The apartment with the trap-door had another door opening into an
ante-room, and here his servants received their orders.
The "Prince of Silence" rarely spoke to his attendants; he wrote down on
paper what he required and placed it in the letter-box of the door
opening into the ante-room. Then he rang a bell, when a servant would
come and read what he had written and carry out the order accordingly.
The Duke's bedstead was an immense square erection, constructed in an
extraordinary manner. There were large doors to it, so arranged that
when folded it was impossible to know whether the bed was occupied by
its owner.
He was a lonely traveller, and even when he went to Paris would have no
companion with him. His arrangements were made by an _avant courier_,
and when it became known that he had arrived in the gay city, the
English aristocracy paid formal visits to him.
These attentions were too much for his habit of loneliness, and he
vanished to St. Germains. A few weeks' stay here was enough for him, and
he came back to Paris, not lingering more than a couple of days, and
then proceeded by stages to Calais and on to London.
Pages:
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94