第13章

monsieurleduc，itisnotatamomentthatwecangivea

positivereplytosuchgravematters。

Icontentmyselfinassuring

you，thatIhaveforyouasmuchconfidenceasrespect，andshould

beveryhappytoobtainyourprotection。“

“Myprotection！

Oh，heaven，madame，youarejesting。

ItisIwho

shouldbehonoredbyyourfriendship。“

“Itisyours；butasyetIamnothingatcourt，andcandonothing

thereuntilIhavebeenpresented。

Itisformyspeedypresentation

thatmyfriendsshouldlabornow。“

“Wewillnotfail，madame；andifyouwillallowmetocomefrom

timetotimetoconversewithyou，wecantakeourmeasures。“

“Yourvisitswillalwaysbeagreeable。“

SuchwastheconversationwhichIhadwiththeducdelaVauguyon。

Ihavegivenitsomewhatatlength，becauseitwastheprefacetoa

deepintriguewhichmadeavastnoise。

IthinkIextricatedmyself

verywellfromthenetinwhichthedukesoughttocatchme。

Iknew

thathissituationatVersaillescompelledmetoactwithcaution

towardshim。

Hewasingoododorwith，hadtheearof

theyoungdauphinandtheprinceshisbrothers。

Hedeceivedme

likeatrueJesuitashewas，intellingmethatthe

werewelldisposedtowardsme；andonmysideIcheatedhimwith

apromiseofconfidenceand，friendshipwhichIneverbestowed。

Ah！myfriend，againandagainmustIexclaim，whatavillainous

placeisacourt！

WhilsttheducdelaVauguyonwasseekingtoenlistmeunder

thebannersofheavenortheJesuits，themarquisofChauvelin

alsoessayedtomakemehispupil；butasfrankashewasamiable，

thisnoblemandidnotgotoworkinaroundaboutmanner。

He

cametomeloyally，requestingmetoconsiderhisinterestsandmine。

“Thekinglikesme，“saidhe，“andIamattachedtohimbodyand

soul。

Hetenderlylovesyou，andIshouldhavenodifficultyin

doingthesamething；butasIamnolongerofanagetoinspire

youwiththepassionwhichIshouldfeeltowardsyou，Icontent

myselfwithyourfriendship。

Ihavenoenemyhere，andnowish

tohurtanyperson。

ThusyouneednotfearthatIshallurgeyou

toanymeasuresthatmightcompromiseyou。

Itisthehatredof

thekingdomthatyouwillhavetofear。

Franceisabouttomarch

inabettertrack，andthebestplanistofollowitslead。

It

painsme，madame，touselanguagewhichmayappearseveretoyou；

weoughtonlytotalktoyouofyourbeautyandthelovewhichit

inspires。

Butinyoursituation，eventhatbeautymayservethe

interestsofFrance，anditisforthatmotivethatIcometo

solicityou。“

IrepliedtoM。deChauvelinwithequalfrankness。

Itoldhim

thatmysoleintentionsweretoconfinemyselftothecircleof

myduties；thatIhadnonebuttopleasetheking，andnointention

ofmixingmyselfupwithstateaffairs。

ThiswasmyplanIcan

assureyou。

IflatteredmyselfthatIcouldfollowit，not

dreamingofthosepoliticalnuisancesintowhichIwasprecipitated

inspiteofmyself。

Iadded，nevertheless，thatinmysituation，

whichwasdelicate，Iwouldnotrefusethecounselsofafaithful

servantoftheking，andthatunderthistitleM。deChauvelin

shouldbeconsultedonimportantoccasions。

ThemarquisdeChauvelinhadtoomuchgoodsense，toomuch

knowledgeoftheworld，nottoperceivearefusalconcealedunder

thispoliteness。

Thesecretinclinationofmyhearthadalready

ledmetoselecttheducd’Aiguillonformydirector，andIcould

notreconcilemyselftoanyother。

Hecontentedhimselfwith

askingmeagainformyfriendship，whichIwillinglyaccorded

him，andIhavealwaysfoundmyselffortunateinhis。

ThusdidI

accepttheoffersofservicefromtheprincedeSoubise，theduc

delaVauguyon，andthemarquisdeChauvelin。

Afourthsoughttoswelltheranks；thecomte，afterwardsprince，

deMontbarrey。

Thisgentlemanmadeupinpretensionsforwhathe

lackedintalent。

Hewasweak，self-important，selfish，fondof

women，andendeavoredtopreservealltheairsofamanofgood

breedinginthemidstofthegrossestdebauchery。

Hewasfullof

