第92章

Firstproceedingsofthecouncil——Thedauphinreceivestheprelates

withgreatcoolness——SituationofthearchbishopofParis——

Richelieuevadestheprojectforconfessingtheking——Thefriends

ofmadameduBarrycomeforward——TheEnglishphysician——The

abbeTerray——InterviewwiththeprincedeSoubise——Theprince

andthecourtiers——LaMartiniereinformsthekingofFrancethe

truenatureofhiscomplaint——Consequencesofthisdisclosure

Thedifferentmembersofthisdeclared

themselvesinfavourofthisadvice，muchtothegriefandchagrin

oftheprincessAdelaide。

Sheeasilyperceivedbythisproposition

thatthecourtwouldveryshortlychangemasters，andcouldshe

hopetopreservethesameinfluenceduringthereignofhernephew

shehadmanagedtoobtainwhilstherfatherheldthesceptre？

However，shemadenooppositiontotheresolutionoftheprelates，

whoforthwithproceededtothedauphin，whoreceivedthemwith

considerablecoolness。

Asyet，butill-assuredinthenewpart

hehadtoplay，theprinceshowedhimselffearfulandembarrassed。

Thedauphinesswouldwillinglyhaveadvisedhim，butthatprudence

wouldnotpermithertodo，sothatthedauphin，leftwhollyto

himself，knewnotonwhattodetermine。

Thiswaspreciselywhatthegrandalmonerhadhopedandexpected，

andhelaughedinhissleeveattheuselesstroubletakenbythe

archbishop；andwhilstheopenlyaffectedtopromotehisdesires

asmuchaswasinhispower，hesecretlytookmeasurestoprevent

theirsuccess。

M。deBeaumont，whowasofamostopenandupright

nature，wasfarfromsuspectingtheseintrigues；indeed，hissimple

andpiouscharacterbutill-qualifiedhimforthecorruptanddeceitful

atmosphereofacourt，especiallysuchaoneasVersailles。

His

situationnowbecameoneofdifficulty；abandonedbythebishops

andthegrandalmoner，disappointedinhishopesoffindinga

supporterinthedauphin，whatcouldhedoalonewiththe

princesses，who，intheirdreadofcausinganemotion，which

mightbefataltotheirparent，knewnotwhattoresolveupon。

As

alastresource，theysummonedthe

abbeMandaux，theking’s

confessor。

Theprelateexcitedhiszealinallitsfervour，and

thissimpleandobscurepriestdeterminedtoundertakethat

whichmanymoreeminentpersonageshadshrunkfromattempting。

Hethereforesoughtadmittanceintothechamberoftheking，where

hefoundtheducsdeDurasanddeRichelieu，towhomhe

communicatedthemissionuponwhichhewascome。

Atthisdeclaration，theconsequencesofwhichheplainlyforesaw，

theducdeDurashesitatedtoreply，scarcelyknowinghowtoward

offablowtheresponsibilityofwhichmustfalluponhimalone。

TheducdeRichelieu，withgreaterself-command，extricatedhim

fromhisdifficulty。

“Sir，“saidhetotheabbe，“yourzealishighlypraise-worthy，

boththedukeandmyselfareawareofallthatshouldbedone

uponsuchanoccasionasthepresent；andalthoughIfreely

admitthatthesacredactyouspeakofisofanimperativenature，

yetIwouldobserve，thatthekingbeingstillinignoranceofhis

fatalmalady，neitheryourdutiesnorourscanbegin，untilthe

momentwhenthephysiciansshallhavethoughtpropertoreveal

thewholetruthtohismajesty。

Thisisamatterofformand

etiquettetowhic