第46章

sentimentsonthesubject，andyet，trustingtomygreatinfluence

overhismind，Ididnotdespairofsuccess；besidesChon，my

sister-in-law，wasconstantlyremindingmethatpeopleofa

certainrankshouldsupportoneanother，andthatnowwasthe

timeornever。

Ithereforeresolveduponbefriendingthedaughters

ofcomtedeLouernetotheutmostofmypower，andforthat

purposeIplacedthembothinacornerofthedrawing-roomsoas

tocatchtheking’seyeasheentered；heobservedthem，and

inquiredwhothosetwoladieswere。

“Sire，“repliedI，“they

aretheheart-brokendaughtersofthecomteandcomtessede

Louerne，whoimploreclemencyofyourmajestytosavethelives

oftheauthorsoftheirbeing。“

“Ah！“

returnedhe，“madame，youknowIcandonothingagainst

thelawwhichtheyhaveoffended。“

Atthesecruelwordsthetwoyoungladiesthrewthemselvesathis

feet，exclaiming，“Pardon，pardon，sire；inthenameofheavenand

yourillustriousancestors。“

“Rise，ladies，“saidtheking；“Iwouldwillinglyserveyou，

butIhavenotthepower。“

“No，sire，“criedI，“youmustnot，youcannotrefuseourunited

prayers；andIherevowtoremainkneelingatyourfeettillyour

lipsshallpronouncethewordwhichshallrestorelifeandhappiness

tosomanyafflictedhearts。“

“Madame，“saidtheking，altho’inatonelessfirm，“youforce

metodowhatmyprinciplescondemn；butsinceitmustbeso，I

yield；andonlyrejoicethatthefirstpersonalfavoryourequest

ofmeistoperformanactofbeneficence。

Ladies，“addedhe，

turningtowardsthecomtessedeMoyauandhersister-in-law，

“youowethelivesofyourparentstothegenerousmediation

ofthecomtesseduBarry。“

ThejoyoftheLouerneswasonlyequalledbythebasecalumnyof

myenemies，whoaccusedmeofhavingpreparedthisscene，which

wasgotupbythekingandmyselftoproduceeffectandexcite

popularity。

Couldsuchdisgustingfalsehoodshaveenteredthe

mindsofanybutthemostdepraved？

Yetthosewhocontinually

watchedandmisrepresentedmyleastactionappearedanxiousto

deprivemeofeventhetastefor，aswellasthepowerof，doing

good。

ThistookplaceatChoisy，whichweveryshortlyafter

quittedforCompiegne，whereIpassedmytimeveryagreeably。

ThekingwouldnotsuffereithertheduchessedeGrammontorthe

comtessesd’EgmontanddeBriennetoaccompanyusuponthis

excursion。

Ithaslikewisebeenasserted，thatneithertheduchesse

deGrammontnortheprincessedeBeauvauwaspresentduringthe

king’sfirstvisittoChantilly:thatisnotcorrect；itwasat

thesecondthattheywereforbiddenbyLouistojointheparty。

Thosewhofabricatedsuchaccounts，inallprobabilityderived

theirinformationfromeitherthestableorthekitchen，which

wasalltheyknewofthecourtofLouisXV。

DuringmyabodeatCompiegneIdinedseveraltimesatthehouse

ofmybrother-in-law，CleonduBarry，thenacaptaininthe

regimentdeBeauce，whowas，withadetachment，quarteredin

theneighborhoodofthecastle；andhe，withtherestofhi