第19章

ThesieurLedoux——The——TheducdelaVrilliere——

MadamedeLangeac——M。deMaupeou——LouisXV——ThecomteJean

Onthatveryevening，thekinghavingcometome，Isaidtohim，

“Sire，IhavemadeacquaintancewithM。deSartines。“

“What！

hashebeentomakefriendswithyou？“

“Somethinglikeit:buthehasappearedtomelessculpablethanI

thought。

Hehadonlyyieldedtothesolicitationofmypersonalenemy。“

“Youcannothaveoneatmycourt，madame；thelieutenantofpolice

wouldhavedonewellnottohavenamedhertoyou。“

“Thankstohim，however，IshallnowknowwhomIoughttomistrust。

Iknowalsowhoistheauthorofthetwoscurrilousparagraphs。“

“Somescamp，nodoubt；somebeggarlyscoundrel。“

“AmonsieurLedoux。“

“Ah，Iknowthefellow。

Hisbadreputationhasreachedme。

It

mustbestoppedatlast。“

Sosaying，LouisXVwenttothechimney，andpulledthebell-rope

withsomuchvehemencethattenpersonsanswereditatonce。

“SendfortheducdelaVrilliere；ifhebenotsuitablyattiredlet

himcomeinhisnight-gown，nomattersothatheappearquickly。“

Onhearinganordergiveninthismannerastrangermighthave

supposedthekingcrazy，andnotintentonimprisoningamiserable

libeller。

Iintercededinhisfavor，butLouisXV，delightedatan

opportunityofplayingthekingatasmallcost，toldmethatit

wasnoperson’sbusiness，andhewouldbedictatedtobynoone。

Iwassilent，reservingmyselfuntilanotheropportunitywhenI

couldundertakethedefenceofthepoordevil。

TheducdelaVrillierearrived，notinadressing-gown，asthe

kinghadauthorized，butinmagnificentcostume。

Hepiquedhimself

onhisexpenditure，andalwaysappearedsuperblyattired，altho’

