Page:The Story of Manon Lescaut and of the Chevalier des Grieux.pdf/127

Rh any one else, would add much to my own peace of mind; and this was to send word to one of my friends, a pious priest who lived at St. Sulpice, that I was at St. Lazare; and to permit me occasionally to receive his visits. This indulgence was accorded me without hesitation.

My friend Tiberge was the one whom I had in mind; not that I hoped to obtain from him the assistance I needed in order to regain my liberty; but I wished to make use of him as an indirect and unconscious instrument for the attainment of my purpose. In a word, my project was to write to Lescaut, entrusting to him and our mutual friends the task of setting me free. The first difficulty was to get my letter into his hands. That office Tiberge must perform. Knowing as he did, however, that Lescaut was my mistress's brother, I feared that he would have some scruples about undertaking this commission. My plan was to enclose my letter to Lescaut in another, to be directed to a respectable acquaintance of mine, with a request that he would immediately deliver the first letter at its address. It was necessary for me to see Lescaut, in order that we might concert measures together; and my object in writing was to tell him to call upon me at St. Lazare, under pretence of being my eldest brother