第67章

aprivateaudienceisveryindulgentsolongastherepresentation

lasts，butnosoonerhasthecurtainfallenthantheyindulgein

agreaterseverityofcriticismthanapublicaudiencewoulddo。

Andsoithappenedontheeveninginquestion；onecouplethad

particularlyexcitedthediscontentofthespectators，maleand

female；Iknownotwhatpropheticspiritinspiredthelines。

Theunfortunatecoupletwasproductiveofmuchoffenceagainst

thehusbandandloverofmadameFavart，forthegreaterpartof

thepersonspresentperfectlydetestedmypoorcousin，whowas

“toclipthewingsofchicanery。“

Favartmanagedtoescapejust

intime，andtheabbedeVoisenon，whowasalreadynotinvery

highfavourwithhisjudges，wascompelledtoendurethefull

weightoftheircomplaintsandreproaches；everyvoicewas

againsthim，andevenhisbrethrenoftheFrenchacademy，departing

fromtheiraccustomedindulgenceuponsuchmatters，openly

reprimandedhimforthegrossnessofhisflattery；thepoorabbe

attemptedtojustifyhimselfbyprotestingthatheknewnothing

ofthehatefulcouplet，andthatFavartalonewastheguilty

personuponwhomtheyshouldexpendtheiranger。

“Iamalways，“criedhe，“doomedtosufferfortheoffencesof

others；everykindoffollyismadeapresenttome。“

“Haveacare，monsieurl’abbe，“exclaimedd’Alembert，whowas

amongtheguests，“haveacare！

menseldomlavishtheirgifts

butuponthosewhoarerichenoughtoreturntheoriginalpresent

inatenfolddegree。“

Thissomewhatsarcasticremarkwasmost

favourablyreceivedbyallwhoheardit，itquicklycirculated

throughtheroom，whilethepoor，oppressedabbeprotested，

withvehementaction。

Thefeteitselfwasmostsplendidlyandtastefullyconducted，

andmighthavesentthedifferentvisitorshomepleasedand

gratifiedinaneminentdegree，hadnotspiteandill-nature

suggestedtomadamedelaVauguyon，thatasthechancellorand

myselfwerepresent，itmustnecessarilyhavebeengivenwitha

viewofcomplimentingusratherthanmadamedeProvence。

She

evensoughttoirritatethedauphinessbyinsinuatingthesame

meanandcontemptibleobservations，andsofardidshesucceed，

thatwhenmadamedeValentinoisapproachedtoexpressherhopes

thattheentertainmentwhichshehadhonouredwithherpresence

hadbeentoherroyalhighness’ssatisfaction，thedauphiness

coollyreplied，“Donot，madame，affecttostylethisevening’s

feteonebestowedinhonourofmyself，oranypartofmyfamily；

’tistruewehavebeentheostensiblecauses，andhave，byour

presence，givenitalltheeffectyoudesired，butyouwillpardon

ouromittingtothankyouforanattention，whichwasinreality，

directedtothecomtesseduBarryandM。deMaupeou。“

(photographoforiginalhandwrittennoteomitted)

TRANSLATION

Heavens！

mydearfriend，howsadarethedays

whenIamdeprivedoftheh