In the conversation which he held with this man, Baulieu said that he
should not take so much care of the child did it not belong to the
most noble house in the Bourbonnais. They reached the village of Che at
midday. The mistress of the house where he put up, who was nursing
an infant, consented to give some of her milk to the child. The poor
creature was covered with blood; she warmed some water, stripped off its
swaddling linen, washed it from head to foot, and swathed it up again
more neatly.

The carrier then took them to Riom. When they got there, Baulieu got rid
of him by giving a false meeting-place for their departure; left in
the direction of the abbey of Lavoine, and reached the village
of Descoutoux, in the mountains, between Lavoine and Thiers. The
Marchioness de Bouille had a chateau there where she occasionally spent
some time.

The child was nursed at Descoutoux by Gabrielle Moini, who was paid
a month in advance; but she only kept it a week or so, because they
refused to tell her the father and mother and to refer her to a place
where she might send reports of her charge. This woman having made these
reasons public, no nurse could be found to take charge of the child,
which was removed from the village of Descoutoux. The persons who
removed it took the highroad to Burgundy, crossing a densely wooded
country, and here they lost their way.

The above particulars were subsequently proved by the nurses, the
carrier, and others who made legal depositions. They are stated at
length here, as they proved very important in the great lawsuit. The
compilers of the case, into which we search for information, have
however omitted to tell us how the absence of the major-domo was