第8章

barondeGonesserelatedtousacircumstancewhichhadjust

beencommunicatedtohimbyacountymagistrate。

Imusthere

apprizethereaderthattheseadministratorsofjusticewere

directedtocollectallthefacts，scandalous，horrible，ridiculous，

orpiquant，whichoccurredwithintheirjurisdiction，inorderthat，

beingforwardedtotheking，theymightaidindistractinghis

mindfromtheheavycaresofgovernment。

Alas！howmanystrange

andeventfulthingshaveIsincelearnedbysimilarchannels。

Thesupperterminated，theking’sfriendsremainedsometime

conversingwithus。

Whilstthesenoblemenwerebusilycelebrating

mypraisesinwordssufficientlyloudtoreachtheking’sear，the

barondeGonesse，standingbymyside，wasprosecutinghissuit

inthemostardentterms。

Ireceivedhisovertureswithbecoming

graceandmodesty。

AsIhavebeforesaid，theexterioroftheking

wasveryprepossessing，andwhathewantedinyouth，hemadeup

byallthematuregracesofdignifiedroyalty。

AtlastLebel

appeared，andmademeasigntorisefrommyseat。

Uptothis

periodnothinghadarisentobetraytheincognitooftheaugust

monarch，andinordertokeepupmypretendedignoranceofhis

grandeur，Iquittedtheapartmentwithlittleceremony。

Lebel

conductedmetoanadjoiningchamber，furnishedwiththeutmost

magnificence。

Whenwewereseated，heturnedtothecomteJean，

whohadfollowedus，andsaid，“Itrestswithyourselfwhetheryou

willreturntoParis，orremainatVersailles。

Butasfor，

whoseemsmuchfatigued，shewill，wetrust，honorusbyaccepting

abedatthecastle。“

Myself-createdbrother-in-lawunderstoodaswellasIdidthe

significanceofthesewords，andclearlyreadintheirimporthow

farIhadattractedthefavoroftheking。

Inordertohave

renderedtheimpressionmorelasting，wecouldhavewishedthat

mattershadbeenlessprecipitated，butwewereunderaroof

whereeverythingyieldedtothecapricesofitsmaster，and

resignationtohiswillbecameamatterofcourse。

AndhereI

trustImaybepardonedifIpassovercertaindetailswhich

couldnot，atthislapseoftime，interestoramuseanyone；

besides，altho’Ihavefoundnodifficultyinrecitingformer

eventsofmylife，Ifindmypenmoreprudishandcoythanwere

myearsormouth。

AllIshallsayis，thatthefollowingday，as

soonasIwasleftaloneinmychamber，Lebelentered，and

prostratinghimselfatthesideofmybed，——

“Madamelacomtesse，“saidhe，“isqueenandmistresshere。

Not

onlyhasyournobleloverfailedtocommunicatetometheusual

signalofdisgustordislike，buthehasspokenofyoutomeinthe

mostfavorablelight，declaring，that，forthefirsttimeinhislife，

hefelttheinfluenceofatrueandsincereaffection；forthis

reasonhedesiredIwouldnotconveytoyouthecontentsof

thiscasket，asoriginallyintended。“

“Andwhatdoesitcontain？“

askedI，withchildisheagerness。

“Oh，atrifleunworthyofherwhoisnowthemistressofhis

warmestlove；onlyapursecontainingahundredlouis，anda

suitofemeraldsworthasimilarsum。

Hebademesayitmight

haveservedtorecompenseamerefleetingfancy，butthatitis

unworthyofyourcharms，norcanheinsultyoubytheofferofit。“

“Willhethenseemeagain？“inquiredI。

“To-morrowevening，ifagreeabletoyou。“

“Onlysaythathiswishesaremine。“

“WouldyouwishtoseethecomteJeanbeforeyourise？

Hehas

beenwaitingwiththeutmostimpatiencetoseeyousinceseven

o’clockthismorning。“

“Lethimcomein。“

Thecomteentered，andIsawbythetriumphantjoypaintedon

hisface，thatLebelhadtoldhimofpropitiousstateofthings。

Heranuptomewithoutstretchedarms，congratulatingmeupon

mysuccess，andputtingatthesametimeseveralquestions，to

which，eitherfrommerewomanlycaprice，orpresumingupon

myrecentelevationtothecharacterofprimefavorite，Irefused

toreply。

Myfollydrewdownonmehissevereanger，andseveraloaths

escapedhislips，which，echoedbackbywallssounusedtosimilar

violence，struckLebelwithterror。

Thatfaithfulallyplacedhis

handoverhismouth，imploringofhimtorecollecthimself，and

theplacehewasin。

Asforme，dreadingsomefoolishburstof

hisimpetuosity，Itriedsomeofmysweetestsmiles，andinviting

himtositbesideme，relatedtohimandLebelthoseparticulars

whichmypenrefusestoretrace。

Amongstotherthings，Itold

themIhadsaidtotheking，thatIhadperfectlyknownwhohe

wasalltheprecedingeveningwhensuppingwithhim，andthathe

hadthesimplicitytosay，“hewassurprisedIhadnotappeared

moreembarrassedinhispresence。“

