The king's message--Letter from the countess--A second supper at
Versailles--The duc dAyen--A short account of M. de Fleury--The duc de
Duras--Conversation with the king--The next day--A visit from the duc
de Richelieu--Visit from the duc de la Vauguyon--Visit from comte
Jean--Visit from the king--A third supper--Favor
Early the following day I received a message from the king, accompanied
with a bouquet of flowers tied round with a string of diamonds. A short
letter was annexed to this splendid gift, which I would transcribe here,
had it not been taken from me with many others. My reply, which I wrote
upon the spur of the moment, was concise, and, as I preserved the rough
copy, under the impression of its being one day useful, I can give the
reader the exact words.
"The billet traced by your noble hands, renders me the happiest of
women. My joy is beyond description. Thanks, monsieur le Baron, for your
charming flowers. Alas! they will be faded and withered by to-morrow,
but not so fleeting and short-lived are the sentiments with which you
have inspired me. Believe me, the desire you express to see me again
is entirely mutual; and in the impatience with which you await our next
interview, I read but my own sentiments. The ardor with which you long
to embrace me, is fully equalled by the affection which leads me to
desire no gratification greater than that of passing my whole life in
your society. Adieu, monsieur le baron; you have forbidden my addressing
you as your rank and my respect would have me, I will therefore content
myself with assuring you of the ardent affection of the
"COMTESSE Du Barry."
The signature I adopted was a bold piece of falsehood, but it was too
late to recede; besides, I was addressing myself in my letter, not to
the king, but to the baron de Gonesse; for Louis, by I know not what
unaccountable caprice, seemed to wish to preserve his incognito. I have
since learned that Francis I assumed the same name, altho' upon a very
different occasion. Replying to a letter from Charles V, in which that
emperor had given himself a long string of high sounding titles, he
contented himself with simply signing his letter, _"François, baron de
Gonesse._" Louis XV was very fond of borrowed appellations. Unlike the
vanity so common to mankind, of seeking to set off their pretensions
by assumed titles, it is the pleasure of royalty to descend to a lower
grade in society when concealment becomes desirable, either from policy
or pleasure; and Louis sought in the familiarity in which a plain baron
might safely indulge, a relief from the ennui attendant upon the rigid
etiquette of a regal state. I had omitted in my letter to the baron,
to remind him that we were to meet that very evening, but that did not
prevent my repairing to Versailles punctually at the appointed hour. I
was conducted into the same apartment as before, where I found the same
females who had then assisted at my toilet* again prepared to lend their
aid; and from this moment I had a regular establishment of attendants
appointed for my use.
* A word of which the meaning has greatly changed over the
last two centuries. Here it means putting on her clothing,
makeup, jewelry, and so forth. Through most of this book it
is spelled "toilette".--Transcriber
The moment the king was informed of my arrival, unable to restrain his
impatience, he hastened to me to assist at my dressing table, and he
continued standing beside me so long as the operation lasted; I felt
greatly embarrassed, not knowing whether I durst take the liberty of
requesting him to be seated. However, my silence on the subject was
greatly admired, and ascribed to my perfect acquaintance with polished
life, when in reality it originated from mere timidity. My triumph was
complete; the monarch smiled at and admired every word as it fell from
my lips, kissed my hands, and played with the curls of my long hair,
sportively twisting his fingers amidst my flowing ringlets with all
the vivacity of a lover of twenty. The company upon this evening was
different from that of the former occasion, consisting of the duc de
Duras, first gentleman of the bedchamber, and the duc d'Ayen, who had
the reputation of being a great wit; however, in my opinion, he was
much more deserving the character of a real fiend; his very breath
was poisonous, and his touch venomous as the bite of an adder. I well
remember what M. de Fleury said of him to the king in my presence.
"Sire," said he, "the thing I most dread in the world next to a bite
from M. d'Ayen, is the bite of a mad dog." For my own part, I did not
in the end look upon him with less terror, and well he paid me for my
fears. Upon one occasion, when the king was speaking of me to him, he
said, "I am well aware that I succeed St. Foix."
"Yes, sire"; replied the duke, "in the same manner as your majesty
succeeds Pharamond!"
