He did not recognize me, but looked at us with sidelong
curiosity. 'I am,' said I, throwing back my cloak, 'a dancer, and
I have come to dance before the Intendant and his guests.' 'His
Excellency does not expect you?' he asked. 'His Excellency has
many times asked Madame Jamond to dance before him,' I replied. He
was at once all complaisance, but his face was troubled. 'You come
from Monsieur Voban?' he inquired. 'From Monsieur Voban,' answered
I. 'He has gone to General Montcalm.' His face fell, and a kind of
fear passed over it. 'There is no peril to any one save the English
gentleman,' I urged. A light dawned on him. 'You dance until the
General comes?' he asked, pleased at his own penetration. 'You will
take me at once to the dining-hall,' said I, nodding. 'They are
in the Chambre de la Joie,' he rejoined. 'Then the Chambre de la
Joie,' said I; and he led the way. When we came near the chamber,
I said to him, 'You will tell the Intendant that a lady of some
gifts in dancing would entertain his guests; but she must come
and go without exchange of individual courtesies, at her will.
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