of the Lord and the sage Brinon. At the second stage we quarrelled. He
had received four hundred louis d'or for the expenses of the campaign: I
wished to have the keeping of them myself, which he strenuously opposed.
'Thou old scoundrel,' said I, 'is the money thine, or was it given thee
for me? You suppose I must have a treasurer, and receive no money
without his order. I know not whether it was from a presentiment of what
afterwards happened that he grew melancholy; however, it was with the
greatest reluctance, and the most poignant anguish, that he found himself
obliged to yield. One would have thought that I had wrested his very
soul from him. I found myself more light and merry after I had eased him
of his trust; he, on the contrary, appeared so overwhelmed with grief,
that it seemed as if I had laid four hundred pounds of lead upon his
back, instead of taking away these four hundred louis. He went on so
heavily, that I was forced to whip his horse myself, and turning to me,
now and then, 'Ah! sir,' said he, my lady did not think it would be so.
'His reflections and sorrows were renewed at every stage; for, instead of
giving a shilling to the post-boy, I gave him half-a-crown.

"Having at last reached Lyons, two soldiers stopped us at the gate of the
city, to carry us before the governor. I took one of them to conduct me
to the best inn, and delivered Brinon into the hands of the other, to
acquaint the commandant with the particulars of my journey, and my future
intentions.

"There are as good taverns at Lyons as at Paris; but my soldier,
according to custom, carried me to a friend of his own, whose house he
extolled as having the best accommodations, and the greatest resort of
good company, in the whole town. The master of this hotel was as big as
a hogshead, his name Cerise; a Swiss by birth, a poisoner by profession,
and a thief by custom. He showed me into a tolerably neat room, and