第17章

hispliancyofdispositionratherthanhisresistancethatwemust

contendwith，andIgotoactuponit。

“

Itheninstructedthedukewithwhathadpassedbetweenmeand

theprincedeSoubise。

WhenIhaddone，thedukereplied:

“ExpectnothingfromtheprincedeSoubise:hewillspeak，no

doubt；buthow？

Inajesting，laughingway。

If，however，you

thinkhecanatallserveyou，givehimallyourconfidence。“

“No，no，never，“Irepliedwithquickness；“itisnotathingtobe

donelightly；wedonotselectaconfidant，counsellor，orfriend，

atrandom。

Doyounotknowthis，M。leduc？

Itisrequisitethat

theheartoftheonewhospeaksshouldreposeitselfontheheart

ofthefriendwholistens。

IrepeattoyouthatIhavenofeelingof

confidencetowardsM。deSoubise。

Infact，“Iaddedwithvisible

andtroubledemotion，“mychoiceismade，andyouhavetoomuch

heroismtowishtocombatit。“

Attheseflatteringwordsthedukeprecipitatedhimselfatmyfeet，

andsworetosupportmycausewithallhispowerandinterest。

I

repliedthatIfullyreliedonhisdevotionandprudence。

Comte

Jeanentered，anditwasagreedbetweenusthreethatIshouldsay

nomoretothekingofmypresentationbeforetheducd’Aiguillon

hadspokentohimofit；thatIshouldcontentmyselfwith

complainingwithoutpeevishness，andthatweshouldleavethe

openingmeasuretotheprincedeSoubise，andlethimbreakthe

icetohismajesty。

TheprincedeSoubisebehavedexactlyasthedukehadtoldme:he

cametomethenextmorningwithamysteriousair，whichalready

informedmeofallhehadtosay。

Hesaidthathehadvainly

tormentedtheking；thathismajestywishedthingstoremainjust

astheywere，anddesiredthatuntilaneworderofthingsnothing

shouldbealtered。

“Iamsorryforit，monsieurlemarechal，“Ireplied。

“WhilstIam

inthisprecarioussituation，whilstIremaininacornerofthe

stageasaconfidanteoftragedy，Icandonothingformyfriends，

particularlyforyou，monsieurlemarechal。“

“Onthecontrary，madame，“hereplied，“thekingwillbemore

disposedtolistentoyouwhilsthewillsupposethatyour

influenceisunknown。“

“Oh，“criedIwithafeelingofanger，“yougentlemencourtiers

thinkofnothingbutpolitics。

Asforme，whoamawoman，Ihave

othermattersforconsideration:Imusthavehonors，title，rank。

Myself-lovesufferscruellywhenIseemyselfimmolatedbythe

fearwhichtheladiesdeGrammontandthreeorfourotherintriguers

oftheirpartyareabletoexcite。“

Theprincewassomewhatstartledatthefreedomoflanguage

whichIusedtowardsladiesinsuchcreditatcourt:hebeggedme

tomoderatemyfeelings，andbelessmovedandexcited。

Bythis

theprincedeSoubiselosttheesteemwhichImighthaveaccorded

him，andthesecondplaceinmycounsels，whichImighthave

givenhim。

Itoldtheduke，whocametoseemethemomentafterwards，ofthe

failureoftheprince’sattempt。

Hetoldmethathehadnothoped

forabetterresult。

Hewenttotheking，flatteringhimselfwith

hopesofbettersuccess，butdidnotfindhim。

ThedaughtersofLouisXVhadunitedagainstmewithafury

whichnothingcouldjustify。

Theywereincessantlytalking

scandalofmypastlife，asiftherewereonlysaintsatcourt，as

iftheyhadnopranksoftheirowntoreproachthemselveswith。

Allthechateauknewoftheirlovers，andtherewas

evidenceofthetendernessofmadameAdelaide:asformadame

Louiseshewasanangeluponearth，andwastheonlyonewho

didnotjoininthecryagainstme。

Ontheotherhand，theking，

whilsthehadbutlittleloveforhisdeardaughters，preserved

towardsthemacomplaisanceandexternalappearanceofkindness

whichwasasubstituteforparentallove。

When

criedout，hestoppedhisearswithhistwohands，andseemed，

whilstlookingproudlyatFrance，tosay，“AmnotIagoodfather，

andarenotmydaughtersveryhappy，forIletthemcryoutwith

alltheirmight？“

Thenextdaytheducd’Aiguillonwentagaintotheking，andfound

himbewilderedwithfamilyscenesandthemurmuringsofthe

Choiseuls。

Whenmyambassadorhaddeliveredhismessage，the

kingaskedhimifhe，aswellastheprincedeSoubise，hadbeen

setuponhishaunchesbyme。

Theduke，nothingintimidatedatthis，toldthekingthatfarfrom

