第4章

askedherlover。

“Myfriend，“sheresponded，“IweepbecauseIloveyou，shallI

sayit？

IweepbecauseIamhappy。“

Shewasright；happinessisafestivalthatshouldknowno

to-morrow。

Butonthemorrowofherhappiness，theRevolution

knockedatthecastlegateofLucienne。

“Whogoesthere？“

“Iamjustice；preparefordestiny。“

TheQueen，thetruequeen，hadbeengoodtoherastoeverybody。

MarieAntoinetterememberedthatthefavoritehadnotbeenwicked。

ThedebtsofDuBarrywerepaidandmoneyenoughwasgiventoher

sothatshecouldstillgivewithbothhands。

Luciennebecamean

echoofVersailles。

ForeignkingsandParisianphilosopherscame

tochatinitsportals。

MinervavisitedshamelessVenus。

But

wisdomtooknotrootatLucienne。

FortheRevolution，alas！hadtocutoffthischarminghead，

whichwasatonetimetheidealofbeauty——ofcourtbeauty。

MadameduBarrygavehospitalitytothewoundedatthearrestof

thequeen。

“Thesewoundedyouthshavenootherregretthanthat

theyhavenotdiedforaprincesssoworthyasyourMajesty，“she

said。

“WhatIhavedoneforthesebravemenisonlywhatthey

havemerited。

Iconsoledthem，andIrespecttheirwoundswhen

Ithink，Madame，thatwithouttheirdevotion，yourMajestywould

nolongerbealive。

Lucienneisyours，Madame，forwasitnot

yourbeneficencewhichgaveittome？

AllIpossesshascometo

methroughtheroyalfamily。

Ihavetoomuchloyaltytoforgetit。“

ButnegroZamorbecameacitizenlikeMirabeau。

ItwasZamorwho

tooktoDuBarryherlover’shead。

ItwasZamorwhodenouncedher

atthecluboftheJacobins。

“Thefealty(faith)oftheblackmanis

white，“saidthenegro。

Buthelearnedhowtomakeitred。

Jeanne

wasimprisonedandtriedbeforeDumas。

“Yourage？“

“Forty-twoyears。“

Shewasreallyforty-seven。

Coquetryeven

attheguillotine。

Thepublicaccuser，FouquierTinville，wasnotdisarmedbythe

sweetvoluptuousnessstillpossessedbythispaleandalready

fadingbeauty。

Heaccusedheroftreasonagainstthenation。

CouldthedefenderofDuBarry，whohadalsodefendedMarie

Antoinette，findaneloquentword？

No；FouquierTinvillewas

moreeloquentthanChauveau-Lagarde。

Sothemistressof

Louis

wascondemned。

Itwaseleveno’clockintheevening——thehour

forsupperatVersailleswhenshewasqueen！

Shepassedthenightinprayerandweeping，orratherinafrenzy

offright。

Inthemorningshesaiditwas“tooearlytodie“；she

wishedtohavealittletimeinordertomakesomedisclosures。

TheComitesentsomeonetolistentoher。

Whatdidshesay？

SherevealedallthatwashiddenawayatLucienne；shegave

wordbywordaninventoryofthetreasuresshehadconcealed，

forgettingnothing，fordidnoteachwordgiveherasecondoftime？

“Haveyoufinished？“

saidtheinquisitor。

“No，“saidJeanne。

“I

havenotmentionedasilversyringeconcealedunderthestaircase！“

Meanwhilethehorsesofdestinystampedwithimpatience，and

spectatorswereknockingattheprisongate。

Whentheyputher，

alreadyhalfdead，onthelittlecart，shebentherheadandgrew

pale。

TheDuBarryalone——asinnerwithoutredemption。

ShesawthepeopleinthesquareofLouisXV；shestruckher

breastthreetimesandmurmured:“Itismyfault！“

Butthis

Christianresignationabandonedherwhenshemountedthe

scaffold——therewherethestatueofLouisXVhadbeen——andshe

imploredoftheexecutioner:

