'"
Mademoiselle Marguerite was thunderstruck. "Who can have
furnished you with these particulars?" she inquired.
"The Marquis de Valorsay, my dearest; and I will explain how he
was enabled to do so. M. de Fondege wrote the address of his 'old
comrade' on this letter, which was folded and sealed, but not
enclosed in an envelope. M. de Chalusse proposed to post it
himself, so that the official stamp might authenticate its date.
But on reflection, he became uneasy. He felt that this tiny,
perishable scrap of paper would be the only proof of the deposit
which he had confided to M. de Fondege's honor. This scrap might
be lost, burned, or stolen. Then what would happen? He had so
often seen trustees betray the confidence of which they had seemed
worthy. So M. de Chalusse racked his brains to discover a means
of protection from an improbable but possible misfortune. He
found it. Passing a stationer's shop, he went in, purchased one
of those letter-presses which merchants use in their
correspondence, and, under pretext of trying it, took a copy of M.
de Fondege's letter. Having done this, he placed the copy in an
envelope addressed to the Marquis de Valorsay, and, with his heart
relieved of all anxiety, posted it at the same time as the
original letter. A few moments later he got into the cab in which
he was stricken down with apoplexy.
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