第12章

isall-powerful，butIwillnotemployitunseasonably

orimproperly。

IknowthatIneedthecounselsof

anhonorable，prudent，andwell-informedman。

Iaccept，

therefore，ofyours；Ievenaskthemfromyou，ifyour

friendshipgoalongwiththem。

Adieu，monsieur。

My

regardsareduetoyouruncle，themarechal，the

firsttimeyouwritetohim。“

Thisletterfilledtheducd’Aiguillonwithjoy。

Somedays

afterwards，theprincedeSoubise，whoalsowishedtogiveme

hisadvice，didnotattainthesamesuccess。

Itmustbeowned，

that，foramanoftheworld，hewentaboutitinaveryclumsy

way。

Hecommittedtheextremeerrorofselectingmademoiselle

Guimardasmediatrixbetweenhimselfandme。

Thisladycameto

meonthestrengthofourformeracquaintance；shehadsolittle

senseasnottoperceivetheimmensedistancebetweenuswhicha

fewdayshadcaused，andthattheopera-dancerkeptbytheprince

deSoubisecouldhavenorelationwiththefavoriteoftheking

ofFrance。

Iendeavored，invain，tomakeherperceiveit，without

mortifyinghertoomuch。

Shealwayscalledmeherdearfriend，

andfairlyslaughteredmewithsayingthatprincewould

protectme。

Itwassingularforhertospeakthustome；tome

fromwhomprincesolicitedprotection。

Shedidnotconfine

herselftothis，sheeveninsinuatedtomethatIshouldbea

gainerinsomeway。

Ilaughedoutrightatthis，andsaidtothe

，whowasstationedatthedoor，“Call

mademoiselle’sservants。“

Thisannoyedherexcessively；allthe

musclesofherfacewerecontractedwithrage；butsherestrained

herwrath，salutedmewithanassumedrespect，andwentaway，

afterhavingsoworthilyacquittedherselfofherfoolishembassy。

Shehadquittedmeforanhour，whenIreceivedaletterfrom

himwhohadsenther。

TheprincedeSoubisebeggedmetogrant

himaninterview，inwhichhecouldenterintoanexplanation。

I

repliedthatIwouldreceivehim，andhecamethesameday。

“Iammuchpained，madame，“saidhe，onentering，“that

mademoiselleGuimardhascommunicatedwithsolittleaddress

whatIwishedtosaytoyou。“

“Prince，Ithinkyouwouldhavedonebettertohavebeenthebearer

ofyourownmessage。

Youknowmystationhere，andwouldnot

haveridiculedmeasshehasdone。“

M。deSoubise，muchpuzzledtoknowwhatshehadsaid，askedme

thequestion。

“Why，“Ireplied，“shesaid，thatifIwouldfollowyourcounsels，

youwouldpaymeformycondescension。“

“Ah！

madame，“heexclaimed，“shehascompletelymurderedme。

Ionlychargedhertooffermyservicestoyou，andthrowmyself

atyourfeet，asIdonow。“

“Rise，prince，Idonotaccuseyouofsuchfolly，andpromise

nottomentionit:itisnecessary，however，thatyoushouldknow

Ihavebutoneparttoplayhere，thatofpleasingtheking。

Any

othercharacterwillnotsuitme。

Honormewithyourfriendship，

andacceptmineinreturn。

Icannot，mustnot，haveanyotherunion

withyou。“

Thusterminatedthisinterview；itdidnotsuitmetogivethe

princedeSoubiseanyhopes。

HeandalltheRohanswouldhave

livedonit；theywouldhaveturnedmyconfidencetotheirgain，

andastheywereforthemostpartsharpers，orsomethingakinto

it，mynamewouldsoonhavebeenmixedupwithsomedirtytransaction。

Hisfamilywasahydraofavarice，andwouldalonehaveswallowed

upallthewealthofFrance。

IfthekinghadtakenoneoftheRohan

familyforhismistress，Ibelievethatthefinancedepartment

wouldnothavesufficedforoneyear’sexpenditureofthisprodigal

family。

IhadnoobjectiontotheprincedeSoubisecomingto

supperwithme，butIdidnotfeelmyselfdisposedtogivehim

anycontrolovermymind。

Ishouldhavebeenill-guidedbya

manwhohadnogovernmentofhimself。

IfM，deSoubisedidnotdepartsatisfied，madamedeMarsan，his

relative，towhomherelatedthebadsuccessofhisattempt，was

notmoreso。

Shewasawomantohavegovernedakingdom，hadshe

beenallowedtodoso。

Therewasinherwoman’sheadacapacity

superiortothatofallthemenofherfamily。

Shehadagreatdeal

ofambition，andallheractionsweretheresultsofapremeditated

plan。

Shewouldhaveruledtheking，theprinces，theprincesses，

