第76章

yourcousin；requesthimtoquitthe

chateau，forshouldhe

remainthetruthwillbediscovered，andthen，myfriend，youare

lostpastmyendeavorstosaveyou。’

“LessgenerousthanmadameBoncault，Iconsentedtofollowher

advice。

However，Ihaveneverforgottenhergenerousdevotion；

andnowthattheopportunityhaspresenteditselfofprovingmy

gratitude，Ibeseechofyou，mydearcountess，toaidmeinthe

dischargeofmydebtofgratitude。“

AsmadamedeForcalquierfinishedspeaking，Ithrewmyselfinto

herarms。

“Fromthismoment，“criedI，“madameBoncaultismy

dearandesteemed；andifIhaveanyinfluenceover

themindoftheking，sheshallbeappointedladyinwaitingto

ouryoungprincess。

Suchawomanisatreasure，andIheartily

thankyouforhavingmentionedhertome。“

MarriageofmadameBoncault——ThecomtedeBourbonBusset——Marriage

ofcomted’Hargicourt——DisgraceofthecomtedeBroglie——Heis

replacedbyM。Lemoine——Thekingcomplainsofennui——Conversations

onthesubject——EntryintoParis

SpiteofthemeritofmadameBoncault，andthemanyeulogiumsI

bestowedonherwhilstrelatingherhistorytotheking，Icould

notimmediatelyobtainthepostmadamedeForcalquierhadrequested

forthisparagonoffriends。

Hismajestyrepliedtomebysaying，

thatnodoubtsomanyvirtuesmeritedahighreward，butthat

eremadameBoncaultcouldbeappointedladyinwaitingtohis

granddaughter，shemustbepresentedatcourtundersomeother

namethantheoneshenowbore。

“Oh，ifthatbeall，sire，“’repliedI，“itwillsoonbeeffected。

Ladieswhohavethegoodfortunetopossessarichdowryand

powerfulfriendsneedneverlookfarforachoiceofhusbands。

OnlyletmadameBoncaulthavereasontoreckonuponyourpatronage，

andshewillhavenolackofadmirers。“

Theking，alwaysreadytoobligeme，causedittobeunderstood

throughoutthechateauthathewasdesirousofseeingmadame

Boncaultwellestablished，ashehaditincontemplationtoconfide

toheraplaceofgreattrust。

Immediatelyascoreofsuitors

presentedthemselves；thepreferencewasgiventothecomtede

BourbonBussetasthepersonmostcalculatedineveryrespectto

answerourpurpose；hepossessedelegantmanners，anunblemished

reputation，andadescentsoillustriousastobetracedevento

thereigningfamily。

Nosoonerwerethecelebrationsofthis

marriageover，thanIprocuredtheformalappointmentofmadame

deBourbonBussettothepostofladyinwaitingtothenew

princess。

Thisnominationtendedgreatlytoincreasethehigh

opinionentertainedofthejudgmentanddiscriminationofthe

comtessedeForcalquier，andyoumayeasilybelieve，fromthef

friendshipIborethislady，thatIfullyenteredintohertriumph

ontheoccasion。

WhenthecomtessedeBourbonBussetcametoreturnmeher

acknowledgmentsforwhatIhaddone，sheaccompanieditwitha

requestforafreshinterferenceonmypart:thiswastoobtain

forherhusbandthetitleofdukeandpeer。

AccordinglyI

mention