then, caused me unmingled satisfaction.  But, having learnt that he was so blinded by passion as to intend to marry this girl, and that he had even bound himself by a written promise to that effect, I solicited the King to have her placed in confinement.  My son, having got information of the steps I had taken, defeated my intentions by escaping with the object of his passion.  For more than six months I have vainly endeavoured to discover where he has concealed himself, but I have now some reason to think he is at the Hague.  The Count earnestly conjured the Marquis to make the most rigid search, in order to discover his son’s retreat, and to endeavour to prevail upon him to return 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 bog, 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