第64章

Rousseau，andInow

speakofhim，asyousee，withoutoneparticleofresentment。

ImustnowspeaktoyouofanewacquaintanceImadeaboutthis

Period——thatofthetwoduchessesd’Aiguillon。

Frommyfirst

entranceintothechateauuntilthecloseof1770，madame

d’Aiguillon，thedaughter-in-law，observedasortofarmed

neutralitytowardsme；true，shenevervisitedme，butshealways

metmewithapparentsatisfactionatthehousesofothers；thusshe

managedtosteerclearofonedangerousextremeortheothertill

thedownfallofthedesChoiseuls；whentheducd’Aiguillonhaving

beennominatedtotheministry，sheperceivedthatshecouldnot，

withoutgreatingratitude，omitcallingtooffermeheracknowledgments，

andaccordinglyshecame。

Onmyside，Ileftnomeansuntried

ofrenderingmyselfagreeabletoher；andsowelldidIsucceed，

thatfromthatmomenthervaluablefriendshipwasbestowedonme

withasinceritywhichevenmyunfortunatereverseshavebeen

unabletoshake；andwearetothisdaythesamefirmandtruef

friendswewereinthezenithofmypower。

NotthatIwouldseek

tojustifytheinjuryshesoughttodoourqueen，butImayand

docongratulatemyself，thatthesamewarmthwhichpervadesher

hatredslikewiseinfluencesherfriendships。

IcannotequallyboastofthetreatmentIreceivedfromtheduchess

dowagerd’Aiguillon，who，aswellasherdaughter-in-law，came

toseemeuponthepromotionofherson。

Sheoverloadedmewith

caresses，andevenexceededherdaughter-in-lawinprotestations

ofdevotionandgratitude。

Youshouldhaveheardherextolmy

beauty，wit，andsweetnessofdisposition；she，infact，so

overwhelmedmewithhersurfeitingpraises，thatatlastI

becameconvincedthat，ofthethousandflatteringthingsshe

continuallyaddressedtome，notonewashercandidopinion；

andIwasright，forIsoonlearned，thatinhercircleofintimates

atthehousesoftheBeauffremons，theBrionnes，andaboveall，

themarquiseduDeffant，shejustifiedheracquaintancewithme，

bysayingitwasasacrificemadetotheinterestsofherson，and

amusedtheseladiesbycensuringmyeverywordandlook。

The

dowager’sdouble-dealinggreatlyannoyedme；nevertheless，not

wishingtovexherson，orherdaughter-in-law，Iaffectedtobe

ignorantofherdishonourableconduct。

However，Icouldnot

longrepressmyindignation，andonedaythatshewaspraising

memostextravagantly，Iexclaimed，“Ah，madam，howkindit

wouldbeofyoutoreserveoneoftheseprettyspeechestorepeat

atmadameduDeffant’s。“

Thisblow，sostrongyetjust，rather

surprisedher；but，quicklyrallyinghercourage，sheendeavoured

topersuademethatshealwaysspokeofmeinthesameterms。

“It

maybeso，“repliedI；“butIfearthatyousaysomanyflattering

thingstome，thatyouhavenotoneleftwhenoutofmysight。“

ThemarechaledeMirepoixusedtosay，thatacaressfrommadame

d’AiguillonwasnotlesstobedreadedthanthebiteofM。d’Ayen。

Yettheduchessdowagerhasobtainedafirst-ratereputationfor

goodness；everyonestyledher。

Andwhy，doyousuppose？

Becauseshewasoneofthosefat，

fresh，portly-lookingdam