“Onemoment，Mr。

Executioner！

Onemomentmore！“

ButtheexecutionerwaspitilessSanson。

Itwasblockandthe

knife——withoutthe“onemoment！“

SuchwasthelastbedoftheDuBarry。

HadthealmanacofLiege

onlypredictedtoherthattheonewhowouldleadhertoherbed

forthelasttimewouldnotbeaKingbutacitizenexecutioner，it

mighthavebeen——butwhymoralize？

RobertArnot

TotheReader

AstheearlypartofMadameduBarry’scareerhad

littletodifferentiateitfromthelifeofanordinary

courtezan，theeditorhasdeemeditbesttoconfinethe

memoirstotheyearsinherlifewhichhelpedtomake

*“Editorheremeanstheauthor，whoisassuming

thepersonaoftheeditoroftheComtesse’smemoirs。

LetterfromLebel——VisitfromLebel——Nothingconclusive——Another

visitfromLebel——Invitationtosupwiththeking——Instructionsof

thecomteJeantothecomtesse

OnemorningcomteJeanenteredmyapartment，hisfacebeaming

withdelight。

’Read，“saidhe，givingmealetter，“read，Jeannette:victoryis

ours。

NewsfromMorand。

LebeliscomingtoParis，andwill

dinewithus。

Arewealone？“

“No，therearetwoofyourcountrymenwhomyouinvitedyesterday。“

“Iwillwriteandputthemoff。

Morandalonemustdinewith

Lebel；heoughttohaveaplaceatthefeastwhichhefurnishes

withsuchgoodmusic。

Come，mydeargirl，wetouchthemoment

ofimportance，itisinyourbeautyandpowerofpleasingthatI

placeallmyhopes。

IthinkImayrelyonyou；but，aboveall，do

notforgetthatyouaremysister-in-law。“

“Brother-in-law，“saidI，laughing，“itisnotunnecessarythat

IshouldknowdecidedlytowhichoffamilyIammarried？

The

custominFranceisnotthatawomanbetheundividedproperty

ofthreebrothers。“

“ThatonlyhappensinVenice，“repliedthecomte；“mybrother

Elieistooyoung，youmustbethewifeofGuillaume，mysecond

brother。“

“Verywell；IamthecomtesseGuillaumeduBarry；thatdoes

famouslywell；weliketoknowwhomwearemarriedto。“

Afterthisconversation，comteJeaninsistedonpresidingatmy

toilette。

Heacquittedhimselfofthetask，withamostlaughable

attention。

Duringtwogoodhours，atleast，hetormentedfirst

Henriette，andthenthefemalehairdresser，forIhadnotyet

followedthemode，whichbegantobeverygeneral，ofhaving

myhairdressedbyaman。

ComteJeanpassedalternatelyfrom

mydressing-roomtothekitchen。

HeknewLebelwasagallant

andagourmand*，andhewasanxioustopleasehiminallsenses

atonce。

*Heseemstomean“gourmet“ratherthan“gourmand。“——

Gutenbergeditor

Atoneo’clockIwasunderarms，andpreparedtoreceivehimon

whommydestinydepended。

AssoonasIreachedthedrawing-room，

comteJeancompelledmetosubmittothetestofarigidexamination。

Hisseriousairamusedmemuchashegazedatmesometimein

solemnsilence。

Atlengthhisforeheadrelaxed，asmileof

satisfactionplayedonhislips，andextendinghisarms

tome，withoutventuringtotouchme，“Youarecharming，divine，“

hesaid；“Lebeloughttogoandhanghimselfifhedoesnotfall

downatyourknees。“

Soonafterwardsthefolding-doorswerehastilyopened，anda

servantannouncedM。Lebel，，withM。

Morand。

Thecomtewenttomeetthearrivals，andasInowsaw

Lebelforthefirsttime，hepresentedhimtomeformally。

“Sister，thisisM。Lebel，，whohasdone

usthehonortocomeanddinewithus。“

“Andheconfersarealpleasureonus，“saidI，lookingsmilingly

onM。Lebel。

Mylookhaditseffect，forLebelremainedmuteand

motionlessfromadmirationatmyperson。

Atlengthhestammered

outafewincoherentwords，whichIimaginedtobecompliments。

ThecomtewatchedLebelanxiously，andMorandbegantorub

hishands，saying: