beausire had followed the advice of the blue domino, and repaired to the place of meeting in the rue du pôt au fer. he was frightened by the apparent exclusion which his companions had seemed to meditate, in not communicating their plans to him; and he knew none of them to be particularly scrupulous. he had acquired the reputation among them of a man to be feared; it was not wonderful, as he had been a soldier, and worn a uniform. he knew how to draw his sword, and he had a habit of looking very fierce at the slightest word that displeased him—all things which appear rather terrifying to those of doubtful courage, especially when they have reason to shun the éclat of a duel and the curiosity of the police.
beausire counted, therefore, on revenging himself by frightening them a little. it was a long way, but beausire had money in his pocket; so he took a coach, promised the driver an extra franc to go fast, and, to make up for the absence of his sword, he assumed as fierce a look as he could on entering the room.
it was a large hall, full of tables, at which were seated about twenty players, drinking beer or syrups, and smiling now and then on some highly rouged women who sat near them. they were playing faro at the principal table, but the stakes were low, and the excitement small in proportion.
on the entrance of the domino, all the women smiled on him, half in raillery, and half in coquetry, for m. beausire was a favorite among them. however, he advanced in silence to the table without noticing any one.
one of the players, who was a good-humored looking fellow, said to him, “corbleu, chevalier, you come from the ball looking out of sorts.”
“is your domino uncomfortable?” said another.
“no, it is not my domino,” replied beausire, gruffly.
“oh!” said the banker, “he has been unfaithful to us; he has been playing somewhere else and lost.”
“it is not i who am unfaithful to my friends; i am incapable of it. i leave that to others.”
“what do you mean, dear chevalier?”
“i know what i mean,” replied he; “i thought i had friends here.”
“certainly,” replied several voices.
“well, i was deceived.”
“how?”
“you plan things without me.”
several of the members began to protest it was not true.
“i know better,” said beausire; “and these false friends shall be punished.” he put his hand to his side to feel for his sword, but, as it was not there, he only shook his pocket, and the gold rattled.
“oh, oh!” said the banker, “m. beausire has not lost. come, will you not play?”
“thanks,” said beausire; “i will keep what i have got.”
“only one louis,” said one of the women, caressingly.
“i do not play for miserable louis,” said he. “we play for millions here to-night—yes, gentlemen, millions.”
he had worked himself up into a great state of excitement, and was losing sight of all prudence, when a blow from behind made him turn, and he saw by him a great dark figure, stiff and upright, and with two shining black eyes. he met beausire’s furious glance with a ceremonious bow.
“the portuguese!” said beausire.
“the portuguese!” echoed the ladies, who abandoned beausire to crowd round the newcomer, he being their especial pet, as he was in the habit of bringing them sweetmeats, sometimes wrapped up in notes of forty or fifty francs. this man was one of the twelve associates.
he was used as a bait at their society. it was agreed that he should lose a hundred louis a week as an inducement to allure strangers to play. he was, therefore, considered a useful man. he was also an agreeable one, and was held in much consideration.
beausire became silent on seeing him.
the portuguese took his place at the table, and put down twenty louis, which he soon lost, thereby making some of those who had been stripped before forget their losses.
all the money received by the banker was dropped into a well under the table, and he was forbidden to wear long sleeves, lest he should conceal any within them, although the other members generally took the liberty of searching both sleeves and pockets before they left.
several now put on their great-coats and took leave—some happy enough to escort the ladies.
a few, however, after making a feint to go, returned into another room; and here the twelve associates soon found themselves united.
“now we will have an explanation,” said beausire.
“do not speak so loud,” said the portuguese in good french. then they examined the doors and windows to make certain that all was secure, drew the curtain close, and seated themselves.
“i have a communication to make,” said the portuguese; “it was lucky, however, i arrived when i did, for m. beausire was seized this evening with a most imprudent flow of eloquence.”
beausire tried to speak.
“silence,” said the portuguese; “let us not waste words: you know my ideas beforehand very well; you are a man of talent, and may have guessed it, but i think ‘amour propre’ should never overcome self-interest.”
“i do not understand.”
“m. beausire hoped to be the first to make this proposition.”
“what proposition?” cried the rest.
“concerning the two million francs,” said beausire.
“two million francs!” cried they.
“first,” said the portuguese, “you exaggerate; it is not as much as that.”
“we do not know what you are talking of,” said the banker.
“but are not the less all ears,” said another.
the portuguese drank off a large glass of orgeat, and then began: “the necklace is not worth more than 1,500,000 francs.”
“oh, then it concerns a necklace?” said beausire.
“yes, did you not mean the same thing?”
“perhaps.”
“now he is going to be discreet after his former folly,” said the portuguese; “but time presses, for the ambassador will arrive in eight days.”
“this matter becomes complicated,” said the banker; “a necklace! 1,500,000 francs! and an ambassador! pray explain.”
“in a few words,” said the portuguese; “mm. bœhmer and bossange offered to the queen a necklace worth that sum. she refused it, and now they do not know what to do with it, for none but a royal fortune could buy it. well, i have found the royal personage who will buy this necklace, and obtain the custody of it from mm. bœhmer and bossange; and that is my gracious sovereign the queen of portugal.”
“we understand it less than ever,” said the associates.
“and i not at all,” thought beausire; then he said aloud, “explain yourself clearly, dear m. manoël; our private differences should give place to the public interests. i acknowledge you the author of the idea, and renounce all right to its paternity. therefore speak on.”
