第28章

Comeinstantly；

mygratefulheartexpectsyouwithimpatience。“

Mysister-in-law，towhomIshowedthiscorrespondence，saidto

me，“Thisgentlemandoesnotcometoseeyouforyourbright

eyes；andyethisvisitisnotdisinterested。“

“Whatinterestcanhehavetoserve？“

“Noneofhisown，perhaps；butthosevillainousJesuits。“

“Don’tyoulikethem，sisterofmine？“

“Ihatenobody。“

M。delaVauguyonarrived；andassoonaswewerealone，hesaid

tome，

“Well，madame，Iamnowonthepointofgoingtofightyour

battles。

Ihavetodealwitharedoubtablefoe。“

“Doyoufear？“

“Why，Iamnotoverconfident；mypositionisadelicateone。

Mesdameswillperforceobeytheordersoftheking，butthey

willnotfindmuchpleasureinseeingmetheambassadorsentto

them:alltheChoiseulpartywillvociferateloudly。

Nevertheless，

toprovemydevotiontoyou，Ibraveitall。“

“YoumayrelyonitthatIwillneverforgettheserviceyouare

abouttorenderme。“

“Ihaveonlyonefavortoaskofyou。

Authorizemetosayto

mesdames，thatifthepleasuresoflifedistractyourattention

fromreligiousduties，yoursoulisintruthfullydevotedtoour

holyreligion；andthatfarfromsupportingthephilosophers，you

willaid，byyourinfluencewiththeking，everymeasureadvantageous

tothesocietyofJesuits。“

Thehypocriticaltoneinwhichthiswasuttered，almostcompelled

metoburstoutintoafitoflaughter；buttheseriouspostureof

myaffairsinducedmetopreservemygravity，andIansweredin

aserioustone，

“Notonly，monsieurleduc，doIauthorizeyoutosaysomuch，but

IbegyoutodeclaretomesdamesthatIamalreadyfilledwith

loveandrespectfortheJesuits，andthatitwillnotbemyfault

iftheydonotreturnamongstus。“

“Ah，youareatreasureofwisdom，“repliedtheduke，kissingmy

handwithfervor；“andIamdisgustedatthewayyouarecalumniated。“

“Iknownoreasonforit，forIhaveneverdoneharmtoany

person。

AssuremesdamesthatIamsincerelygrievedthatIam

notagreeabletothem，andwouldgivehalfmylifetoobtain，not

theirfriendship，ofwhichIdonotfeelmyselfworthy，buttheir

indifference。

Deignalsototellthem，thatatalltimesIamat

theirdisposal，andbeseechthemtoconsidermeastheir

humbleservant。“

“Itisimpossibletobehavemorecorrectlythanyoudo；andIam

confidentthatmesdameswillsoondiscardtheirunjustprejudices。

Thus，itiswellunderstoodthatourfriendswillbeyours。“

“Yes，yes，providedtheyarereallymine。“

“Certainly。

IanswerforthemasIanswerforyou。“

Andthus，myfriend，didIfindmyselfalliedtotheJesuiticalparty。

ThedukecommencedtheattackwithmadameLouise，themost

reasonableoftheking’sdaughters。

Thisangelicprincess，already

occupiedwiththepiousresolutionwhichsheafterwardsputinto

executioninthefollowingyear，contentedherselfwithsaying

somewordsonthecommotionoccasionedbymypresenceatVersailles，

andthen，asifherdelicacyhadfearedtotouchonsuchasubject，

sheaskedtheducdelaVauguyon，ifthekingorderedherto

receivethe