第70章

“from。

presumingtocastmyeyesoverwhatismeantonlyforhis

majesty’sgraciousperusal；itwouldbeanactoftreasonIamnot

capableofcommitting。“

“Then，sir，“returnedI，“Imayreasonablyconcludethatitiswith

yoursanctionandconcurrenceyourwifeintrigueswiththeking？“

“Ah，madam，“answeredthewilydeRumas，inasoftandexpostulating

tone，“troublenot，Iprayyou，thereposeofmyfamily。

Iknow

toowellthevirtueofmadamedeRumas，herdelicacy，andthe

severityofherprinciples；Iknowtoowelllikewisethesentiments

inwhichherexcellentparentseducatedher，andIdefytheblackest

malicetoinjureherinmyestimation。“

“Wonderfully，sir！“

criedI；“soyoudeterminetobelieveyour

wife’svirtueincorruptible，allthewhileyouareprofitingby

herintrigues。

However，IamtoocertainofwhatIassertto

lookonwiththeculpableindifferenceyouarepleasedtoassume，

whilstyourwifeisseekingtosupplantmeatthe

chateau；youshallhearofmebeforelong。

Adieu，sir。“

Sosaying，Iquittedtheroominsearchofthemarechale，to

whomIrelatedwhathadpassed。

“Andnow，whatthinkyouofsobaseahypocrite？“

askedI，when

Ihadfinishedmyaccount。

“Hewelldeserveshavingthemasktornfromhisface，“replied

she；“butgiveyourselfnofurtherconcern；returnhome，and

dependuponit，that，onewayorother，Iwillforcehiminto

thepathofhonor。“

IaccordinglyorderedmycarriageandreturnedtoVersailles，

where，onthesameevening，Ireceivedthefollowingletter

fromthemarechale:——

“MYDEARCOUNTESS，——Myeffortshavebeen

attendedwithnobettersuccessthanyours。

Well

maytheproverbsay，’Thereisnonesodeafashe

whowillnothear，’andM。deRumasperseveresin

treatingallIadvancedrespectinghiswifeas

calumniousfalsehoods。

Accordingtohisversion

ofthetale，madamedeRumashasnoother

motiveinseeingLouisXVsofrequently，butto

implorehisaidinfavorofthepoorinher

neighborhood。

Ireallylostallpatiencewhen

Iheardhimattemptingtoveilhisinfamousconduct

underthemaskofcharity；Ithereforeproceededat

oncetomenaces，tellinghimthatyoubadsomany

advantagesoverhiswife，thatyouscornedto

considerheryourrival:butthat，nevertheless，

youdidnotchoosethatanyupstartpretender

shoulddareasktosharehismajesty’sheart。

Toallthishemadenoreply；andasthesightof

himonlyincreasedmyindignation，Iatlength

desiredhimtoquitme。

Itrustyouwillpardon

meforhavingspokeninasqueenlikeamanner

asyoucouldhavedoneyourself。

“Adieu，mysweetfriend。“

Thisletterwasfarfromsatisfyingme，andIdeterminedupon

strikingadecisiveblow。

IsentforChamilly，andtreatinghim

withallthecontempthedeserved，Itoldhim，thatiftheking

didnotimmediatelygiveupthiswomanhemightprepareforhis

ownimmediatedismissal。

AtfirstChamillysoughttoappease