第18章

aretheplagueofFrance；youwillseewhithertheywillleadit。“

Thekingspokethiswithananimatedair，andifatthismoment

M。delaVrillierehadcometoaskfora

againstawriter，thekingwouldnothaverefusedit。

“Besides，“addedtheking，inatoneoflessanger，butnoless

emphatically，“Iseewithpainthatthepolicedonotdotheirduty

withregardtoalltheseindignities。“

“Yet，“saidtheducdeDuras，“M。deSartinesdoeswonders。“

“Thenwhydoeshetoleratesuchinsults？

Iwilllethimknow

mydiscontent。“

TheducdeDuraswasalarmed，andkepthismouthclosed。

Theking

then，resuminghisgaiety，jokedthetwogentlemenontheirsecret

intrigues:thenchangingtheconversationsuddenly，hetalkedof

theexpectedarrivalofthekingofDenmark。

“DucdeDuras，“saidhe，“youandyoursonmustdotheofficeof

masterofceremoniestohismajesty。

Ihopeyouwill

endeavortoamusehim。“

“Yes，sire。“

“Mind，whatyouundertakeisnojoke。

Itisnoeasymatterto

amuseaking。“

ThiswasatruthwhichIperceivedateverymoment，andourmonarch

wasnottheonetobeamusedwithtriflingexertion。

Frequently

whenheenteredmyapartmenthethrewhimselfonanottoman，and

yawnedmostexcessively，yes，yawnedinmycompany。

Ihadbutone

modeofrousinghimfromthisapathy，butitwasasureone。

I

spokeofthehighmagistracyanditsperpetualresistancetothe

throne。

Thenthekingaroused，instantlysprungfromhisseat，

traversedtheroomwithrapidstrides，anddeclaimedvigorously

againstthe；thushestyledtheparliaments。

I

confess，however，thatIonlyhadrecoursetothe“blackgowns“

atthelastextremity。

LittledidIthinkthatatalaterperiod

Ishouldleaguemyselfagainstthem。

Ontheonehand，theduc

d’Aiguillonhatedthemmortally，andontheother，thecomteJean，

likearealToulousian，wouldhavecarriedtheminhisslippers；

sothatwaveringbetweentheadmirationoftheoneandthehatred

oftheother，Iknewnotwhichtolistento，orwhichpartytoside

with。

Buttoreturntopresentmatters。

Thekingwasalwaysthinkingofthe““and

determinedtoavengemeasopenlyasIhadbeenattacked。

Two

orthreedaysafterwardshegaveasupper，towhichheinvitedthe

duchesseandcomtessedeGrammont，madamedeForcalquier，the

princessdeMarsan，themarechaledeMirepoix，andthecomtesses

deCoignyanddeMontbarrey。

Theywereseatedattablelaughing

andamusingthemselves；theytalkedofthepleasureofbeingto

，ofhavingno；theypiercedmewitha

hundredthrusts；theytriumphed！

Andyetthekingwaslaughingin

hissleeve。

Atapremeditatedsignaltheducd’Aiguillon，oneof

theguests，askedhismajestyifhehadseenthecomtesseduBarry

thatday。

Thisterriblename，thrownsuddenlyintothemidstof

myenemies，hadtheeffectofathunder-clap。

Alltheladieslooked

ateachotherfirstandthenattheking，andtheducd’Aiguillon，

reservingprofoundsilence。

Hismajestythenreplied，thathehad

nothadthehappinessofvisitingmethatday，nothavinghadone

moment’sleisure；theneulogizedmeatgreatlength，andendedby

sayingtotheduke，

“IfyouseethecomtessebeforeIdo，besure

tosaythatIdrankthisglassofwinetoherhealth。“

Theladiesdidnotanticipatethis。

TheduchessedeGrammont

particularly，inspiteoflongresidenceatcourt，turnedpaleto

herveryears，andIbelievebutforetiquetteshewouldhave

fallenintoaswoon。

Ilearntafterwardsfromthemarechalede

Mirepoix，thattheduchesse，ongoinghome，gaveherselfuptoa

fitofrage，whichdidnotterminateevenonthefollowingday。

Whenthekingrelatedthisoccurrencetome，hewasasproud