I never forgave him those words, dictated by a fiendish malice. However,
upon the evening of my first introduction to him, he behaved to me with
the most marked politeness. I was then an object of no consequence to
his interests, and his vision had not yet revealed to him the height I
was destined to attain. He looked upon me but as one of those meteors
which sparkled and shone in the castle at Versailles for twenty-four
hours, and sank to rise no more.
The duc de Duras was not an ill-disposed person, but inconceivably
stupid; indeed, wit was by no means a family inheritance. Both father
and son, good sort of people in other respects, were for ever saying or
doing some good thing in support of their reputation for stupidity at
court. One day the king quite jokingly inquired of the duc de Duras,
what was done with the old moons. "Upon my word, sire," replied he,
"I can give you no idea, never having seen, but with your majesty's
permission, I will endeavor to learn from M. de Cassini*!" To such a
pitch did the poor man's simplicity extend. Both father and son were
nominated to attend the king of Denmark, when on his road to visit
France. The king observed to a person who repeated it to me: "The French
are generally styled a clever, witty nation; I cannot say I should ever
have been able to discover it, had I been tempted to form my opinion
from the specimen they have sent me."
*The royal astronomer--Transcriber
As far as I am concerned, after saying so many unfavorable things of the
Messrs. de Duras, I must do them the justice to say, that their conduct
towards me was everything that could be desired. I was always glad to
see them; it gave my own imagination a sort of sedative dose to converse
with these two simple-minded beings, whose interests I was always ready
to promote by every means in my power, and I trust the memory of what I
have done will be long remembered by the noble house of Duras.
This supper did not pass off so gaily as the former one. The duc de
Duras spoke as little as possible, in the dread of making some unlucky
speech, and the duc d'Ayen sat devouring the spleen he could not
give vent to, and meditating fresh objects upon whom to exercise his
malignity; he vainly endeavored to lead me on to make some ridiculous
observation, but without success; happily for him, the king did not
perceive his aim. My royal lover was indeed so entirely engrossed by me,
that he lost all the duke's manoeuvres; his transports appeared too much
for his senses to sustain, and he vowed that I should never quit him
more, but remain to be elevated by his power to the first place at
court. At the monarch's sign, the two guests withdrew.
When the duc d'Ayen quitted the room, "That nobleman is by no means to
my taste," said I to the king, "he has the air of a spy, who wishes me
no good."
"Do you really think so, my lovely comtesse?"
"I am certain of it; and I already shudder at the bare anticipation of
an enemy having access to your majesty's ear."
"Reassure yourself," said the king, with the utmost tenderness, "in me
you have a sure defender, who will never forsake you; look upon me from
this minute as your natural protector, and woe to him on whose head your
displeasure shall fall."
After this conversation the king and myself retired to rest, and when he
quitted me in the morning, he entreated me not to return to Paris, but
to give him my company for a whole week. Lebel made his appearance to
beg I would consider myself mistress of the apartments I occupied, and
that he had received orders to provide me with an establishment upon the
most handsome scale.
That very day Henriette, whom I had sent for, and instituted as my head
waiting-woman, informed me, that an old gentleman, attired as tho' for a
grand gala, but who refused to send in his name, begged to be permitted
to pay his respects. I bade her admit him; it was the duc de Richelieu.
"Madame la comtesse," said he, bowing low, "I come to complain of your
want of condescension; unless, indeed, your memory has been at fault.
Was it possible that when I had the honor of supping with you the other
night, you did not recollect your former old friend?"
"If, indeed, my forgetfulness were a fault, monsieur le maréchal, it
was one in which you bore an equal share; you were not more forward than
myself in displaying marks of recognition."
"That arose only from the dazzling increase of your beauty. You were but
a nymph when last my eyes had beheld you, and now you are matured into a
goddess."
The duke then made some slight allusion to the family of madame Lagarde,
but guessing with his admirable tact, that such reminiscences could not
be particularly agreeable to me, he dexterously turned the conversation,
by requesting permission to present to me his nephew, the duc
d'Aiguillon, that he might leave a worthy substitute and champion near
the king when state affairs called him into Gascony; he craved my kind
offices to obtain the intimate acquaintance of comte Jean. They
were subsequently at daggers drawn with each other, but this haughty
overbearing lord conducted himself at first with the most abject
servility. The third favor he had to solicit was that I would name him
to the king as frequently as opportunities occurred to form one of our
supper parties. All this I engaged to do, nor indeed could I refuse
after the violent protestations of friendship he made me.