thesplendorofhisapparelcouldnotconcealthemeannessofhis

look。

Hewastheoldestsecretaryofstate，andcertainlywasthe

leastskilful，leastesteemed，leastconsidered。

Sometimeafter

hisdeathsomeonesaidofhiminthepresenceoftheducd’Ayen，

thathehadbeenanunfortunateman，forhehadbeenallhislife

thebuttofpublichatredanduniversalcontempt。

“Rathersay，“

repliedtheduke，“thathehasbeenafortunateman；forifjustice

hadbeenrenderedtohimaccordingtohisdeserts，hewouldhave

beenhangedatleastadozentimes。“

Theducd’Ayenwasright:M。delaVrillierewasabrazen-faced

rogue；acompletethief，withoutdignity，character，orheart。

His

cupiditywasboundless:theemanatedfromhis

office，andhecarriedonanexecrabletradeinthem。

Ifanyperson

wishedtogetridofafather，brother，orhusband，theyonlyhad

toapplytoM。delaVrilliere。

Hesoldtheking’ssignatureto

allwhopaidreadymoneyforit。

Thismaninspiredmewithan

invinciblehorrorandrepugnance。

Forhispart，asIwasnot

disgusting，hecontentedhimselfwithhatingme；hewasanimated

againstmebyhisoldandavariciousmistress，madamedeLangeac，

aliasSubutin。

Langeaccouldnotendureme。

Shefeltthatitwas

bettertobethemistressofLouisXVthanthatofthe

Vrilliere>，forsoherloverwascalledatcourt。

Iknewthatshe

wasnofriendofmine，andthatherloversidedwiththeChoiseuls

againstme；andwasconsequentlythemoredelightedtoseethe

littlescoundrelcometoreceivetheorderforavengingme。

He

enteredwithanairofembarrassment；andwhilsthemademea

saluteaslowastotheking，thislatter，inabriefseveretone，

orderedhimtosendthesieurLedouxtoSaintLazareforthwith。

Hedepartedwithoutreply，andhalfanhourafterwardsreturned，

tosaythatitwasdone。

Thekingthensaidtohim，

“Doyouknowthislady？“

“No，sire。“

“Well，Idesireyouhenceforwardtohavethegreatestconsideration

forherasmybestfriend，andwhoeverwishestoprovehiszealfor

me，willhonorandcherishher。“

Thekingtheninvitedhimtosupwithus，andIamsurethatduring

thewholerepastIwasthehardestmorselhehadtodigest。

SomedaysafterwardsImadeacquaintancewithapersonmuchmore

importantthanthelittleduke，anddestinedtoplayagreatpart

inthehistoryofFrance。

ImeanM。deMaupeou，thelatechancellor，

who，inhisdisgrace，wouldnotresignhischarge。

M。deMaupeou

possessedoneofthosefirmandsuperiorminds，which，inspite

ofallobstacles，changethefaceofempires。

Ardent，yetcool；

bold，butreflective；theclamorsofthepopulacedidnotastonish，

nordidanyobstaclesarresthim。

Hewentoninthedirectpath

whichhiswillchalkedout。

Quittingthemagistracy，hebecameits

mostimplacableenemy，andafteradeadlycombathecameoff

conqueror。

Hefeltthatthemomenthadarrivedforfreeingroyalty

fromthechainswhichithadimposedonitself。

Itwasnecessary，

hehassaidtomeahundredtimes，forthekingsofFranceinpast

agestohaveapopularpoweronwhichtheycouldrelyforthe

overturningofthefeudalpower。

Thispowertheyfoundinthe

highmagistracy；butsincethereignofLouisXIIIthemission

oftheparliamentshadfinished，thenobilitywasreduced，and

theybecamenolessformidablethantheenemywhomtheyhad

aidedinsubduing。

“Beforefiftyyears，“pursuedM。deMaupeou，“kingswillbe

nothinginFrance，andparliamentswillbeeverything。“

Talented，agoodspeaker，eveneloquent，M。deMaupeoupossessed

qualitieswhichmadethegreatestenterprisessuccessful。

Hewas

convincedthatallmenhavetheirprice，andthatitisonlyto

findoutthesumatwhichtheyarepurchasable。*Asbravepersonally

asamarechalofFrance，hisenemies(andhehadmany)calledhim

acoarseandquarrelsomeman。

Hatedbyall，hedespisedmenin

abody，andjeeredatthemindividually；butlittlesensibletothe

charmsofoursex，heonlythoughtofusbyfreaks，andasameans

ofrelaxation。

ThisisM。deMaupeou，paintedtothelife。

As

forhisperson，youknowitaswellasIdo。

Ihavenoneedto

tellyou，thathewaslittle，ugly，andhiscomplexionwasyellow，

borderingupongreen。

Itmustbeowned，however，thathisface，

fullofthoughtandintelligence，fullycompensatedforalltherest。

*Thisgentlemanwouldhavebeenanablecoadjutorfor

SirRobertWalpole-

Trans。

Youknowhow，asfirstpresidentoftheparliamentofParis，he

succeededhisfatherasvice-chancellor。

Attheresignationofthe

titularM。deLamoignon*，theelderMaupeoureceivedhisletters

ofnomination，andassoonastheywereregistered，heresigned

infavorofhisson。

TheChoiseulshadallowedthelattertobe

nominated，relyingonfindinghimacreature。

Isoonsawthatthe

Choiseulsweremistaken。

*InSeptember，1768。

(au。)

ItwasinthemonthofOctober，thatHenriette，alwaysmyfavorite，

cametomewithanairofunusualmystery，tosay，thatablack*

anduglygentlemanwishedtoseeme；thatontheusualreply

thatIwasnotvisible，hehadinsisted，andsent，atthesame

time，acautiouslysealednote。

Itookit，opened，andread

thesewords:——

*i。e。，black-hairedand/ordressedinblack(Gutenberged。)

“ThechancellorofFrancewishestohavethehonor

ofpresentinghisrespectfulhomagetomadamela

comtesseduBarry。“

“Lethimcomein，“IsaidtoHenriette。

“Iwilllayawager，madame，thathecomestoasksomefavor。“

“Ibelieve，“repliedI，“thatheismorefrequentlythesolicited

thanthesolicitor。“

Henriettewentout，andinafewminutesledin，thro’theprivate

corridorswhichcommunicatedwithmyapartment，hishighness

monseigneurReneNicolasCharlesAugustindeMaupeou，chevalier

andchancellorofFrance。

AssoonasheenteredIconceiveda

goodopinionofhim，altho’Ihadonlyseenhimwalk。

Hisstep

wasfirmandassured，likethatofamanconfidentintheresources

ofhisowntalents。

“MadamelacomtesseduBarry，“hesaid，“wouldhavearightto

complainofme，ifIdidnotcomeandlaymypersonatherfeet。

Ihadthemoreimpatiencetoexpresstohermydevotion，asI

fearedshehadbeenprejudicedagainstme。“

“How，monseigneur？“

“ThegatebywhichIenteredtheministry——“

“Isnotagreeabletome，asbeingthatofmyenemies，butIfeel

assuredthatyouwillnotsidewiththemagainstme。“

“Certainlynot，madame；itismywishtogiveyoupleasurein

everything，andIflattermyselfImaymerityourfriendship。“

Aftermanyothercompliments，theChancelloraskedme，withmuch

familiarity，whenmypresentationwastotakeplace，andwhyithad

notyetoccurred。

Ireplied，thatthedelayarosefromtheintrigues

ofChoiseul，andthekingshrunkfromthediscontentofahandful

ofcourtiers。

“Iamsorryforit，“saidM。deMaupeou；“inthefirstplace，

madame，becauseoftheinterestItakeinyou，andalsobecause

forhismajesty，itwouldbeameansofstrikingterrorintothe

opposingparty。

Youknow，madame，howannoyingparliamentsare

toallyourfriends，andwithwhatbitternessthoseofBretagneand

Paris，atthismoment，arepursuingtheducd’Aiguillon。“

“Doyouthink，“Irepliedwithemotion，“thatmattersare

unfavorabletowardshim？“

“Ihopenot，buthemustbewarmlysupported。“

“Ah！

Iwillaidhimwithallmyinfluence。

Heisnodoubt

innocentofthecrimesimputedtohim。“

“Yes，certainly。