第74章

Shefeelsforyouasmuchesteem

asattachment，andisanxioustoproveitatany

opportunity。

Ibeseechyounottotreather

rigorously。

Thinkthatweonlyworktogetherfor

thegoodoftheking，andthatitwouldbeunjust

ofyoutohateusbecausewehaveendeavoredto

pleasethisexcellentprince。

Ihopethat，contented

withthisjustification，youwillnotrefusetogrant

methedoubleamnestywhichIaskofyourgoodness。“

Irepliedthus:——

“Yourletter，monsieurleduc，seducesmeno

morethanyourwords。

Iknowyouwell，and

appreciateyoufully。

Iwasignorantuptothis

time，thatamongstthedutiesofyouroffice，

certainsuchfunctionswereimposeduponyou。

Itappearsthatyouattendtothemaswellasto

others，andIsincerelycomplimentyouthereupon；

Ibegofyoutoannounceitinthe’CourtKalendar。’

Itwilladd，Iamconvinced，totheuniversalesteem

inwhichyouareheld。

“AstomadamedeLaugeac，sheisevenmore

insignificantthanyou，andthatisnotsayingmuch。

Ithankherforheresteemandattachment，but

candispensewithanymarksofthem；nogoodcan

comefromsuchanoneasshe。

Thus，M。leduc，

keepquietbothofyou，anddonotagainattempt

measureswhichmaycompromiseme。

Doyour

businessandleavemetomine。

“Iam，withalldueconsideration，

“Yourservant，

“COMTESSEDUBARRY“

Imentionedthistotheking，whoinsistedonreconcilingmewith

，whocameandknelttome。

I

grantedthepardon

sought，outofregardforLouisXV；butfromthatmomentthe

contemptIfeltforthedukeincreasedanhundredfold。

Conversationwiththeking——Marriageofthecomted’Artois——

Intrigues——Theplaceofladyofhonor——ThemarechaledeMirepoix——

ThecomtessedeForcalquierandmadameduBarry——Thecomtessede

ForcalquierandmadameBoncault

ThekingwasmuchannoyedattheindifferenceIevincedforall

statesecrets，andfrequentlyobservedtome，“Youarenotatall

likemadamedePompadour:shewasneversatisfiedunlessshe

knewallthatwasgoingon，andwaspermittedtotakeanactive

partineverytransaction；shewouldfrequentlyscoldmefornot

tellingherthingsofwhichIwasmyselfignorant。

Shewasat

thebottomofthemostsecretintrigues，andwatchedeveryturn

ofmycountenance，asthoughshesoughttoreadinmyeyesthe

inmostthoughtsofmymind。

Never，“continuedtheking，“did

womanmoreearnestlydesiresupremecommand；andsocompletely

hadshelearnedtoplaymypart，thatIhavefrequentlysurprised

hergivingprivateinstructionstomyambassadors，differing

altogetherfromwhatImyselfhaddictatedtothem。

Uponthesame

principleshemaintainedatvariouscourtsenvoysandministers，

whoactedbyherorders，andinhername；sheevensucceededin

obtainingthefriendshipofthegraveandaustereMarieTherese，

whoultimatelycarriedhercondescensionsofar，asonlytoaddress

themarchionessbythetitleof’cousin’and’dearfriend。’

Imust

confess，however，thattheseproceedingsonthepartofmadame

dePompadourwerebynomeansagreeabletome，