第58章

himselfsoadvantageouslybeforehismaster，astoexcludehim

entirelyfromtheeyesofhissubjects。“

Whilstthesewordswerespeaking，M。deMaupeouandM。dela

Vrillierewereannounced；theking，stillwarm，letfallsomewords

expressiveofhisdispleasureatwhathadhappened。

Thegauntlet

wasthrown；andsowelldidweworkupontheirritatedmindof

LouisXV，thatitwasdeterminedM。deChoiseulshouldbedismissed

thefollowingday，December24，1770。

Chanteloupwaschosen

fortheplaceofhisretreat，andM。delaVrilliere，bythe

dictationoftheking，wrotethefollowinglettertotheduke:——

“Cousin，-，Thedissatisfactioncausedmeby

yourconductcompelsmetorequestyouwill

confineyourselftoyourestateatChanteloup，

whitheryouwillremoveinfourandtwenty

hoursfromthedatehereof。

Ishouldhavechosen

amoreremotespotforyourplaceofexile，wereit

notforthegreatesteemIentertainfortheduchesse

deChoiseul，inwhosedelicatehealthIfeelmuch

interest。

Haveacarethatyoudonot，byyour

ownconduct，obligemetoadoptharsher

measures；andhereuponIprayGodtohaveyou

inhiskeeping。“

(Signed)“Louis，

(andlowerdown)“PHILIPPEAUX“

Whenthisletterwascompleted，Isaidtotheking，

“Surely，sire，youdonotmeantoforgettheduke’sfaithfulally，

M。dePraslin？

Itwouldillbecomeustodetainhimwhenthe

headofthefamilyhastakenleaveofus。“

“Youareright，“repliedtheking，smiling；“besides，anoldbroom

takenfromamastheadwouldbeasusefultousashewould。“

Then，turningtoM。delaVrilliere，thekingdictatedthe

followinglaconicnotice:——

“COUSIN，——Ihavenofurtheroccasionfor

yourservices；IexileyoutoPraslin，and

expectyouwillrepairthitherwithinfourand

twentyhoursafterthereceiptofthis。“

“Shortandsweet，“criedI。

“Nowletusdropthesubject，“saidLouis；

“letmadamedeChoiseul

reposeinpeaceto-night，andto-morrowmorning，ateleven

o’clock，goyourself，M。delaVrilliere，andcarrymyordersto

theduke，andbringbackhisstaffofoffice。“

“Towhomwillyougiveit，sire？“

inquiredthechancellor。

“Ihavenotyetconsideredthesubject，“repliedtheking。

AtthisinstantM。deSoubisewasannounced。

““exclaimed

theking，asM。deSoubise，littlesuspectingthenatureofour

conversation，enteredtheroom。

Iprofitedbyhiscomingtoslip

outoftheroomintomyboudoir，fromwhichIdespatchedthe

followingnotetoM。d’Aiguillon:

“MYDEARDUKE，——Victoria！

Weareconquerors；

masterandmanquitParisto-morrow。

Weshall

replacethembyourfriends；andyoubestknow

whetheryouareamongstthenumberofthem。“

WhenIreturnedtothedrawing-room，thekingexclaimed，

“Come，madam。，youarewaitedfor；theprincedeSoubisehasa

verycu