第85章

Sosaying，thekingbadeusafriendlyfarewell，andretired

withtheducsdeDurasanddeNoailles。

Weremainedafterhis

majesty，andretiringintothegreatsaloon，threwourselves

withoutanyceremonyuponthedifferentcouchesandottomans。

“Formyownpart，“saidtheprincedeSoubise，“Ishallnotthink

ofseparatingfromsoagreeableapartytilldaylightwarns

mehence。“

“Thefirstbeamsofmornwillsoonshinethroughthesewindows，“

repliedM。d’Aiguillon。

“WecanalreadyperceivethebrightestraysofAurorareflected

inthesparklingeyesaroundus，“exclaimedM。deCosse。

“Atrucewithyourgallantry，gentlemen，“repliedmadamede

Mirepoix，“atmyageIcanonlybelievemyselfcapableofreflecting

thelastraysofthesettingsun。“

“Hush！“

interruptedmadamedeForcalquier，“youforgetweare

atVersailles，whereageisneverthoughtof，butwhere，likeour

gracioussovereign，allareyoung。“

“Come，ladies，“saidmadamedeFlaracourt，“letusretire；Ifor

one，pleadguiltyofbeinginneedofrepose。“

“No，no！“

repliedtheducdeRichelieu，“letusemploythe

remaininghoursinpleasingandsocialconverse，“andwitha

tremulousvoicehebeganthatcharmingtrioin“SelinaandAzor，“

“。“

Wejoinedchoruswithhim，andthe

echoesofthepalaceofLouisXVresoundedwiththemirthful

strain。

Thisburstofnoisymirthdidnotlastlong，andwe

relapsedintoincreasedtaciturnity，spiteofourendeavoursto

keepupageneralconversation。

Wewereallfatigued，though

nonebutmadamedeFlaracourtwouldconfessthefact。

Tired

naturecalledloudlyforrepose，andwewereeachcompelledto

seekitinthedifferentapartmentsassignedus。

Theducd’Aiguillon

alonewascompelled，bythedutiesofhisoffice，toreturn

toVersailles。

UponenteringmychamberIfoundmybrother-in-lawthere，in

themostviolentfitofillhumour，thattheking(whowasinfact

ignorantofhisbeingatTrianon)hadnotinvitedhimtosupper。

AsIhavebeforetoldyou，comteJeanwasnofavouritewithhis

majesty，andasIhaddisplayednowishforhiscompany，Louis

XVhadgladlyprofitedbymyindifferencetoomithimuponthe

presentoccasion。

Iendeavouredtojustifytheking，without

succeeding，however，inappeasingcomteJean，whoveryunceremoniously

consignedusalltothecareandcompanyofacertainold

gentleman，whoseterritoryissupposedtoliebeneath“the

roundglobewhichweinhabit。“

“Ihavetothankyou，“repliedI，“foraveryflatteringmodeof

saying’goodnight。’“

“Perhaps，“answeredcomteJeanroughly，“youwouldprefer——“

“Nothingfromyourlipsifyouplease，mypolitebrother，“cried

I，interruptinghim，“nothingyouwillsayinyourpresenthumour

canbeatalltomytaste。“

Choninterferedbetweenus，andeffectedareconciliation，which

Iwasthemorewillingtolistento，thatImightenjoythatsleep

mywearyeye-lidscravedfor。

Scarc