I believed all this, and like her devoted slave I did all that she
asked of me."
"Slavish soul!" cried the countess, with an expression of
unspeakable scorn.
"What did the countess desire of you?" asked the president. "What
did you do in her service?"
"I wrote the letters which were intended for the cardinal," answered
Retaux de Vilette. "The countess composed them, and I wrote them in
the handwriting of the queen."
"How did you know her handwriting?"
"The countess gave me a book in which a letter of the queen's was
printed in exact imitation of her hand. I copied the letters as
nearly as I could, and so worked out my sentences."
"He lies, he lies!" cried the countess, with a fierce gesture.
"And how was it with the promissory note to the jewellers, Bohmer
and Bassenge? Do you know about that?"
"Yes," answered Retaux, with a sigh, "I do know about it, for I
wrote it at the direction of the countess, and added the signature."
"Had you a copy?"
"Yes, the signature of the fac-simile."
"In the printed letter was there the subscription which you
inserted?"
"No, there was only the name 'Marie Antoinette,' nothing further;
but the countess thought that this was only a confidential way of
writing her name, as a daughter might use it in a letter to a mother
(it was a letter written by the queen to her mother), but that in a
document of a more business-like character there must be an official
signature.
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