It was through Jacques that the plan of communication, by means of a nosegay of pinks, had been devised; and it was Jacques who procured him the last disguise that Clement was to use in Paris--as he hoped and trusted.

It was that of a respectable shopkeeper of no particular class; a dress that would have seemed perfectly suitable to the young man who would naturally have worn it; and yet, as Clement put it on, and adjusted it--giving it a sort of finish and elegance which I always noticed about his appearance and which I believed was innate in the wearer--I have no doubt it seemed like the usual apparel of a gentleman.

No coarseness of texture, nor clumsiness of cut could disguise the nobleman of thirty descents, it appeared; for immediately on arriving at the place of rendezvous, he was recognized by the men placed there on Morin's information to seize him.

Jacques, following at a little distance, with a bundle under his arm containing articles of feminine disguise for Virginie, saw four men attempt Clement's arrest--saw him, quick as lightning, draw a sword hitherto concealed in a clumsy stick--saw his agile figure spring to his guard,--and saw him defend himself with the rapidity and art of a man skilled in arms.

But what good did it do?
as Jacques piteously used to ask, Monsieur Flechier told me.