Of the presentation--The king and the duc de Richelieu at comtesse du
Barry's--M. de la Vauguyon--Conversation--Letter of the duke to the
comtesse du Barry--Reply--The countess unites herself with the Jesuit
party--Madame Louise--Madame Sophie--M. Bertin--Madame de Bercheny
This fit of anger of madame Adélaïde had given additional courage to
the cabal. It began to exclaim and plot against me with redoubled force;
hoping thus to intimidate the king, and effectually bar my presentation;
but it only tended to hasten it. One evening, when the king and the
maréchal de Richelieu were with me, he said to me,
"A stop must be put to these clamors. I see that until you are
presented, there will be doubts perpetually arising and tormenting us on
the subject; and until it takes place I shall have no ease. _Parbleu_!
Let us take the best means in our power of reducing these malcontents to
silence."
"Sire," replied the maréchal, "make your will palpable, and you will see
all the court submit."
"Yes, but my daughters?"
"Mesdames know better than any persons the deference due to your
orders."
"I assure you," replied the king, "that it will be an unpleasant quarter
of an hour for me to pass."
"Well, sire, then charge one of us with the mission: the bishop of
Senlis, for instance, or M. de la Vauguyon. I feel assured that either
of them will acquit himself admirably in the business, with the previous
understanding that your majesty will support him with your authority."
"I will do so most assuredly; but it will be best not to use it but at
the last extremity. I have no wish to be made a bugbear to my family."
"As to the selection of an ambassador," I interrupted, "I beg it may not
fall on M. de Roquelaure; he has been working against me for some time."
"Why not send M. de Jarente?" inquired the king.
"Ah, sire," replied the duke, "because we cannot trust him; he is a
gay* fellow. Madame Sophie might tell him, that he only took the part of
madame du Barry, because he passes his life amongst petticoats."
*Flippant, light-minded, unreliable. At the time this book
was written "gay" did not carry its present connotation of
homosexuality, nor did it always carry the connotation of
cheerful and happy that preceded the present connotation.
--Transcriber
"True enough," said the king, "I prefer the duc de la Vauguyon: he has a
good reputation--"
"And well deserved," said the old maréchal, sneering. "Yes, sire, he is
a pious man; at least, he plays his part well."
"Peace, viper; you spare nobody."
"Sire, I am only taking my revenge."
"Why do you not like the governor of my grandsons?"
"In truth, sire, I must confess to you, that except yourself and the
ladies, I have not many likings at Versailles."
Louis XV smiled, and I pulled the bell; when a valet appeared, I said,
"Go and find M. de la Vauguyon for his majesty."
When we were alone, "What, already? "said Louis XV.
"Madame is right," replied the duke, "we must strike while the iron is
hot."
The king began to pace up and down the room, which was his invariable
custom when anything disturbed him: then suddenly stopping,
"I should not be astonished at a point blank refusal from M. de la
Vauguyon."
"Oh, sire, make yourself easy; the governor has no inclination to follow
the steps of Montausier or Beauvilliers. In truth you are very candid;
and I must tell you, that you have too good an opinion of us."
At this moment M. de la Vauguyon entered. He saluted the king with
humility; and asked him, in a mild tone of voice, what his pleasure was
with him.
"A real mark of your zeal," was the king's reply.
"And of your gallantry," added the maréchal, who saw the hesitation of
the king. Louis XV was enchanted that another should speak for him. M.
de Richelieu continued:
"His majesty, monsieur le duc, wishes that you should prepare mesdames
to receive our dear countess here, when she shall appear before them to
pay the homage of her respect and devotion."
The king, emboldened by these words, said, "Yes, my dear duke, I can
only find you in the château who have any influence over the princesses,
my daughters. They have much respect, and no less friendship, for you.
You will easily bring them to reason."
As M. de la Vauguyon seemed in no hurry to undertake the charge, the
maréchal added,
"Yes, sir, to manage this business properly, you and M. de Senlis are
the only men in the kingdom."
The maréchal had his reasons for saying this, for a secret jealousy
existed between the governor and the grand almoner. M. de la Vauguyon
made haste to say, that he could not resist his majesty's orders, and
his desire to be agreeable to me.
"Ah! you will then do something for me?" I replied. "I am delighted and
proud."
"Madame," replied the duke with much gravity, "friends are proved on
occasion."
"The present one proves your attachment to me," said I in my turn;
"and his majesty will not think it wrong of me, if, as a recompense, I
embrace you in his presence": and, on saying this, I went up to the
duc de la Vauguyon, and gave him two kisses, which the poor man took as
quietly as possible.
"That's well," said the king. "You are, la Vauguyon, a man of a
thousand. Listen attentively to me. I wish much that the comtesse du
Barry should be presented; I wish it, and that, too, in defiance of all
that can be said and done. My indignation is excited beforehand against
all those who shall raise any obstacle to it. Do not fail to let my
daughters know, that if they do not comply with my wishes, I will let
my anger fall heavily on all persons by whose counsels they may be
persuaded; for I only am master, and I will prove it to the last. These
are your credentials, my dear duke, add to them what you may think
fitting; I will bear you out in any thing--"
"Mercy!" said the duc de Richelieu to me in an undertone, "the king has
poured forth all his energy in words; he will have none left to act upon
if he meets with any resistance." The maréchal knew the king well.
"I doubt not, sire," replied the duc de la Vauguyon, "that the
respectful duty of mesdames will be ready to comply with your desires."
