Swiss guard, the chief general of the army, and the commander of the
Order of Louis. You see it is a great advantage for a man to be a
lover of the queen, for in that way he comes to a high position.
While King Louis the Fifteenth, that monster of vice, was living,
Besenval was only colonel of the Swiss guard, and all he could do
was once in a while to take part in the orgies at the Eoil de Boeuf.
But now the queen has raised him to a very high place. All St. Cloud
and Trianon form the Eoil de Boeuf, where Marie Antoinette
celebrates her orgies, and General Besenval is made one of the first
directors of the sports. Now you know every thing, do you not?"

"Yes, Doctor Marat, now I have a general run of every thing, and I
thank you; but I hope that you will tell me more this evening, for
your stories are vastly entertaining."

"Yes, indeed, I shall tell you plenty more of the same sort, for the
queen takes good care that we shall always have material for such
stories. Yet, unfortunately, I have no time now, for--"

"I know, I know, you have got to visit your sick people," said
Simon, nodding confidentially to him. "I will not detain you any
longer. Good-by, my dear Doctor Marat. We shall meet this evening."

He sprang quickly away, and soon disappeared round the next corner.
Marat looked after him with a wicked, triumphant expression in his
features.

"So far good, so far good," muttered he, shaking his head with
choler. " In this way I have got to win over the soldiers and the
people to freedom. The cobbler will make an able and practicable