Whilst every one at court was busily engaged with his own affairs, a man
mysteriously took up his post behind the Place de Greve, in the house
which we once saw besieged by D'Artagnan on the occasion of the
_emeute_. The principal entrance of the house was in the Place Baudoyer;
it was tolerably large, surrounded by gardens, inclosed in the Rue Saint-
Jean by the shops of toolmakers, which protected it from prying looks,
and was walled in by a triple rampart of stone, noise, and verdure, like
an embalmed mummy in its triple coffin. The man we have just alluded to
walked along with a firm step, although he was no longer in his early
prime. His dark cloak and long sword plainly revealed one who seemed in
search of adventures; and, judging from his curling mustache, his fine
smooth
