said Madame Dubarry; "you knew Philip de Valois?"
"Madame, I had the honor to be one of the five lords who escorted him off the field of battle; I came to France with the poor old King of Bohemia, who was blind, and who threw away his life when he heard that the battle was lost."
"Ah, sir," said M. de la Pérouse, "how much I regret, that instead of the battle of Cressy, it was not that of Actium at which you assisted."
"Why so, sir?"
"Oh, because you might have given me some nautical details, which, in spite of Plutarch's fine narration, have ever been obscure to me."
"Which, sir? I should be happy to be of service to you."
"Oh, you were there, then, also?"
"No, sir; I was then in Egypt. I had been employed by Queen Cleopatra to restore the library at Alexandria – an office for which I was better qualified than any one else, from having personally known the best authors of antiquity."
"And you have seen Queen Cleopatra?" said Madame Dubarry.
"As I now see you, madame."
"Was she as pretty as they say?"
"Madame, you know beauty is only comparative; a charming queen in Egypt, in Paris she would only have been a pretty grisette."
"Say no harm of grisettes, count."
"God forbid!"
"Then Cleopatra was – "
"Little, slender, lively, and intelligent; with large almond-shaped eyes, a Grecian nose, teeth like pearls, and a hand like your own, countess – a fit hand to hold a scepter. See, here is a diamond which she gave me, and which she had had from her brother Ptolemy; she wore it on her thumb."
"On her thumb?" cried Madame Dubarry.
"Yes; it was an Egyptian fashion; and I, you see, can hardly put it on my little finger;" and taking off the ring, he handed it to Madame Dubarry.
It was a magnificent diamond, of such fine water, and so beautifully cut, as to be worth thirty thousand or forty thousand francs.
The diamond was passed round the table, and returned to Cagliostro, who, putting it quietly on his finger again, said, "Ah, I see well you are all incredulous; this fatal incredulity I have had to contend against all my life. Philip de Valois would not listen to me, when I told him to leave open a retreat to Edward; Cleopatra would not believe me when I warned her that Antony would be beaten: the Trojans would not credit me, when I said to them, with reference to the wooden horse, 'Cassandra is inspired; listen to Cassandra.'"
"Oh! it is charming," said Madame Dubarry, shaking with laughter; "I have never met a man at once so serious and so diverting."
"I assure you," replied Cagliostro, "that Jonathan was much more so. He was really a charming companion; until he was killed by Saul, he nearly drove me crazy with laughing."
"Do you know," said the Duke de Richelieu, "if you go on in this way you will drive poor Taverney crazy; he is so afraid of death, that he is staring at you with all his eyes, hoping you to be an immortal."
"Immortal I cannot say, but one thing I can affirm – "
"What?" cried Taverney, who was the most eager listener.
"That I have seen all the people and events of which I have been speaking to you."
"You have known Montecucully?"
"As well as I know you, M. de Favras; and, indeed, much better, for this is but the second or third time I have had the honor of seeing you, while I lived nearly a year under the same tent with him of whom you speak."
"You knew Philip de Valois?"
"As I have already had the honor of telling you, M. de Condorcet; but when he returned to Paris, I left France and returned to Bohemia."
"And Cleopatra."
"Yes, countess; Cleopatra, I can tell you, had eyes as black as yours, and shoulders almost as beautiful."
"But what do you know of my shoulders?"
"They are like what Cassandra's once were; and there is still a further resemblance, – she had like you, or rather, you have like her, a little black spot on your left side, just above the sixth rib."
"Oh, count, now you really are a sorcerer."
"No, no," cried the marshal, laughing; "it was I who told him."
"And pray how do you know?"
The marshal bit his lips, and replied, "Oh, it is a family secret."
"Well, really, marshal," said the countess, "one should put on a double coat of rouge before visiting you;" and turning again to Cagliostro, "then, sir, you have the art of renewing your youth? For although you say you are three or four thousand years old, you scarcely look forty."
"Yes, madame, I do possess that secret."
"Oh, then, sir, impart it to me."
"To you, madame? It is useless; your youth is already renewed; your age is only what it appears to be, and you do not look thirty."
"Ah! you flatter."
"No, madame, I speak only the truth, but it is easily explained: you have already tried my receipt."
"How so?"
"You have taken my elixir."
"I?"
"You, countess. Oh! you cannot have forgotten it. Do you not remember a certain house in the Rue St. Claude, and coming there on some business respecting M. de Sartines? You remember rendering a service to one of my friends, called Joseph Balsamo, and that this Joseph Balsamo gave you a bottle of elixir, recommending you to take three drops every morning? Do you not remember having done this regularly until the last year, when the bottle became exhausted? If you do not remember all this, countess, it is more than forgetfulness – it is ingratitude."
"Oh! M. Cagliostro, you are telling me things – "
"Which were only known to yourself, I am aware; but what would be the use of being a sorcerer if one did not know one's neighbor's secrets?"
"Then Joseph Balsamo has, like you, the secret of this famous elixir?"
"No, madame, but he was one of my best friends, and I gave him three or four bottles."
"And has he any left?"
"Oh! I know nothing of that; for the last two or three years, poor Balsamo has disappeared. The last time I saw him was in America, on the banks of the Ohio: he was setting off on an expedition to the Rocky Mountains, and since then I have heard that he is dead."
"Come, come, count," cried the marshal; "let us have the secret, by all means."
"Are you speaking seriously, sir?" said Count Haga.
"Very seriously, sire, – I beg pardon, I mean count;" and Cagliostro bowed in such a way as to indicate that his error was a voluntary one.
