night Malicorne was enjoying the fresh air, seated at his ard one o'clock in the htful and listless air
”Good!” said Malicorne to hilance; ”there's my friend, who is come to take possession of his apartment, that is to say, of my room” And he called to Manicanized Malicorne
”Ah! by Jove!” said the forlad to see you, Malicorne I have been wandering about Fontainebleau, looking for three things I cannot find: De Guiche, a rooive you either good or bad news, for I have not seen him; but as far as concerns your room and a stable, that's another matter, for they have been retained here for you”