第22章

samedayItoldthekingofmytrickanditssuccess。

Helaughed

excessively，andthenscoldedmeforatallcompromisinghis

Danishmajesty。

“How，sire？“

wasmyreply。

“Ididnotsignhisname；Ihavenot

forgedhissignature。

Thevanityoftheduchessehasalonecaused

alltheridiculousportionofthisjoke。

Somuchtheworsefor

herifshedidnotsucceed。“

Ididnot，however，limitmyrevengetothis。

Asecondletter，

inthesamehand，wasaddressedtomylucklessenemy。

Thistime

shewasinformedthatshebeenmadeabuttof，andmystified。

I

learnedfromM。deSartines，who，afterourcompact，gaveme

detailsofall，themethodsshehadpursuedtodetecttheauthorof

thesetwoepistles，andputaterminationtoalltheseinquiries，

bydenouncingmyselftoM。deSartines；whothengavesucha

turntothewholematter，thattheduchessecouldneverarrive

atthetruth。

Voltaire，inthemeantime，wasnotslowinreply；andasIimagine

thatyouwillnotbesorrytoreadhisletter，Itranscribeitforyou:——

“MONSIEURLEDUC，——Iamalost，destroyedman。

IfI

hadstrengthenoughtofly，IdonotknowwhereI

shouldfindcouragetotakerefuge。

I！

GoodGod！

I

amsuspectedofhavingattackedthatwhich，incommon

withallFrance，Irespect！

Whenthereonlyremainsto

methesmallestpowerofutterance，butenoughtochant

athatIshouldemployitinhowlingat

themostlovelyandamiableoffemales！

Believeme，

monsieurleduc，thatitisnotatthemomentwhena

manisabouttorenderuphissoul，thatamanofmy

goodfeelingwouldoutragethedivinitywhomheadores。

“No，Iamnottheauthorofthe’’

Theversesofthisrhapsodyarenotworthmuch，itis

true；butindeedtheyarenotmine:theyaretoo

miserable，andoftoobadastyle。

Allthisviletrash

spreadabroadinmyname，allthosepamphletswithout

talent，makemelosemysenses，andnowIhavescarcely

enoughlefttodefendmyselfwith。

Itisonyou，

monsieurleduc，thatIrely；donotrefusetobethe

advocateofanunfortunatemanunjustlyaccused。

Condescendtosaytothisyounglady，thatIhave

beenbeforeembroiledwithmadamedePompadour，

forwhomIprofessedthehighestesteem；tellher，that

atthepresentdayespecially，thefavoriteofCaesaris

sacredforme；thatmyheartandpenare

hers，and

thatIonlyaspiretoliveanddieunderherbanner。

“Astothescrapsyouaskfor，Ihavenotatthismoment

anysuitable。

Onlythebestviandsareservedupatthe

tableofthegoddesses。

IfIhadanyIwouldpresentthem

tothepersonofwhomyouspeaktome。

Assureher，that

onedaythegreatestmeritofmyversewillbetohavethem

recitedbyherlips；andentreather，untilshebestows

immortalityonme，topermitmetoprostratemyselfat

herbeautifulfeet。

“Iwillnotconcludemyletter，monsieurleduc，