THE BAPTISM OF THE LITTLE BEAUSIRE.
Madame de la Motte had deceived herself on all points, Cagliostro upon
none. Once in the Bastile, he saw a good opportunity for working at the
ruin of the monarchy, which he had been trying to undermine for so many
years. He prepared the famous letter, dated from London, which appeared
a month after. In this letter, after attacking king, queen, cardinal,
and even M. de Breteuil, he said, “Yes, I repeat, now free after my
imprisonment, there is no crime that would not be expiated by six
months in the Bastile. They ask me if I shall ever return to France?
Yes, I reply, when the Bastile becomes a public promenade. You have all
that is necessary to happiness, you Frenchmen; a fertile soil and
genial climate, good hearts, gay tempers, genius, and grace. You only
want, my friends, one little thing—to feel sure of sleeping quietly in
your beds when you are innocent.”
Oliva kept her word faithfully to Cagliostro, and uttered no word that
could compromise him. She threw all the blame on Madame de la Motte,
and asserted vehemently her own innocent participation in what she
believed to be a joke, played on a gentleman unknown to her. All this
time she did not see Beausire, but she had a souvenir of him; for in
the month of May she gave birth to a son. Beausire was allowed to
attend the baptism, which took place in the prison, which he did with
much pleasure, swearing that if Oliva ever recovered her liberty he
would make her his wife.