to his home.  ’It is an act of justice,’ continued he, ’to provide for the girl, if she consents to give up the written promise of marriage which she has received, and I leave it to your discretion to do what is right for her, as well as to determine the sum necessary to bring my son to Madrid in a manner suitable to his condition.  I know not,’ concluded he, ’whether you are a father; if you are, you will be able to sympathise in my anxieties.’  The Count subjoined to this letter an exact description of his son, and the young woman by whom he was accompanied.  On the receipt of this letter, the Marquis lost not a moment in sending to all the inns in Amsterdam, Rotterdam, and the Hague, but in vain—­he could find no trace of them.  He began to despair of success, when the idea struck him that a young French page of his, remarkable for his quickness and intelligence, might be employed with advantage.  He promised to reward him handsomely if he succeeded in finding the young woman, who was the cause of so much anxiety, and gave him the description of her person.  The page visited all the public places for many days, without success; at length, one evening, at the play, he saw a young man and woman, in a box, who attracted his attention.  When he saw that they perceived he was looking at them, and withdrew to the back of the box to avoid his observation, he felt confident that they were the objects of his search.  He did not take his eyes from the box, and watched every movement in it.  The instant the performance ended, he was in the passage leading from the boxes to the door, and he remarked that the young man, who, doubtless, observed the dress he wore, tried to conceal himself, as he passed him, by putting his handkerchief before his face.  He followed him, at a distance, to the inn called the Vicomte de Turenne, which he saw him and the woman enter; and, being now certain of success, he ran to inform the Ambassador.  The Marquis de St. Gilles immediately repaired to the inn, wrapped in a cloak, and followed by his page and two servants.  He desired the landlord to show him to the room of a young man and woman, who had lodged for some time in his house.  The landlord, for some time, refused to do so, unless the Marquis would give their name.  The page told him to take notice that he was speaking to the Spanish Ambassador, who had strong reasons for wishing to see the persons in question.  The innkeeper said they wished not to be known, and that they had absolutely forbidden him to admit anybody into their apartment who did not ask for them by name; but that, since the Ambassador desired it, he would show him their room.  He then conducted them up to a dirty, miserable garret.  He knocked at the door, and waited for some time; he then knocked again pretty loudly, upon which the door was half-opened.  At the sight of the Ambassador and his suite, the person who opened it immediately closed it again, exclaiming that they had made a mistake.