havingwishedthatheshouldbemyinterpreter，Ihadrequested

himnottoalludetothematter。

“Why，then，“saidLouisXVlaughing，“doyounotfollowthe

adviceofthecomtesse？“

“BecauseIentertainasincereattachmentforher，andthatIam

vexedtohearitsaidthattherearepersonswholeadyourmajesty。“

“Whoaretheinsolentsthatholdsuchlanguage？“

“Theysurroundyou，sire。

Thereisnotafemaleherebutaffirms

thatyoudarenotdecideonthepresentationofthecomtesse。“

“Ialoneammaster，andwillletthemknowitwhentheopportunity

arrives；butthepresentmomentisnotfitting。

Thecomtesseknows

howwellIloveher；andifshewillproveherfriendshiptowards

me，shewillremainquietforsometime。“

Thedukethoughtitbesttobesilent，andcametome。

After

relatingtheconversation，headded，“Donotappearatalldejected；

thekingwouldnotthenvisityoulestheshouldfindyououtof

temper。

WereIyouIshouldwritetohim；awordofpeacewould

sethimatease。“

Iapprovedthisadvice，andinstantlypennedthefollowingletter:——

Sire-Theytellmethatyourmajestyhasbeentormented

onmyaccount。

ItisatreasonofwhichIalonecould

believemyselfcapable。

ButwhyshouldIcomplain？

You

havedonesomuchformethatIoughttoesteemmyself

happy:youraugustfriendshipconsolesmethro’allmy

annoyances。

BeassuredthathenceforthIshallpoutno

more；Iwillbethebestsheepintheworld，relyingon

myshepherdfornothavingmyfleececuttooclosely；

forafterallIthinkIamthepettedewe，etc。“

Ashorttimeafterwardsapagebroughtmeasplendidboxof

withapairofrubyear-ringssurroundedwithdiamonds，andthis

shortbillet:——

“Yes，assuredlyyouaremypetewe，andalwaysshall

be。

Theshepherdhasastrongcrookwithwhichhe

willdriveawaythosewhowouldinjureyou。

Relyon

yourshepherdforthecareofyourtranquillity，and

thepeaceofyourfuturelife。“

Intheeveningthekingvisitedme。

Hewasembarrassed，butIset

himateasebyshowinghimalaughingcountenance，talkingonly

ofhispresent，whichIhadinmyears，andshakingmyheadabout

tokeepthedropsinmotion，whichsparkledwithgreatbrilliancy。

Hewaspleasedatthis，anddidnotleavemealltheevening。

In

themorningwewerethebestfriendsintheworld。

Somedayselapsed，whencomteJeancametome，bringingtwo

infamousarticleswhichhadappearedinthe“，“

andweredirectedagainstme。

Theywereatrociousanddeeply

chagrinedme:Iplacedthemonthemantel-piece，whereallwho

cameincouldseethem。

TheducdeDurasreadthem，andsaid，

“Concealtheseatrocitiesfromtheking。“

“No，“wasmyreply，“Iwishhimtoreadthem，thathemayknow

howhisaffectionsarerespected，andhowthepoliceofParisare

employedindoingtheirdutytothethrone。“

TheselastwordsannoyedM。deDuras，betweenwhomandM。de

Sartinestherewasaconnection:thedukewasindebtedtothe

lieutenant-generalofpoliceforthespecialsurveillancewhichhe

keptoverayounggirlofwhomhe，theducdeDuras，wasfoolishly

enamoured。

TremblingforhisM。deSartines，he

wrotetohiminhaste，buthadnotcourageortalentenoughto

undertakethedefenceoftheguiltyperson。

Thekingcameasusual；hisgeneralstationwasatthechimney-piece，

whereheamusedhimselfwithlookingatthebaublesthatornamented

it。

The““fellinhisway。

Hereadthem

once，thenagain；then，withoututteringaword，threwtheminto

thefire。

Iobservedhim，andsawthathewasfullofemotion

whichhesoughttoconceal，buttheangerburstforthsoon。

The

princedeSoubise，whosuppedwithusthatevening，askedtheduc

deDurasifhehadreadthe““

“No，“wasthereply；“Iseldomreadsuchnonsense。“

“Andyouarequiteright，“saidtheking。

“Thereisatpresenta

mostinconceivablemaniaforwriting。

Whatistheuse，Iaskyou，

gentlemen，ofthisdelugeofbooksandpamphletswithwhich

Franceisinundated？

Theyonlycontainthespiritofrebellion:

thefreedomofwritingoughtnottobegiventoeverybody。

Thereshouldbeinawell-regulatedstatesevenoreightwriters，

notmore；andtheseundertheinspectionofgovernment。

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