have therefore persuaded him to travel for some time; movement and change
of scene will be favorable to him. I shall take him first to Nice; we set
out tomorrow. If he wishes to prolong this excursion. I shall do so too,
for my affairs do not imperiously demand my presence in Paris before the
end of March. As for the service I have to ask of you, it is conditional.
These are the facts. According to some family papers that belonged to my
mother, it seems I have a certain interest to present myself at No. 3,
Rue Saint-Francois, in Paris, on the 13th of February. I had inquired
about it, and could learn nothing, except that this house of very antique
appearance, has been shut up for the last hundred and fifty years,
through a whim of one of my maternal ancestors, and that it is to be
opened on the 13th of this month, in presence of the co-heirs who, if I
have any, are quite unknown to me. Not being able to attend myself, I
have written to my foreman, the father of General Simon, in whom I have
the greatest confidence, and whom I had left behind in the department of
the Creuse, to set out for Paris, and to be present at the opening of
this house, not as an agent (which would be useless), but as a spectator,
and inform me at Nice what has been the result of this romantic notion of
my ancestor's. As it is possible that my foreman may arrive too late to
accomplish this mission, I should be much obliged if you would inquire at
my house at Plessy, if he has yet come, and, in case of his still being
absent, if you would take his place at the opening of the house in the
Rue Saint-Francois. I believe that I have made a very small sacrifice for
my friend Bressac, in not being in Paris on that day. But had the
sacrifice been immense, I should have made it with pleasure, for my care
and friendship are at present most necessary to the man whom I look upon
as a brother. I count upon your compliance with my request, and, begging
you to be kind enough to write me, 'to be called for,' at Nice, the
result of your visit of inquiry, I remain, etc., etc.