"That should be an easy rôle for me to play, Mercury," said the contrôleur-général, and, with a little bow to Eliza, sat down.
Now—since the ranking man in the room had done it—all others were eager to join in.
"First we enact the simple Bill of Exchange," said Eliza, "which requires only four, plus Mercury. Later we will find rôles for the rest of you." For several had gravitated over from different tables to see what the commotion was about. "This table is Lyon."
"But, Mercury, already I cannot suspend my disbelief, for the contrôleur-général does not go to Lyon," said Pontchartrain.
"We will remedy that in a few minutes, but for now you are in Lyon. Sitting across from you will be Étienne, playing the rôle of Lothar the Banker."
"Why must I have such a ridiculous name?" demanded Étienne.
"It is an excellent name among bankers—Lothar is Ditta di Borsa in Lyon, Bruges, and many other places."
"That means he has impeccable credit among other bankers," said Pontchartrain.
"Very well. As long as the fellow is as well-reputed as you say, I shall accept the rôle," said Étienne, and sat down across the table from Pontchartrain.
"You have money," said Eliza, and used one hand as a rake to sweep a pile of coins across the table so that it ended up piled before Pontchartrain. "And you wish to get it—here!" She strode through the double doors to the Grand Salon where a backgammon game had been abandoned. "Madame de Bearsul, you are a merchant banker in London—this table is London."
Madame de Bearsul approached London with a show of cringing, blushing, and hand-wringing that made Eliza want to slap her. "But, madame, I know nothing of such occupations!"
"Of course not, for you are so well-bred; but just as Kings may play Vagabonds in masques, you are now a merchant banker named Signore Punchinello. Here, Signore Punchinello, is your strong-box." Mercury clapped the backgammon-set closed, imprisoning the game pieces, and handed it to de Bearsul, who with much hair-patting and skirt-smoothing took a seat at London. Monsieur le chevalier d'Erquy pulled her chair out for her, for, anticipating Eliza's next command, he had followed them into the Grand Salon.
"Monsieur, you are Pierre Dubois, a Frenchman in London."
"Miserable fate! Must I be?" complained d'Erquy, to general amusement.
"You must. But you need not sit down yet, for you have not yet made the acquaintance of Signore Punchinello. Instead, you wander about the city like a lost soul, trying to find a decent loaf of bread. Now! Places, everyone!" and she walked back into the Petit Salon, where the Lyon table had been supplied with quills, ink, and paper.
"Monsieur le contrôleur-général, give your silver—which is to say, France's silver—to Lothar the Banker."
"Monsieur, s'il vous plaît," said Pontchartrain, shoving the pile across the table.
"Merci beaucoup, monsieur," said Étienne, a bit uncertainly.
"You must give him more than polite words! Write out the amount, and the word ‘Londres,' and a time, say five minutes in the future."
Étienne dutifully took up his quill and did as he was told, putting down "half past three," as the clock in the corner was currently reading twenty-five minutes past. "To the contrôleur-général give it," said Eliza. "And now you, contrôleur-général, write an address on the back, thus: ‘To Monsieur Pierre Dubois, London.' Meanwhile you, Lothar, must write an avisa addressed to Signore Punchinello in London, containing the same information as is in the Bill."
"The Bill?"
"The document you have given to the contrôleur-général is a Bill of Exchange."
Pontchartrain had finished addressing the Bill, and so Mercury snatched it out of his hand and pranced out of the room and gave it to "Pierre Dubois," who had been watching, bemused, from the doorway. Then she returned to "Lothar," who was writing out the avisa with a good deal more formality than was called for. Mercury jerked it out from under the quill.
"Good heavens, I haven't even finished the Apology yet."
"You must learn better to inhabit the rôle of Lothar. He would not be so discursive," said Mercury, and wafted the avisa out of the room to "Signore Punchinello." "In truth, there would be two or even three copies of the Bill and the avisa both, sent by separate couriers," said Mercury, "but to prevent the masque from becoming tedious we shall only use one. Signore Punchinello! You said earlier you did not know how to play your rôle; but I tell you now that you need only know how to read, and be capable of recognizing Lothar's handwriting. Do you? (The correct answer is ‘Yes, Mercury.')"
"Yes, Mercury."
"Monsieur Dubois, I think you can guess what to do."
Indeed, "Pierre Dubois" now helped himself to a seat at the London table across from "Signore Punchinello," and presented the bill.
"Now, signore," said Eliza to Madame de Bearsul, "you must compare what is written on Monsieur Dubois's Bill to what is in the avisa."
"They are the same," answered "Punchinello."
"Do they appear to have been written in the same hand?"
"Indeed, Mercury, the hands are indistinguishable."
"What time is it?"
"By yonder clock, twenty-eight minutes past the hour of three."
"Then take up yonder quill and write ‘accepted' across the face of the Bill, and sign your name to it."
Madame de Bearsul did so, and then, getting into the spirit of the thing, opened up her backgammon-set and began to count out pieces.
"Not yet!" said Mercury. "That is, it's fine for you to count them out, and make sure you have enough. But good banker that you are, you'll not give them to Monsieur Dubois until the Bill has come due."
But they only had to wait for a few more seconds before the clock bonged twice, signifying half past three; then the backgammon pieces were pushed across the table into the waiting hands of "Pierre Dubois."
"Voilà!" announced Mercury to the audience, which by this point numbered above twenty party-guests. "The first act of our masque draws to a happy ending. Monsieur le contrôleur-général has transferred silver from Lyon to London at no risk, and even converted it to English silver pennies along the way, with practically no effort! All by invoking the supernatural powers of Mercury." And Eliza took a little curtsey, and basked for a few moments in the applause of her guests.
ENTR'ACTE
"I am the contrôleur-général of France, madame; I know what a Bill of Exchange is." This from Pontchartrain, who had maneuvered her into a niche and was muttering out the side of his mouth with uncharacteristic harshness.
"And I know your title and your powers, monsieur," said Eliza.
"Then if you have more to say concerning the Mint, I would fain hear it—"
"In good time, monsieur!"
Madame de Bearsul was pitching a minor scene at "London." Petulance was something she did well. "I have given up my coins to Monsieur Dubois—in exchange for what!?"
"Bills written in the hand of a banker who is Ditta di Borsa—as good as money."
"But they are not money!"
"But Signore Punchinello, you may turn them into money, or other things of value, by taking them to an office of Lothar's concern."
"But he is in Lyon, and I am stuck in London!"
"Actually he is in Leipzig—but never mind, for he maintains an office in London. After the Usurper took the throne, any number of bankers from Amsterdam crossed the sea and established themselves there—"
"Wait! First Lothar was in Lyon—then Leipzig—then Amsterdam—now London?"
"It is all one thing, for Mercury touches all of these places on his rounds." And Eliza thrust an arm into a boozy-smelling phalanx of young men and dragged forth a young Lavardac cousin and bade him sit down near the backgammon table. "This is Lothar's factor in London." She grabbed a second young man who had been snickering at the fate of the first, and stationed him in the short gallery that joined the two salons, calling this Amsterdam.