第96章

princessrepliedintheaffirmative，adding:

“’ThearchbishopofPariswasheretwiceduringyesterdayto

inquireafteryou。’

“’YetIbelongmoreproperlytothedioceseofChartres，’returned

theking，’andsurelyM。deFleurywouldnotinteresthimselfless

aboutmethanM。deBeaumont。’

“’Theyarebothtrulyanxiousaboutyou，mydearestfather，and

ifyouwouldonlyseethem——’

“’No，no，’answeredLouisXV；’theymustnotbetakenfromthe

dutiesoftheirrespectivedioceses；besides，incaseofneed，I

havemygrandalmoner。’

“MadameAdelaidedidnotventuretourgethematterfurtherjust

then，and，afterashortintervalofsilence，amessagewas

broughtfromyou，inquiringwhetheryoucouldseetheking，to

whichhehimselfreplied，thathefeltinclinedtosleep，and

wouldrathernotseeanypersonthatnight。

Iwasinthechamber，

andheveryshortlycalledmetohim，andsaid:

“’Ducd’Aiguillon，Ihavethesmall-pox；andyouareawarethat

thereisasortofetiquetteinmyfamilywhichenjoinsmy

immediatelydischargingmydutiesasaChristian。’

“’Yes，sire，ifthemaladyworeaseriousaspect；butinyourcase——’

“’MayGodgrant，’repliedhe，’thatmydisorderbenotdangerous；

however，itmaybecomeso，ifitisasyetharmless，andIwould

faindieasabelieverratherthananinfidel。

Ihavebeenagreat

sinner，doubtless；butIhaveeverobservedLentwithamost

scrupulousexactitude。

Ihavecausedmorethanahundredthousand

massestobesaidforthereposeofunhappysouls；Ihave

respectedtheclergy，andpunishedtheauthorsofallimpious

works，sothatIflattermyselfIhavenotbeenaverybadChristian。’

“Ilistenedtohisdiscoursewithaheavyheart，yetIstill

strovetoreassurethekingrespectinghishealth，ofwhich，I

assuredhim，therewasnottheslightestdoubt。

“’Thereisonesacrifice，’saidtheking，inalowandhurried

tone，’thatmydaughterLouise，hersisters，andtheclergy，will

notbelonginexactingfrommeinthenameofetiquette。

I

recollectthesceneofMetz，anditwouldbehighlydisagreeable

tometohaveitrepeatedatVersailles；letus，therefore，take

ourprecautionsintimetopreventit。

Telltheduchesse

d’Aiguillonthatshewillobligemebytakingthecomtessedu

BarrytopasstwoorthreedayswithheratRuel。’

“’How，sire！’exclaimedI，’sendyourdearestfriendfromyouat

atimewhenyoumostrequirehercares？’

“’Idonotsendheraway，’answeredtheking，withmournful

tenderness，’Ibutyieldtopresentnecessity；lethersubmitas

shevaluesmyhappiness，andsaytoher，thatIhopeandbelieve

herabsencewillbeveryshort。’“

Thedukehereceasedhisrecital，whichfullyconfirmedallmy

previousanticipations。

Myfemalerelativessobbedaloud，while

comteJean，compressinghislips，endeavouredtoassumethat

firmnesshedidnotreallypossess。

Byaviolen