favorites，mistresses，thecourt，thecity，theparliaments，andthe

army！

Nothingwouldhavebeenimpossibletoher；shewasadequate

toanything。

Circumstancesdidnotgivehertheopportunityof

displayinghergenius。

Withgreattalentsandkeenperception，

shewasreducedtothegovernmentofherownfamilyalone；that

wasbutatriflingmatter！

Inspiteofherdiscontent，madamede

Marsanpreservedasortofneutralitytowardsme。

Sheallowed

allsortsofilltobespokenofmewithouteverrepressingaword。

Shewasthenmuteandmotionless。

Shesawmetorntopieces

withoutanyemotion。

However，whenweweretogethershetriedto

cajolemeinathousandways，allthetimedetestingmeinher

heart；andI，whocouldscarcelyendurethesightofher，paidher

alikenumberoflittleattentions。

Thussurroundedbyhypocrites，I

becameonemyself。

Welearntohowlinthesocietyofwolves。

TheducdelaVauguyonandthecomtesseduBarry——Themarquis

deChauvelinandthecomtesse——M。deMontbarreyandthecomtesse——

Intrigues——Lebel——ArrivaloftheduBarryfamily——Thecomte

d’Hargicourt——ThedemoisellesduBarry——Marriageofthecomtesse——

ThemarquisdeBonrepos——Correspondences——Thebrokenglass

TheprincedeSoubisewasnottheonlypersonwhowishedtoact

inthecapacityofmentortome。

M。theducdelaVauguyon

attemptedalsotobetheguideofmyyouth。

Thisnoblemanwas

toomuchofaJesuitnottohaveanoseofprodigiouslyfinescent。

Heperceivedthatthewindwasinmyfavor，andapproachedmein

consequence。

Ihavementionedtoyouhisfirstvisit，andhemade

measecondafewdaysafterwards。

Heappearedveryaffable，

veryconciliating，andinsistedparticularlyseveraltimes，and

thatwithoutanyapparentmotive，thattheking，notbeingnow

engagedinthetiesofwedlock，heshouldchoosesomeagreeable

companion，andassuredlycouldnotdobetterthanselectme。

The

dayafterthisvisit，earlyinthemorning，thedukesentmea

splendidbouquet，ahomagewhichheafterwardsrepeated，and

thencalledonmeathirdtime。

Duringthisvisitafteraconversationontheembarrassmentsofan

introductionatVersailles，heproposedthatIshouldavoidthem。

“Youcannotconcealfromyourself，“hesaid，“howpowerfulwill

bethecabalagainstyou；and，withoutincludingtheChoiseuls，

youwillhaveespeciallytofearthepiousparty，whowillonly

seeinyourintimacywiththeking，allowmetosay，acrying

scandal，andonenotprofitableforreligion。“

“Ifthepiouspartyunitewiththosewhoarenotsotodestroy

me，“Irejoined，laughing，“IshallhaveallFranceagainstme。“

“No；butperhapsallthechateau。

Butthereisawayofaverting

thestorm。

Attachyourselftothepartyofhonestmenwhohave

beensogreatlycalumniated——theJesuits。

Philosophy，supported

bytheducdeChoiseul，hasrepressedthem；butthehighclergyand

theareattachedstronglytothem，andyouwould

interesttheminyourfortunebyfavoringtheseworthyfathers。“

“What！

monsieurleduc，“criedI，“willtheclergy

ofFrance，andandtheirsuitebefavorableto

me，ifIusemyinfluencewiththekinginespousingthecauseof

thesocietyofJesus？“

“Certainly，madame，andIamauthorizedtopromiseyou。

Igive

youmywordforthis。

Endeavortore-establishtheorder，and

therewillnotbeoneofusbutwillbezealousinsupportingyou。“

“Icertainlyamdesirousofpleasingyourfriends；butIcansee

that，fromthefirstmomentofmyappearanceatcourt，Ishall

beatopenwarwiththeChoiseulsandtheparliaments。“

“Whatmattersit？

Iconfessthatthevictorywillnotbeeasyat

first，butthereisnoneedtoexaggeratethedifficulties。

Itis

truethatthekinghasesteemfortheducdeChoiseul，buthehas

muchaffectionforyou，whichavailsmuchmore。

“Asfortheparliaments，hehatesthem，andformanyyearshas

beendesirousofriddinghimselfofthementirely，andhewill

effectthisbythehelpofGodandyourinterference。“

“ThiswillbehardworkforonesoweakasIam。“

“Oh，youaresufficientlypowerful，Iassureyou。

Onlyconfide

inme，theintermediarybetweenyouandmyfriends，letmeguide

you，andIwillsteertotherightport。

Whatdoyouthinkof

this，madame？“

“Oh！