ofitasifhehaddoneamostcourageousdeed。

ButIhaveomittedadaywhichwasofgreatimportancetomeinits

consequences。

ImeanthedaywhichfollowedthatonwhichIhad

complainedtotheducdeDurasofM。thelieutenantofpolice。

In

themorningearlymysister-in-lawcameintomyroom。

“Sister，“saidshe，“comteJeanisherewithM。deSartines，who

begstopayhisrespectstoyou。

Willyoureceivehim？“

“M。deSartines！

Yes，lethimcomein；Iwilltreathimas

hedeserves。“

ComteJeanthencamein，precededbythelieutenantofpolice:he

worealargeperukewithwhitepowder，andcurledwiththeutmost

care。

Wigswerehismania，andhehadaroomfilledfromfloor

toceilingwiththeseornaments。

Theducd’Ayensaid，thathe

nevershouldbeintroubleaboutthecouncilofstate，forincase

ofneed，itmightbefoundandreplenishedfromthehouseofthe

lieutenantofpolice。

LetusleavewigsandreverttoM。deSartines。

HeappearedbeforemewiththeairofTartuffe，and，forgivethe

phrase，。

“Madame，“saidhetome，“IhavebeeninformedthatIamin

disgracewithyou，andhavecometoinquirehowImayextricate

myselffromthismisfortune。“

“Yououghttoknow，sir。

TwiceinonemonthhaveIbeenshamefully

insulted；andyetthefirstintimationofsuchathingoughttohave

putyouonyourguard。“

M。deSartines，whommytonehadmuchsurprised，endeavoredto

justifyhimself，whencomteJeansaidtohim，

“Mydearlieutenantofpolice，allyouhavesaidgoesfornothing。

Onethingiscertain，andthatis，thatthereisadeficiencyof

respecttowardsmysister-in-law。

Yousaythatitisnotyour

fault:whatproofdoyougiveusofthis？

Whatinquirieshave

youmade？

Whatmeasureshaveyoutaken？

Any？

Whydoyoucome

tousifyouaidourenemies？“

M。deSartineswouldfainhaveensconcedhimselfinhisowndignity。

“M。duBarry，“washisreply，“Ishallrenderanaccountofmy

conducttotheking。“

“Verywell，sir，“Ireplied，“butdonotsupposethateitheryou

ortheChoiseulscangivemeanycauseoffear。“

M。deSartineswasthunderstruck；myboldnessastonishedhim。

At

lengthhesaid，

“Madame，youareangrywithmecauselessly；Iammorenegligent

thanculpable。

Itisuselesstosaythistotheking。“

“Iwillnotconcealfromyou，sir，thatheknowsitall，andis

greatlydiscontentedwithyou。

“

“Iamlostthen，“saidM。deSartines。

“Lost！

notprecisely，“repliedcomteJean；“butyoumustdecide

atonceandforeverwhatpartyyouwilljoin。

Ifyouarewithus

theywilluseyouharshly；ifyoutaketheoppositepartylookto

yourself。

Choose。“

Aftersometurningsandtwistings，accompaniedwithcompliments，

M。deSartinesdeclaredthathewouldrangehimselfunderour

banner。

ThenIextendedtohimmyhandintokenofreconciliation；

hetookitwithrespect，andkisseditwithgallantry。

Uptothis

timewehadconversedwithfeelingsofrestraintandstanding；but

nowweseatedourselves，andbegunaconferenceinform，astothe

mannerofpreventingarecurrenceoftheoffensiveoutragesagainst

me。

AsaproofofgoodintentionM。deSartinestoldmetheauthor

ofthetwoarticlesofwhichIcomplained。

Hewasawretch，named

Ledoux，whofortwelvehundredlivresperannumwrotedownall

thosewhodispleasedtheduchessedeGrammont。

Thisladyhadno

fearofdoingallthatwasnecessarytoremoveeveryobstacletothe

publicationofsuchinfamies。

AfterM。deSartineshadgivenusallthedetailswhichwedesired，

andafterIhadpromisedtoreconcilehimtohismaster，hewent

awaydelightedwithhavingseenme。

Believeme，myfriend，itis

necessarytobeashandsomeasIam，thatistosay，asIwas，to

seducealieutenantofpolice。