第51章

Dorine——MademoiselleChoinandthemarechald’Uxelles——Zamor——

M。deMaupeou’swig——Henriette——TheducdeVilleroiandSophie——

LetterfromthecomtesseduBarrytotheducdeVilleroi——His

reply——Thecountesswritesagain——MadameduBarryandSophie——

LouisXVandthecomtesseduBarry

Amongthenumberwhichcomposedmyhouseholdwerethreebeings

whoplayedconspicuouspartsinmyfamily，andwhoreceivedthe

kindestcaressesinhonouroftheirmistress。

Thesethreefavoured

objectswereDorine，Zamor，andHenriette。

Followingtheorderor

disorderinwhichIhavewrittenthusfar，Iwillfirstintroduce

mydearDorinetoyournotice。

Sweet，beautifulDorine！

howamiablyaffectionateandattached

tothymistresswertthou！

Thepooranimalstillexists；forI

wouldhaveyouknowthatIamspeakingofamostfaithfullittle

dog；nowindeedgrownold，asthmaticandsnappish；butfifteen

yearssince，distinguishedforherlightness，swiftness，andgrace，

forherprettylittlecountenance，whiteteeth，largesparkling

eyes，longtuftedtail，andaboveall，forhersnow-whitecoat，

spottedhereandtherewiththemostbeautifulbrown。

DorinewasjustthreemonthsoldwhenmadamedeMontmorency

broughthertomeinhermuff；herthroatwasadornedwitharich

goldcollar，bearingthearmsoftheduBarrys，andclaspedwitha

largesapphiresurroundedwithdiamonds。

Themomentshesawme

Dorineleapeduponmylapwiththemostendearingfamiliarity，

andfromthatperiodhasneverquittedme。

Mytrainofcourtiers

hastenedtobecomethoseofthenewfavouritelikewise；and

pastrycooksandconfectionersrackedtheirbrainstoprocure

temptingmorselsforthegentleDorine。

Shesippedhercoffee

dailyfromagoldensaucer，andZamor(betweenwhomandDorine

amutualdislikeexisted)wasappointedhercupbearer。

The

wonderfulinstinctofthehighlygiftedanimalsoontaughther，

thatalthoughshehadfreepermissiontobarkatalltherestof

theworld，therewasonepersoninittowhomitbehovedherto

showherselfinhermostgraciousandsmilingmoods；whothis

personwasIleaveittoyoursagacitytodivine。

She，however，

indemnifiedherselfforthisextracomplaisancebybarkingand

bitingatallwhoapproached；andthehandsomest，bestturned

leginthecourtwasnotsecurefromthesharpteethofmademoiselle

Dorine。

Nevertheless，allviedinpraisingandfondlingher，and

Iwasenchantedwiththegeneraladmirationsheexcited，aswell

astheattentionshereceived。

OnedaythatIwasexultingly

relatingtotheducd’Aguillonthecaresandpraiseslavishedon

mydog，hereplied，“Thegranddauphin，sonofLouisXIV，after

thedeathofhiswife，MarieChristineofBavaria，secretlyespoused

mademoiselleChoin。

Themarechald’Uxelles，whowasnotignorant

ofthismarriage，professedhimselfthemostdevotedfriendof

thelady；hevisitedherregularlymorningandevening，and

evencarriedhisdesiretopleasehersofar，astosendaservant

withadishofgrilledhareforthehousedog，whohadaparticular

fancyforgamedressedinthatmanner！

Theseattentionsand

assiduitieswerefaithfullycontinuedforseveralyears，tillthe

granddauphindied，andthennomoremorningandeveningvisits，