respectforhimselfandhishouse，ofwhichintimeofneedhe

couldcitethewholegenealogy。

Hisnominationwasarealscandal；

noonedreamtofhiseverbeingministerofwar。

Itwasoneofthe

thousandfolliesofoldMaurepas，whomthelatekingknewwell，and

calledtheballad-makerofthecouncil。

ThecomtedeMontbarrey，whomIhadknownatParis，cametome

onefineday，fullypowdered，perfumed，andapparelled。

Hehada

smileonhislip，aloudtone，andaninsolentlook。

Hecamenot

toaskmyfriendship，butmyobedience。

Hetoldmethatheloved

metodistraction，andofcoursemyheadmustbeequallytowards

him。

Heamusedme。

Ilethimrunoutthefulllengthofhisline；

andwhenhehadspunitallout，Isaidtohim，“Monsieur，beso

goodastocallmetotherecollectionofmadamedeMerfort。“

Shewasoneofthegamblingladies，andatherhouseIhad

formerlymetthechevalierdeMontbarrey。

Myreplyconfounded

him:hesawthathehadgonethewrongwaytoworkwithme；

and，raisingthesiege，heleftmeexcessivelyembarrassed。

Figuretoyourself，myfriend，whatconfidenceaman，lostinthe

crowdoflowercourtiers，couldinspiremewith；fortojudgeof

theproceedingsofthecomtedeMontbarrey，itwouldhavebeen

necessarytohaveseenhimashethenwas，andnotwhathebecame

sincetheimbecilityofM。deMaurepas。

WhenItoldcomteJean

ofhisvisit，hewouldnotbelievesuchinsolence。

Youmustknow

thatmybrother-in-lawalsowishedtodirectme，butIdidnot

considerhimsufficientlyclever。

Hismarvellousgeniuswas

eclipsedinpolitics。

Hesworeatmyingratitude，andIcould

onlyappeasehimbyanofferingofplentyofmoney。

Inthemidstofthiscross-fireofintrigues，onewasdevised

againstmewhichmighthaveterminatedinmyruin；but，thanks

totheindefatigableactivityofcomteJean，onlyservedtofix

memorefirmlyinmysituation。

Lebel，ofwhomIhavesaid

nothingforthisage，cametomeoneday:hisfacewassad，and

hislookserious。

ByhismannerIauguredthatmyreignhad

passed，andthatImustquitmypost。

Iawaitedwhatheshould

saywithmortalimpatience。

Atlengthhebeganthus:

“Madame，youhavemanybitterenemies，whoarelaboringto

effectyourruinwithablood-thirstinesswhichnothingcanassuage。

Theyhavenowspreadareportthatyouarenotmarried。

This

infamouscalumny——“

“Ah，isthatall？’saidIwithjoy；“no，mydearLebel，thistime

theydonotcalumniateme。

Theworthycreaturesforonceareright。“

“What，“saidLebel，inatoneofalarmalmostcomic，“what，are

youreallynotmarried？“

“No。“

“AreyounotthewifeofthecomteGuillaumeduBarry？“

“No。“

“Thenyouhavedeceivedtheking，andplayedwithme。“

“Lebel，myfriend，takeanothertone。

Noonehasanyrightto

complain。

Youhavegivenmetothekingasapersontoplease

him；Idoso。

Therestcanbenomatterofyours。“

“Pardonme，madame；itisamatterofthegreatestconsequenceto

me。

Iamterriblycompromisedinthisaffair，andyouwithme。“

LebeltoldmethattheduchessedeGrammonthadbeggedhimtocall

uponher，andhadbitterlyreproachedhimaboutthemistresshehad

procuredfortheking；theduchesseaffirmedthatIwasanameless

andunmarriedcreature；andadded，thatitwashisdutytomake

thekingacquaintedwiththeseparticulars，unlessI，thepretended

wifeofduBarry，wouldconsenttogotoEnglandwhenalarge

pensionshouldbeassuredtome。

“No，mydearLebel，IwillnotgotoEngland；Iwillremainin

France，atVersailles，atthechateau。

IfIamnotmarriedIwill

be；thethingiseasilymanaged。“

Lebel。

somewhatassured，beggedmetosendforcomteJean，and

whenhecamehe(Lebel)recommencedhistaleofgrief。

“Youaredrowningyourselfinaglassofwater，“saidmyfuture

brother-in-lawtohim，beginningtotreathimwithlessceremony；

“gobacktotheduchessedeGrammont，andtellherthatmadame

wasmarriedatToulouse。

Shewillhaveaninquirysetonfoot；in

themeanwhilemybrotherwillarrive，andthemarriagewilltake

place。