apparently mere supernumeraries in the obscure intrigue of a
conspirator known as Roux de Marsilly.

*The papers are in the Record Office; for the contents see the
following essay, 'The Valet's Master.'

This truly abominable tragedy of Roux de Marsilly is 'another
story,' narrated in the following essay. It must suffice here to
say that, in 1669, while Charles II. was negotiating the famous, or
infamous, secret treaty with Louis XIV.--the treaty of alliance
against Holland, and in favour of the restoration of Roman
Catholicism in England--Roux de Marsilly, a French Huguenot, was
dealing with Arlington and others, in favour of a Protestant league
against France.

When he started from England for Switzerland in February 1669,
Marsilly left in London a valet, called by him 'Martin,' who had
quitted his service and was living with his own family. This man is
the 'Eustache Dauger' of our mystery. The name is his prison
pseudonym, as 'Lestang' was that of Mattioli. The French Government
was anxious to lay hands on him, for he had certainly, as the
letters of Marsilly prove, come and gone freely between that
conspirator and his English employers. How much Dauger knew, what
amount of mischief he could effect, was uncertain. Much or little,
it was a matter which, strange to say, caused the greatest anxiety
to Louis XIV. and to his Ministers for very many years. Probably
long before Dauger died (the date is unknown, but it was more than
twenty-five years after Marsilly's execution), his secret, if secret
he possessed, had ceased to be of importance. But he was now in the
toils of the French red tape, the system of secrecy which rarely