“willingly,” said manoël, drinking a second glass of orgeat; “the embassy is vacant just now; the new ambassador, m. de souza, will not arrive for a week. well, he may arrive sooner.”
they all looked stupefied but beausire, who said, “do you not see some ambassador, whether true or false?”
“exactly,” said manoël; “and the ambassador who arrives may desire to buy this necklace for the queen of portugal, and treat accordingly with mm. bœhmer and bossange; that is all.”
“but,” said the banker, “they would not allow such a necklace to pass into the hands of m. de souza himself without good security.”
“oh, i have thought of all that; the ambassador’s house is vacant, with the exception of the chancellor, who is a frenchman, and speaks bad portuguese, and who is therefore delighted when the portuguese speak french to him, as he does not then betray himself; but who likes to speak portuguese to the french, as it sounds grand. well, we will present ourselves to this chancellor with all the appearances of a new legation.”
“appearances are something,” said beausire: “but the credentials are much more.”
“we will have them,” replied manoël.
“no one can deny that don manoël is an invaluable man,” said beausire.
“well, our appearances, and the credentials having convinced the chancellor of our identity, we will establish ourselves at the house.”
“that is pretty bold,” said beausire.
“it is necessary, and quite easy,” said manoël; “the chancellor will be convinced, and if he should afterwards become less credulous, we will dismiss him. i believe an ambassador has the right to change his chancellor.”
“certainly.”
“then, when we are masters of the hotel, our first operation will be to wait on mm. bœhmer and bossange.”
“but you forget one thing,” said beausire; “our first act should be to ask an audience of the king, and then we should break down. the famous riza bey, who was presented to louis xiv. as ambassador from the shah of persia, spoke persian at least, and there were no savants here capable of knowing how well; but we should be found out at once. we should be told directly that our portuguese was remarkably french, and we should be sent to the bastile.”
“we will escape this danger by remaining quietly at home.”
“then m. bœhmer will not believe in our ambassadorship.”
“m. bœhmer will be told that we are sent merely to buy the necklace. we will show him our order to do this, as we shall before have shown it to the chancellor, only we must try to avoid showing it to the ministers, for they are suspicious, and might find a host of little flaws.”
“oh yes,” cried they all, “let us avoid the ministers.”
“but if mm. bœhmer and bossange require money on account?” asked beausire.
“that would complicate the affair, certainly.”
“for,” continued beausire, “it is usual for an ambassador to have letters of credit, at least, if not ready money; and here we should fail.”
“you find plenty of reasons why it should fail,” said manoël, “but nothing to make it succeed.”
“it is because i wish it to succeed that i speak of the difficulties. but stop—a thought strikes me: in every ambassador’s house there is a strong box.”
“yes; but it may be empty.”
“well! if it be, we must ask mm. bœhmer and bossange who are their correspondents at lisbon, and we will sign and stamp for them letters of credit for the sum demanded.”
“that will do,” said manoël, “i was engrossed with the grand idea, but had not sufficiently considered the details.”
“now, let us think of arranging the parts,” said beausire. “don manoël will be ambassador.”
“certainly,” they all said.
“and m. beausire my secretary and interpreter,” said manoël.
“why so?” said beausire, rather uneasily.
“i am m. de souza, and must not speak a word of french; for i know that that gentleman speaks nothing but portuguese, and very little of that. you, on the contrary, m. beausire, who have traveled, and have acquired french habits, who speak portuguese also——”
“very badly,” said beausire.
“quite enough to deceive a parisian; and then, you know, the most useful agents will have the largest shares.”
“assuredly,” said the others.
“well! it is agreed; i am secretary and interpreter. then as to the money?”
“it shall be divided into twelve parts; but i as ambassador and author of the scheme shall have a share and a half; m. beausire the same, as interpreter, and because he partly shared my idea; and also a share and a half to him who sells the jewels.”
“so far, then, it is settled! we will arrange the minor details to-morrow, for it is very late,” said beausire, who was thinking of oliva, left at the ball with the blue domino, towards whom, in spite of his readiness in giving away louis d’or, he did not feel very friendly.
“no, no; we will finish at once,” said the others. “what is to be prepared?”
“a traveling carriage, with the arms of m. de souza,” said beausire.
“that would take too long to paint and to dry,” said manoël.
“then we must say that the ambassador’s carriage broke down on the way, and he was forced to use that of the secretary: i must have a carriage, and my arms will do for that. besides, we will have plenty of bruises and injuries on the carriage, and especially round the arms, and no one will think of them.”
“but the rest of the embassy?”
“we will arrive in the evening; it is the best time to make a début, and you shall all follow next day, when we have prepared the way.”
“very well.”
“but every ambassador, besides a secretary, must have a valet de chambre. you, captain,” said don manoël, addressing one of the gang, “shall take this part.”
the captain bowed.
“and the money for the purchases?” said manoël. “i have nothing.”
“i have a little,” said beausire, “but it belongs to my mistress. what have we in our fund?”
“your keys, gentlemen,” said the banker.
each drew out a key, which opened one of twelve locks in the table; so that none of these honest associates could open it without all the others. they went to look.
“one hundred and ninety-eight louis, besides the reserve fund,” said the banker.
“give them to m. beausire and me. it is not too much,” said manoël.
“give us two-thirds, and leave the rest,” said beausire, with a generosity which won all their hearts.
don manoël and beausire received, therefore, one hundred and thirty-two louis and sixty-six remained for the others.
they then separated, having fixed a rendezvous for the next day.
beausire rolled up his domino under his arm, and hastened to the rue dauphine, where he hoped to find oliva in possession of some new louis d’or.