Ourconversationterminated，IwishedtoreturntoParis，andI

was，withoutfurtherhindrance，allowedtodepart。

Scarcelyhad

Iarrivedthereanhour，thanIreceivedfromhismajestya

magnificentdiamondagraffe，worthatleast60，000francs，and

banknotestotheamountof200，000livres。

ComteJeanandmyselfwerewellnighstupefiedwithastonishment

atthesightofsuchtreasures；tous，whohadneverinourlives

possessedsuchsums，theyappearedinexhaustible。

Mybrother-in-law

dividedthemintotwoequalportions，oneofwhichheputinto

hispocket，andtheotherintomy。

Withthisarrangement

Ididnotinterfere；nothingseemedtomemoresimplethanthathe

shouldsatisfyhisneedoutofmysuperfluity。

Ibestowedtwo

thousandcrownsuponHenriette，andexpendedinthecourseof

thedayatleastaquarterofmyrichesintrifles，asunnecessary

asuseless；andallthiswithoutoncerememberingthatasIowed

mypresentabundancetoamomentaryinclinationonthepartof

theking，sotheturnofanhour，orafreshfancyonthepartof

mymunificentadorer，mightreducemetotheunprovidedstate

inwhichIhadbeensolately。

Thateveningwaspassed

tete-a-tetewithcomteJean；hethought，asIdid，thatthe

foundationofourtreasurewasfirmasarock，andhegaveme

manycounselsforthefuturewhichIpromisedtoobserve；for

indeeditwastomyowninteresttodoso。

Uponhowmanyfollies

didwethendebate，which，butafewdaysafterwardswefound

practicable。

Thedifferentministerspassedinreviewbeforeus；

somewedetermineduponretaining，whilstothersweredismissed，

andalreadyIbeganinideatoactwithsovereignpoweroverthese

illustriouspersonages，amongstwhomIanticipatedshortlyplaying

soimportantapart。

“Afterall，“saidI，“theworldisbutan

amusingtheatre，andIseenoreasonwhyaprettywomanshould

notplayaprincipalpartinit。“

Theking’smessage——Letterfromthecountess——Asecondsupperat

Versailles——Theducd’Ayen——AshortaccountofM。deFleury——The

ducdeDuras-Conversationwiththeking——Thenextday——Avisit

fromtheducdeRichelieu——VisitfromtheducdelaVauguyon——Visit

fromcomteJean——Visitfromtheking——Athirdsupper——Favor

EarlythefollowingdayIreceivedamessagefromtheking，

accompaniedwithabouquetofflowerstiedroundwithastring

ofdiamonds。

Ashortletterwasannexedtothissplendidgift，

whichIwouldtranscribehere，haditnotbeentakenfromme

withmanyothers。

Myreply，whichIwroteuponthespurofthe

moment，wasconcise，and，asIpreservedtheroughcopy，under

theimpressionofitsbeingonedayuseful，Icangivethereader

theexactwords。

“Thebillettracedbyyournoblehands，rendersme

thehappiestofwomen。

Myjoyisbeyonddescription。

Thanks，monsieurleBaron，foryourcharmingflowers。

Alas！

theywillbefadedandwitheredbyto-morrow，

butnotsofleetingandshort-livedarethesentiments

withwhichyouhaveinspiredme。

Believeme，the

desireyouexpresstoseemeagainisentirelymutual；

andintheimpatiencewithwhichyouawaitournext

interview，Ireadbutmyownsentiments。

Theardor

withwhichyoulongtoembraceme，isfullyequalled

bytheaffectionwhichleadsmetodesirenogratification

greaterthanthatofpassingmywholelifeinyour

society。

Adieu，monsieurlebaron；youhaveforbidden

myaddressingyouasyourrankandmyrespectwould

haveme，Iwillthereforecontentmyselfwithassuring

youoftheardentaffectionofthe

“COMTESSEDuBarry。“

ThesignatureIadoptedwasaboldpieceoffalsehood，butit

wastoolatetorecede；besides，Iwasaddressingmyselfinmy

letter，nottotheking，buttothebarondeGonesse；forLouis，

byIknownotwhatunaccountablecaprice，seemedtowishto

preservehisincognito。

IhavesincelearnedthatFrancisI

assumedthesamename，altho’uponaverydifferentoccasion。

ReplyingtoaletterfromCharlesV，inwhichthatemperorhad

givenhimselfalongstringofhighsoundingtitles，hecontented

himselfwithsimplysigninghisletter，“<“Fran？ois，baronde

Gonesse。>“LouisXVwasveryfondofborrowedappellations。

Unlikethevanitysocommontomankind，ofseekingtosetoff

theirpretensionsbyassumedtitles，itisthepleasureofroyalty

todescendtoalowergradeinsocietywhenconcealmentbecomes

desirable，eitherfrompolicyorpleasure；andLouissoughtinthe

familiarityinwhichaplainbaronmightsafelyindulge，arelief

fromtheennuiattendantupontherigidetiquetteofaregal

state。

Ihadomittedinmylettertothebaron，toremindhim

thatweweretomeetthatveryevening，butthatdidnotprevent

myrepairingtoVersaillespunctuallyattheappointedhour。