"I trust and believe it will prove so," replied the king hastily. "I am
a good father, and would not that my daughters should give me cause to
be angry with them. Let madame Adélaïde understand, that she has
lately had a mistaken opinion of me, and that she has an opportunity
of repairing her error in the present instance. The princesses are not
ignorant that I have often shut my eyes upon certain affairs--. Enough;
they must now testify their attachment for me. Why should they oppose
the presentation of the comtesse? _Mon Dieu! Mon Dieu!_ they were not so
squeamish in the days of madame de Pompadour."
At these latter words I could not forbear laughing. La Vauguyon and de
Richelieu left us and here the conversation terminated.
The next morning they brought me a note from the duc de la Vauguyon.
Thus it ran:--
"MADAME,--Ready to serve you, I wish to have a few minutes' conversation
with you. Be persuaded that I will not tell you anything but what will
be agreeable and useful to you."
I instantly answered:--
"You are too good a friend for me to refuse to see you willingly under
any circumstances, and particularly the present. Your conduct yesterday
assures you my eternal regard. Come instantly; my grateful heart expects
you with impatience."
My sister-in-law, to whom I showed this correspondence, said to me,
"This gentleman does not come to see you for your bright eyes; and yet
his visit is not disinterested."
"What interest can he have to serve?"
"None of his own, perhaps; but those villainous Jesuits."
"Don't you like them, sister of mine?"
"I hate nobody."
M. de la Vauguyon arrived; and as soon as we were alone, he said to me,
"Well, madame, I am now on the point of going to fight your battles. I
have to deal with a redoubtable foe."
"Do you fear?"
"Why, I am not over confident; my position is a delicate one. Mesdames
will perforce obey the orders of the king, but they will not find much
pleasure in seeing me the ambassador sent to them: all the Choiseul
party will vociferate loudly. Nevertheless, to prove my devotion to you,
I brave it all."
"You may rely on it that I will never forget the service you are about
to render me."
"I have only one favor to ask of you. Authorize me to say to mesdames,
that if the pleasures of life distract your attention from religious
duties, your soul is in truth fully devoted to our holy religion;
and that far from supporting the philosophers, you will aid, by your
influence with the king, every measure advantageous to the society of
Jesuits."
The hypocritical tone in which this was uttered, almost compelled me to
burst out into a fit of laughter; but the serious posture of my affairs
induced me to preserve my gravity, and I answered in a serious tone,
"Not only, monsieur le duc, do I authorize you to say so much, but I
beg you to declare to mesdames that I am already filled with love and
respect for the Jesuits, and that it will not be my fault if they do not
return amongst us."
"Ah, you are a treasure of wisdom," replied the duke, kissing my hand
with fervor; "and I am disgusted at the way you are calumniated."
"I know no reason for it, for I have never done harm to any person.
Assure mesdames that I am sincerely grieved that I am not agreeable to
them, and would give half my life to obtain, not their friendship, of
which I do not feel myself worthy, but their indifference. Deign also to
tell them, that at all times I am at their disposal, and beseech them to
consider me as their humble servant."
"It is impossible to behave more correctly than you do; and I am
confident that mesdames will soon discard their unjust prejudices. Thus,
it is well understood that our friends will be yours."
"Yes, yes, provided they are really mine."
"Certainly. I answer for them as I answer for you."
And thus, my friend, did I find myself allied to the Jesuitical party.
The duke commenced the attack with madame Louise, the most reasonable of
the king's daughters. This angelic princess, already occupied with
the pious resolution which she afterwards put into execution in
the following year, contented herself with saying some words on the
commotion occasioned by my presence at Versailles, and then, as if her
delicacy had feared to touch on such a subject, she asked the duc de la
Vauguyon, if the king ordered her to receive the comtesse du Barry.
"Yes, madame," replied the duke; "it is the express will of his
majesty."
"I submit to his wish: the lady may come when she will."
The duke, contented with his success so far, went next to madame Sophie.
This princess was not unkind, but subject to attacks of the nerves,
which from time to time soured her natural disposition: she had her
caprices of hatred, her fits of love. The day when the duke talked to
her of my presentation she was very much provoked against me; and after
the opening speech of the ambassador, flung in his teeth the report of
the apartments, which I have already told you. The duke explained
to her, and that too without saying anything unfavorable of madame
Adélaïde, and concluded by begging her to concede the favor I besought.
Madame eluded this, by saying, that before she gave a definite reply she
wished to confer with her sisters.
Madame Victoire was not more easily persuaded. This princess had amiable
qualities, solid virtues which made her loved and respected by the whole
court; but she had but little will of her own, and allowed herself to be
led by the Choiseuls; who, to flatter her, told her that she alone had
inherited the energy of her grandfather, Louis XIV. She was advised to
display it in this instance, and, she would willingly have done so. The
comtesse de Bercheny, one of her ladies in waiting, was the person who
urged her on to the greatest resistance. This lady did not cease to
exclaim against me, and to fan the flame of displeasure which, but for
her, would never have appeared. I was informed of the mode adopted by
madame de Bercheny to injure me. I sent for M. Bertin, who was devoted
to my service, and begged him to go and speak to the lady; he went, and
made her understand that the king, enraged against her, would expel her
from Versailles, if she were not silent. The comtesse de Bercheny was
alarmed; and under pretence of taking a tour, left the court for a
month. You will see anon the result of all these conferences.