第25章

toldthemallthathadpassed；givingmyopinionofthisladyas

Ithoughther——amaliciousprovokingcreature。

“Howsoonyoutormentyourself，“saidthechancellortome。

“Do

younotseethatthiswomanwantsapricetobebiddenforher？

Sheisyours，bodyandsoul，butfirstofallshemustbepaid。“

“Letthatbenoobstacle，“saidcomteJean，“wewillgiveher

money，butpresentusshemust。“

Onthisitwasdecided，that，onthefollowingmorning，my

brother-in-lawshouldgotoParistofindM。Morand，andget

himtoundertakethearrangement。

Thenextdaymybrother-in-lawwenttoM。Morand’s，andwhenhe

haddisclosedhismessageconcerningthecomtesse，thegood

Morandbegantolaugh。

Hetoldthecount，thattheprevious

eveningthisladyhadsentforhim；and，ongoingtoherhouse，

madamedeBearn，asaset-offagainsttheinconvenienceswhich

mightresulttoherfrombeingtheinstrumentofmypresentation，

hadstipulatedforcertaincompensations；such，forinstance，as

asumoftwohundredthousandlivres，awrittenpromiseofa

regimentforherson，andforherselfanappointmentinthe

establishmentofthefuture。

Thiswasthepointaimed

atbyalltheambitiouscourtiers。

ComteJeanthoughtthese

conditionspreposterous。

Hehadafromme，and

desiredM。Morandtooffertheladyonehundredthousandlivres，

andtoaddanassurancethatthekingshouldbeimportunedtoplace

youngBearnadvantageously，andtostationthemothertoher

wishes；andthereuponmybrother-in-lawreturnedtoVersailles。

ThecomteJeanhadscarcelyreturnedanhour，whenwereceiveda

letterfromM。Morand，stating，thathehadgone，inconsequence

oftheinstructionsofcomteJean，tothecomtessedeBearn；that

hehadfoundtheladypliantenoughonthefirstpoint，anddisposed

tocontentherselfwiththehalfofthesumoriginallydemanded；

thatonpointthesecond，Imeantheappointmentsofherselfand

son，shewouldcometonocompromise，andstuckhardandfastto

thewrittenpromiseoftheking；thathe，Morand，thoughtthisan

obstaclenottobeovercomeunlesswesubscribedtoherwishes。

Thisletterputmeinanexcessivelyill-humor。

Isawmypresentation

deferredtilldoom’sday，or，atleast，adjourned。

I

questionedmyfriends:theunanimousadvicewasthatIoughtto

mentionittothekingatoneofhiseveningvisits；andIdetermined

todosowithoutlossoftime。

WhenhismajestycameIreceivedhimverygraciously，andthen

saidtohim，

“Congratulateme，sire；Ihavefoundmygodmother。“

“Ah，somuchthebetter。“

(Iknowthat，atthebottomofhis

heart，hesaid“somuchthe。“)

“Andwho，“askedtheking，withimpatience，“maytheladybe？“

“MadamedeBearn，aladyofqualityinherownright，andofhigh

nobilityonherhusband’sside。“

“Yes，hewasa，andthesonhasjustleftthe

pages。

Ah！

shewillpresentyouthen。

That’swell；Ishall

feelfavoredbyher。“

“Woulditnotbebest，sire，totellhersoyourself？“

“Yes，yes，certainly；butaftertheceremony。“

“Andwhynotpreviously？“

“Why？

becauseIdonotwishtoappeartohaveforced

yourpresentation。“

“