第57章

totheJesuits，towhomhewasentirelydevoted，hehadappeared

toacceleratetheperiodoftheirdestruction；neverhadhebeen

abletopardonhispatronthefrightfulparthehadcompelled

himtoenactinthebusiness。

Yearshadnotweakenedhisancient

rancour，anditmightbesaid，thathehadclungtolifewithmore

thannaturalpertinacity，asunwillingtolayitdowntillhehad

avengedhimselfondeChoiseul。

LouisXVwrotetohim，desiring

hewouldavailhimselfofthefirstpretextthatoccurredto

requestanaudience。

Thisnotewasforwardedbyafootman，

thegoodabbeeasilydivinedthatthismysteryconcealedsome

greatdesign；hethereforehastenedtosolicitanaudienceas

desired。

Whenintroducedintothecabinetoftheking，his

majestyinquiredatonce，

“Monsieurl’abbe，canIdependuponyourdiscretion？“

“Sire，“repliedtheabbe，withabluntfrankness，“Iamsorry

yourmajestycandoubtit。“

“Besatisfied，sir，“repliedtheking，“Ihadnointentionto

offendyou；butIwishtoconsultyouuponapoint，theimportance

ofwhichyouwillfullyappreciate；answermewithoutdisguise。

DoyoubelievethattheservicesoftheducdeChoiseulare

usefultomykingdom，andthatmyinterestswouldsufferwereI

todismisshim？“

“Sire，“repliedM。delaVille，withouthesitation，“Iprotestto

you，asamanofhonour，thatthepresenceoftheducdeChoiseul

isbynomeansessentialtotheministry，andthatyourmajesty’s

interestswouldsustainnottheslightestinjurybyhisabsence。“

AfterthistheabbedelaVilleenteredintoparticularsunnecessary

torepeathere；itissufficienttosay，thatall

headvancedmateriallyaidedourwishes。

Heafterwardsreaped

therewardofhisfriendlyservices，forwhentheducd’Aiguillon

haddisplacedtheducdeChoiseul，hebestowedonM。delaVille

thetitleof，anofficecreatedfor

him，andthebishopricofTricomie。

Thegoodabbe

didnot，however，longenjoyhishonours，butendedhiscareerin1774。

Thisconversationhadbeenrepeatedtome；and，onmyside，I

leftnomeansuntriedofpreventingLouisXVfromplacingfurther

confidenceinhisminister；but，feebleandtimid，heknewnoton

whattodetermine，contentinghimselfwithtreatingtheduke

coolly；hesought，bycontinualrebuffsanddenialstohisslightest

request，tocompelhimtodemandthatdismissalhehadnotthe

couragetogive。

Whilstthesethingswereinagitation，madamedeMirepoix，who

hadbeenforsomedaysabsentfromVersailles，cametocallupon

me。

Thisladypossessedaconsiderableshareofwit；and，although

onthemostintimatetermswithme，hadnotaltogetherbrokenoff

withthedesChoiseuls，towhomshewasfurtherboundonaccount

oftheprincedeBeauvau，herbrother。

Itthereforeexcitedin

menosurprise，whenIheardthatthedesChoiseulshadcalled

onhertoascertain，whetheritwouldnotbepossible，throughher

mediation，tocometosometermswithme。

“Andyoumustnotbeangrywithme，“continuedshe，“for

undertakingthe；Iwellforesawallthedifficulties，

andentertainednohopesofitssuccess，butuponsecondthoughts，

IconsidereditbetterIshouldacceptthemission；for，incase

ofanegativebeingreturned，itwillbe