第36章

rantomeetherlikeachild，andgaveacryofjoy，whichmust

havebeenverypleasingtothemarechale。

“Youareadearwoman，“hesaidtoher，withanairwhichaccorded

withhiswords，“IalwaysfindyouwhenIwantyou；andyoucan

nowherebemoreinplacethanhere。

Iaskyourfriendshipforour

dearcountess。“

“Shehasitalready，sire，fromthemomentIsawher；andI

considermyintimacywithherasoneofthehappiestchances

ofmylife。“

Thekingshowedtheutmostgoodhumorintheworldduringthe

restoftheevening。

Hescoldedme，however，forthemysteryI

hadmadeinconcealingfromhimtheagreeablevisitofthe

marechale。

Ijustifiedmyselfeasilybythepleasurewhichthis

surprisecausedhim；and，onmyside，gavemysincerethanks

tothechancellor。

“Youowemenone，“saidhe；“thegoodmarechalefeltherself

somewhatillateasenottobeonclosetermswithherwho

possessestheaffectionsoftheking。

Itisanindispensable

necessitythatsheshouldplayapartinthelesserapartments；

andastheprincipalcharacternolongersuitsher，sheis

contentedtoperformthatofconfidante，andranhereonmy

firstintimation。“

“Nevermindthemotivethatbroughther，“Isaid；“sheisa

companionformemuchmoredesirablethanmadamedeBearn。“

“Firstfromherrank，“saidthechancellor，smilingmaliciously，

“andthenbyvirtueofhercousinshipwiththeHolyVirgin。“

IconfessthatIwasignorantofthisincidentinthehouseof

Levi；andIlaughedheartilyatthedescriptionofthepicture，

inwhichoneofthelordsofthishouseisrepresentedonhis

kneesbeforethemotherofGod，whosaystohim，“

towhichhereplies，““

Itook

care，however，howIjokedonthispointwiththemarechale，who

listenedtonothingthattouchedonthenobilityoftheancestorsof

herhusbandoronthoseofherownfamily。

Greathadbeentheoutcryinthepalaceagainsttheducdela

VauguyonandmadamedeBearn，buthowmuchlouderdiditbecome

onthedefectionofthemarquisedeMirepoix。

Thecabalwas

destroyed；forawomanofrankandbirthlikethemarechalewas

tomeaconquestoftheutmostimportance。

Theprincessede

GuemeneeandtheduchessedeGrammontwerewofullyenraged。

Thistheymanifestedbysatiricalsneers，epigrams，andverses，

whichwereputforthinabundance。

Alltheseinffictionsdisturbed

herbutlittle；themainpointinhereyeswastopossessthe

favorofthemaster；andshehadit，forhefeltthathewas

boundtoherbyhercomplaisance。

Hewasnotlongingivingheranunequivocalproofofhisregard。

TheducdeDurasaskedher，inpresenceofthekingandmyself，

whyshedidnotwearherdiamondsasusual。

“Theyaremyrepresentatives，“washerreply。

“Whatdoyoumeanbyrepresentatives？“

saidI。

“Why，mydearcountess，theyarewithaJewinsteadofmy

sign-manual。

Theroguehadnorespectforthewordofarelation

oftheHolyVirginandthedaughteroftheBeauvau。

Iwasin

wantofthirtythousandfrancs；andtoprocureitIhavegiven

upmyornaments，notwishingtosendtotheJewtheoldplateof

myfamily，altho’thehunkswantedit。“

Wealllaughedatherfrankness，andthegaietywithwhichshe

gavethisstatement，butwewentnofurther；

tohergreatregret，

nodoubt，forIbelievethatthescenehadbeenpreparedbetween

herandM。deDuras，eithertoletherprofitintimeofneed，or

elsethatshewishedtopluckafeather