"Mind, what you undertake is no joke. It is no easy matter to amuse a king."This was a truth which I perceived at every moment, and our monarch was not the one to be amused with trifling exertion. Frequently when he entered my apartment he threw himself on an ottoman, and yawned most excessively, yes, yawned in my company. I had but one mode of rousing him from this apathy, but it was a sure one. Ispoke of the high magistracy and its perpetual resistance to the throne. Then the king aroused, instantly sprung from his seat, traversed the room with rapid strides, and declaimed vigorously against the <black gowns>; thus he styled the parliaments. Iconfess, however, that I only had recourse to the "black gowns"at the last extremity. Little did I think that at a later period I should league myself against them. On the one hand, the duc d'Aiguillon hated them mortally, and on the other, the comte Jean, like a real Toulousian, would have carried them in his slippers;so that wavering between the admiration of the one and the hatred of the other, I knew not which to listen to, or which party to side with. But to return to present matters.
The king was always thinking of the "< Nouvelles a la Main,>" and determined to avenge me as openly as I had been attacked. Two or three days afterwards he gave a supper, to which he invited the duchesse and comtesse de Grammont, madame de Forcalquier, the princess de Marsan, the marechale de Mirepoix, and the comtesses de Coigny and de Montbarrey. They were seated at table laughing and amusing themselves; they talked of the pleasure of being to <themselves>, of having no <strangers>; they pierced me with a hundred thrusts; they triumphed! And yet the king was laughing in his sleeve. At a premeditated signal the duc d'Aiguillon, one of the guests, asked his majesty if he had seen the comtesse du Barry that day. This terrible name, thrown suddenly into the midst of my enemies, had the effect of a thunder-clap. All the ladies looked at each other first and then at the king, and the duc d'Aiguillon, reserving profound silence. His majesty then replied, that he had not had the happiness of visiting me that day, not having had one moment's leisure; then eulogized me at great length, and ended by saying to the duke, "If you see the comtesse before I do, be sure to say that I drank this glass of wine to her health."The ladies did not anticipate this. The duchesse de Grammont particularly, in spite of long residence at court, turned pale to her very ears, and I believe but for etiquette she would have fallen into a swoon. I learnt afterwards from the marechale de Mirepoix, that the duchesse, on going home, gave herself up to a fit of rage, which did not terminate even on the following day.
When the king related this occurrence to me, he was as proud of it as if he had done a most courageous deed.
But I have omitted a day which was of great importance to me in its consequences. I mean the day which followed that on which I had complained to the duc de Duras of M. the lieutenant of police. In the morning early my sister-in-law came into my room.
"Sister," said she, "comte Jean is here with M. de Sartines, who begs to pay his respects to you. Will you receive him?""M. de Sartines! Yes, let him come in; I will treat him as he deserves."Comte Jean then came in, preceded by the lieutenant of police: he wore a large peruke with white powder, and curled with the utmost care. Wigs were his mania, and he had a room filled from floor to ceiling with these ornaments. The duc d'Ayen said, that he never should be in trouble about the council of state, for in case of need, it might be found and replenished from the house of the lieutenant of police. Let us leave wigs and revert to M. de Sartines.
He appeared before me with the air of Tartuffe, and, forgive the phrase, <en vrai capon>.
"Madame," said he to me, "I have been informed that I am in disgrace with you, and have come to inquire how I may extricate myself from this misfortune.""You ought to know, sir. Twice in one month have I been shamefully insulted; and yet the first intimation of such a thing ought to have put you on your guard."M. de Sartines, whom my tone had much surprised, endeavored to justify himself, when comte Jean said to him,"My dear lieutenant of police, all you have said goes for nothing.
One thing is certain, and that is, that there is a deficiency of respect towards my sister-in-law. You say that it is not your fault: what proof do you give us of this? What inquiries have you made? What measures have you taken? Any? Why do you come to us if you aid our enemies?"M. de Sartines would fain have ensconced himself in his own dignity.
"M. du Barry," was his reply, "I shall render an account of my conduct to the king.""Very well, sir," I replied, "but do not suppose that either you or the Choiseuls can give me any cause of fear."M. de Sartines was thunderstruck; my boldness astonished him. At length he said,"Madame, you are angry with me causelessly; I am more negligent than culpable. It is useless to say this to the king.""I will not conceal from you, sir, that he knows it all, and is greatly discontented with you. ""I am lost then," said M. de Sartines.
"Lost! not precisely," replied comte Jean; "but you must decide at once and for ever what party you will join. If you are with us they will use you harshly; if you take the opposite party look to yourself. Choose."After some turnings and twistings, accompanied with compliments, M. de Sartines declared that he would range himself under our banner. Then I extended to him my hand in token of reconciliation;he took it with respect, and kissed it with gallantry. Up to this time we had conversed with feelings of restraint and standing; but now we seated ourselves, and begun a conference in form, as to the manner of preventing a recurrence of the offensive outrages against me. As a proof of good intention M. de Sartines told me the author of the two articles of which I complained. He was a wretch, named Ledoux, who for twelve hundred livres per annum wrote down all those who displeased the duchesse de Grammont. This lady had no fear of doing all that was necessary to remove every obstacle to the publication of such infamies.
After M. de Sartines had given us all the details which we desired, and after I had promised to reconcile him to his master, he went away delighted with having seen me. Believe me, my friend, it is necessary to be as handsome as I am, that is to say, as I was, to seduce a lieutenant of police.
