第37章

withasubtleandpenetratingspirit——thattalentwhichprocures

advancementatcourt，shesaw，withpain，thatIsoughttoattract

otherfemalesaboutme:shewouldfainhaveremainedmyonly

friend，thatshemight，unopposed，influencemeinallIdid。

She

saw，therefore，theappearanceofmadamedeMirepoixinmy

drawing-roomwithuneasiness:herbadhumorwassufficiently

apparenttoattractthenoticeofthemarechale，wholaughedatit:

hersocialpositionasatitledwoman，andtheking’sfriendship，

givingherconfidencethathercreditwouldalwaysexceedthatof

mygodmother。

MadamedeBearnwascompelledtosubmittotheascendancyofthe

marechale，butyetdidnotthelessrelaxinhereffortstokeep

frommeallotherfemalesociety，shehopedthatatlasttheking

woulddistinguishher，andcallherintohisintimacyasmyfriend；

shewasnotmorefondofthecomtessed’Aloigny，altho’thenullity

ofthisladyneednothavealarmedhermuch。

Forme，Ibeganto

resenttheirksomenessofhavingincessantlyatmysideaperson

whomanifestedtooopenlyherdesiretocompelmetosubmitto

herwishes，andIwaited，tosecuremyfreedom，onlyuntilthe

circleoffemalesIcouldadmittomysocietyshouldbeextended。

SuchwereourreciprocalfeelingsduringourstayatMarly。

The

madamedeBearnwatchedmewithmorecarethanatVersailles，

fearing，nodoubt，thatthefreedomofthecountrymightfacilitate

connectionsprejudicialtoherinterests。

Littledidsheanticipate

onthisdaythestrokewhichwasinpreparationforher。

Iasked

herspitefullytotakeaturnwithmeintothepark，andItook

carenottoannouncethemeetingwhichwehadarranged。

Beholdusthenwalkingthiswayandthat，quitebychance，without

howevergoinganydistancefromthepavilion。

MadamedeBearn，

notlikingthevicinityofthechateau，wasdesiroustogointothe

wood。

Ideclinedthisundervainexcuses，whensuddenlymadame

deMirepoixandmadamedeFlaracourtappearedattheendof

averyshortwalk。

“Letusturnthisway，“saidthecountesstome，“herecomesone

ofourenemies，whomitwouldbeaswelltoavoid。“

“Whyturnaway？“

Ireplied；“sheisalone，wearetwo，andthen

themarechaledeMirepoixisnotopposedtous。“

Sayingthis，Iadvancedtowardsthem。

MadamedeFlaracourtappeared

verygracious:Irepliedtoheradvanceswithduepoliteness，and

insteadofseparating，wecontinuedtowalkabouttogether。

Madame

deBearnsawclearlythatchancewasnotthesolecauseofthis

meeting:shedissembledaswellasshecould。

Iafterwardslearnt

thatsheowedmeaspite，particularlyforthemysterywhichIhad

madeofthisoccurrence。

Themarkedsilence，andthesullenair

sheassumedduringthisinterview，andwhichhersenseand

knowledgeoftheworldshouldhavepreventedherfrommanifesting，

provedtome，onthisoccasion，asonmanyotherothers，that

tempercannotalwaysbeconquered，andthatattimesitwillburst

forthinspiteoftheexperienceandcautionofthecourtier。

Ididnotgivemyselfmuchtroubleonthissubject:Iha