第41章

Iprocuredtheking’sprotectionforthemiserable

objectoftheprincess’saffection；Iobtainedhissaferemoval

toanothercountry；and，havingdoneallthis，Icommunicatedmy

knowledgeofthetransactiontothecomtessed’Egmont。

Doesthis

bearanycomparisonwithherlineofconducttowardsme？“

“Butyourletter，madame；yourletter——“

“Wouldbearalterationsandamendments，sir，Iamaware:IadmitI

didnotsufficientlyinsistupontheatrocityofsuchanabuse

ofpower。“

“Youarethenresolved，madame，tomakeusyourenemies。“

“Ishouldbeverysorry，monsieurleduc，tobecompelledtosuch

extremities；butifyourfriendshipcanonlybepurchasedatthe

priceofmysubmittingtocontinuallyreceivetheinsultsofyour

family，Ishouldbethefirsttoceasetoaspiretoit。

If

Madamed’Egmontholdsherselfaggrievedbyme，lethercarryher

complaintbeforetheparliament；weshallthenseewhatredress

shewillget。

Shehascompromisedtheking’snamebyanarbitrary

act；andsinceyouthusattackme，youmustnottakeitamissif

Imakethekingacquaintedwiththewholebusiness。“

Themarechal，surprisedatsosevereareply，couldnolonger

restraintheragewhichfilledhim。

“Ishouldhavethought，

madame，“saidhe，“thatmydaughter，inwhoseveinsflowsroyal

blood，mighthavemeritedsomelittleconsiderationfromthe

comtesseduBarry。“

“Itiswell，then，monsieurleduc，“repliedI，“topointoutto

youyourerror。

Iseeinmyenemiestheirworksandactions

alone，withoutanyreferencetotheirbirth，beithighorlow；

andtheconductofmadamed’Egmonthasbeensoviolentand

unceasingtowardsme，thatitleavesmewithoutthesmallest

regretforthatIhavepursuedtowardsher。“

Ihadimaginedthatthisreplywouldstillfurtherirritatethe

angryfeelingsoftheducdeRichelieu，butitdidnot:heeasily

guessedthatnothingbuttheking’ssupportcouldhaveinspired

metoexpressmyselfwithsomuchenergy；and，ifpaternal

vanitystroveinhisheart，personalinterestsspoketherewith

evenaloudervoice。

Hethereforesoughttolayasidehisanger，

and，likeaskilfulcourtier，changinghisangrylookandtone

foroneofcheerfulness:

“Madame，“saidhe，“Iyield；Iseeitwillnotdotoenterthe

listsagainstyou。

IconfessIcamethismorningbuttosound

yourcourage，andalreadyyouhavedrivenmeoffthefield

vanquished。

ThereisonefavorIwouldimploreofyourgenerosity，

andthatis，tobesilentastoallthathastranspired。“

“Ishallnotspeakofit，monsieurleduc，“repliedI，muchmoved，

“unlessyouormadamed’Egmontsetmetheexample。“

“Inthatcasetheaffairwillforeverremainburiedinoblivion；

but，madame，Iwillnotconcealfromyou，thatmydaughterhas

becomeyourmostbitterandirreconcilableenemy。

“

“Themotiveswhichhaveactuatedme，monsieurle

marechal，are

suchastoleavemeverylittleconcernuponthatsubje