第98章

oneachunmeaningguestasmilingwelcome，forindeed，myheart

wastoolightandIfelttoohappytobeenabledtofrowneven

uponthosewho，whenthestormappearednear，hadbasely

desertedme。

Itwasamusingenoughtoseewithwhatzealanyperson，whomI

hadpreviouslyrecommendedwasassistedbythevariousministers

inthepursuitoftheirobject；thefoundhimself

allatonceatleisuretopayhisrespectstome。

Heconfirmed

allthekindmessagessentmebythekingthroughtheducd’Aiguillon。

MadamedeMirepoix，whohadvisitedmetheprecedingevening，

reservedhernextcallforthefollowingday，butafewhours

effectedacruelchangeinmyfortune。

Athirdletterfromtheduke——Thekingreceivesextremeunction——

LetterfrommadameVictoiretothedauphin——M。deMachault——

ApromenadewiththeducdeCosse——Kindattentionfromthe

princedesDeuxPonts——Afourthletterfromtheducd’Aiguillon——

ComteJeanbidsmefarewell——M。d’Aiguillon’sfifthletter，

containinganaccountofthedeathofLouisXV——Theducdela

Vrilliere——The——Lettertothequeen——Departure

fortheabbeyof

Theaccountreceivedintheeveningfromtheduc

d’AiguillonI

shallnottranscribe，asitwasmerelyarepetitionofthegood

tidingsofthemorning。

Thedayfollowingstillbroughta

continuationoffavorableaccounts，butthenextletterwasin

thesewords:——

“MADAM，ANDMOSTHONOREDFRIEND，——Armyourself

withcourage；thekingisextremelyill，andIought

nottoconcealfromyouthatseriousapprehensions

areentertainedforhislife；hehaspassedawretched

night，Hisdaughters，whoneverquittedhisbedside，

whisperedtohimthatthearchbishopofParisand

hisgrandalmonerwereintheanteroomifhedesired

toseethem。

Thekingdidnotseemtoheartheir

words，butaboutthreeo’clockinthemorninghe

calledtheducdeDuras，whomhebadeinquire

whetherM。Mandouxwereinthechateau；and，if

so，toapprizehimhewishedtospeakwithhim。

“Atthesewordstheprincessesandallwhoheard

themburstintoafitofweeping，whichwasonly

interruptedbythearrivaloftheconfessor，who，

approachingthebedsideofthepenitent，helda

conferencewithhimofnearlyaquarterofanhour:

thisbeingconcluded，theking，inalowandfirm

voice，inquiredforhisalmoner。

Thelattersoon

presentedhimself，anxioustodischargetheduties

ofhissacredoffice。

Hismajestykeptcontinually

repeatingtohisafflictedchildren，’Mydaughters，

whyshouldwhatIamnowabouttodoagitateor

alarmyou？

Youarewellaware，thathavingthe

small-pox，theetiquetteestablishedinmyfamily

compelsmetoreceivethelastsolemnritesofthe

church，andIbutacquitmyselfofanobligation

insubmittingtoit。’

“Thetoneinwhichthekingspokeconvincedhis

attendantsthatheratherstrovetore-assure

himselfthanhischildren，bythepersuasionthat

thereceivingextremeunctionwasnotsomuch

theconsequenceofhisowndangerousstateasa

mereactofobediencetoanestablishedcustom。

Itwasthendecidedthatthesacredceremonyshould

takeplacea