"You will, ere long," said he, "see the whole court at your feet, but
beware of considering them all as your friends; have a care, above all,
of the duchesse de Grammont. She has been long endeavoring to obtain the
king's affections, and she will see with hatred and fury another more
worthy engrossing the place she has so vainly contended for; she and
her impertinent brother will call in the aid of the devil himself to
dispossess you of your elevated seat; you are lost if you do not twist
both their necks."
"How, monsieur le maréchal, shall I mark my career by a murder?"
"You take me too literally; I only mean that in your place I would not
be at the trouble of keeping any terms with them."
"Ah, monsieur le duc, I understand you now; yet it seems a bad augury to
have to begin my reign by cabals and intrigues."
"Alas! my fair comtesse, you are too good, too guileless for a court
life; between ourselves we are all hypocrites more or less; mistrust
every one, even those make the finest protestations."
"In that case the first object of my suspicion would be my old and
esteemed friend the maréchal de Richelieu."
"Ah, madame! this is not fair usage, thus to turn my weapons against
myself, and to fight me with my own arms."
Upon this the duke quitted me, and scarcely had he left the room, when
the duc la Vauguyon entered. This gentleman offered me no advice; he
contented himself by styling the Jesuits his "very good friends," and
continually turning the conversation upon their merits. I allowed him
to express his attachment, without interruption, for these disagreeable
men, whom I determined in my own mind to have nothing to do with,
recollecting all I had heard of their dislike to our sex. After an hour
passed in amusing talk, the duc de la Vauguyon retired, well pleased
with his visit, and his place was immediately supplied by comte Jean,
to whom I communicated all that had passed between my late visitors and
myself.
"For heaven's sake," said he, "let us not be the dupes of these great
lords; before we range ourselves under the banners of either of them let
us secure our own footing; let us wait till you are presented."
"But, my good friend, I must be a married lady to obtain that honor."
"And so you will be shortly, do not be uneasy about that. I have written
to my brother William to set out without delay for Paris. Your swain
will be easily induced to marry you. What do you think of that?"
I gave comte Jean to comprehend, by signs, that I left my destiny in his
hands, and he kissed my hands and withdrew. The king managed to steal a
few minutes to converse with me.
"You did not intrust me, my sweet friend," said he, "with the
circumstance of your having formerly known the duc de Richelieu; less
reserved on the subject than you were, he told me he had seen you at the
house of madame Lagarde, who considered you one of her dearest friends."
"Sire," replied I, "I was too much occupied with your majesty, to think
of any other person in the world."
My answer delighted him, he looked at me in the most gracious manner.
"You would almost persuade me that you love me," said he, smiling.
"Indeed, your majesty," said I, "I only pray that you desire the
continuance of my affection."
"In that case," replied he, kissing my hand with fervor, "you do but
partake of my tenderness for you."
These words flattered my vanity, and here I must declare that if I never
felt for the king that violent attachment which is termed love, I ever
entertained for him the warmest esteem. He was so attentive, so kind to
me, that I must have been a monster of ingratitude could I have looked
upon him with indifference.
Our supper on this night was again lively as the first had been. The
duc de Richelieu entertained us with several amusing anecdotes; not that
they contained any thing very piquant, but the duke related them well,
and we were all in the humor to be pleased, and laughed heartily at
what he said. Comte Jean, whose eye constantly followed me, appeared
perfectly satisfied with all I said or did. As for the king, he seemed
enchanted with me, and seemed wholly occupied in watching my looks, that
he might anticipate my wants. After supper, in the _tête-à-tête_
which followed, he explained himself in terms which left me no doubt how
securely my empire over him was established. Had he been less explicit
on the subject, the flattering marks of favor, and the adulatory
compliments I received from all on the following day, would well have
assured me of it. I was no longer an obscure and friendless individual,
but the beloved mistress of the king; I was, to use the expression of
Lebel, a new sun which had arisen to illumine horizon of Versailles.
I could no longer doubt my power when I saw noble personages present
themselves to solicit the most servile employments about my person.
Amongst others, I might instance a certain lady de St. Benoit, who
continued first lady of my chamber, during the whole time of my
regency;--my justly-valued Henriette being contented to take the second
place of honor.