isall-powerful，butIwillnotemployitunseasonably
orimproperly。
IknowthatIneedthecounselsof
anhonorable，prudent，andwell-informedman。
Iaccept，
therefore，ofyours；Ievenaskthemfromyou，ifyour
friendshipgoalongwiththem。
Adieu，monsieur。
My
regardsareduetoyouruncle，themarechal，the
firsttimeyouwritetohim。“
Thisletterfilledtheducd’Aiguillonwithjoy。
Somedays
afterwards，theprincedeSoubise，whoalsowishedtogiveme
hisadvice，didnotattainthesamesuccess。
Itmustbeowned，
that，foramanoftheworld，hewentaboutitinaveryclumsy
way。
Hecommittedtheextremeerrorofselectingmademoiselle
Guimardasmediatrixbetweenhimselfandme。
Thisladycameto
meonthestrengthofourformeracquaintance；shehadsolittle
senseasnottoperceivetheimmensedistancebetweenuswhicha
fewdayshadcaused，andthattheopera-dancerkeptbytheprince
deSoubisecouldhavenorelationwiththefavoriteoftheking
ofFrance。
Iendeavored，invain，tomakeherperceiveit，without
mortifyinghertoomuch。
Shealwayscalledmeherdearfriend，
andfairlyslaughteredmewithsayingthatprincewould
protectme。
Itwassingularforhertospeakthustome；tome
fromwhomprincesolicitedprotection。
Shedidnotconfine
herselftothis，sheeveninsinuatedtomethatIshouldbea
gainerinsomeway。
Ilaughedoutrightatthis，andsaidtothe
，whowasstationedatthedoor，“Call
mademoiselle’sservants。“
Thisannoyedherexcessively；allthe
musclesofherfacewerecontractedwithrage；butsherestrained
herwrath，salutedmewithanassumedrespect，andwentaway，
afterhavingsoworthilyacquittedherselfofherfoolishembassy。
Shehadquittedmeforanhour，whenIreceivedaletterfrom
himwhohadsenther。
TheprincedeSoubisebeggedmetogrant
himaninterview，inwhichhecouldenterintoanexplanation。
I
repliedthatIwouldreceivehim，andhecamethesameday。
“Iammuchpained，madame，“saidhe，onentering，“that
mademoiselleGuimardhascommunicatedwithsolittleaddress
whatIwishedtosaytoyou。“
“Prince，Ithinkyouwouldhavedonebettertohavebeenthebearer
ofyourownmessage。
Youknowmystationhere，andwouldnot
haveridiculedmeasshehasdone。“
M。deSoubise，muchpuzzledtoknowwhatshehadsaid，askedme
thequestion。
“Why，“Ireplied，“shesaid，thatifIwouldfollowyourcounsels，
youwouldpaymeformycondescension。“
“Ah！
madame，“heexclaimed，“shehascompletelymurderedme。
Ionlychargedhertooffermyservicestoyou，andthrowmyself
atyourfeet，asIdonow。“
“Rise，prince，Idonotaccuseyouofsuchfolly，andpromise
nottomentionit:itisnecessary，however，thatyoushouldknow
Ihavebutoneparttoplayhere，thatofpleasingtheking。
Any
othercharacterwillnotsuitme。
Honormewithyourfriendship，
andacceptmineinreturn。
Icannot，mustnot，haveanyotherunion
withyou。“
Thusterminatedthisinterview；itdidnotsuitmetogivethe
princedeSoubiseanyhopes。
HeandalltheRohanswouldhave
livedonit；theywouldhaveturnedmyconfidencetotheirgain，
andastheywereforthemostpartsharpers，orsomethingakinto
it，mynamewouldsoonhavebeenmixedupwithsomedirtytransaction。
Hisfamilywasahydraofavarice，andwouldalonehaveswallowed
upallthewealthofFrance。
IfthekinghadtakenoneoftheRohan
familyforhismistress，Ibelievethatthefinancedepartment
wouldnothavesufficedforoneyear’sexpenditureofthisprodigal
family。
IhadnoobjectiontotheprincedeSoubisecomingto
supperwithme，butIdidnotfeelmyselfdisposedtogivehim
anycontrolovermymind。
Ishouldhavebeenill-guidedbya
manwhohadnogovernmentofhimself。
IfM，deSoubisedidnotdepartsatisfied，madamedeMarsan，his
relative，towhomherelatedthebadsuccessofhisattempt，was
notmoreso。
Shewasawomantohavegovernedakingdom，hadshe
beenallowedtodoso。
Therewasinherwoman’sheadacapacity
superiortothatofallthemenofherfamily。
Shehadagreatdeal
ofambition，andallheractionsweretheresultsofapremeditated
plan。
Shewouldhaveruledtheking，theprinces，theprincesses，
favorites，mistresses，thecourt，thecity，theparliaments，andthe
army！
Nothingwouldhavebeenimpossibletoher；shewasadequate
toanything。
Circumstancesdidnotgivehertheopportunityof
displayinghergenius。
Withgreattalentsandkeenperception，
shewasreducedtothegovernmentofherownfamilyalone；that
wasbutatriflingmatter！
Inspiteofherdiscontent，madamede
Marsanpreservedasortofneutralitytowardsme。
Sheallowed
allsortsofilltobespokenofmewithouteverrepressingaword。
Shewasthenmuteandmotionless。
Shesawmetorntopieces
withoutanyemotion。
However，whenweweretogethershetriedto
cajolemeinathousandways，allthetimedetestingmeinher
heart；andI，whocouldscarcelyendurethesightofher，paidher
alikenumberoflittleattentions。
Thussurroundedbyhypocrites，I
becameonemyself。
Welearntohowlinthesocietyofwolves。
TheducdelaVauguyonandthecomtesseduBarry——Themarquis
deChauvelinandthecomtesse——M。deMontbarreyandthecomtesse——
Intrigues——Lebel——ArrivaloftheduBarryfamily——Thecomte
d’Hargicourt——ThedemoisellesduBarry——Marriageofthecomtesse——
ThemarquisdeBonrepos——Correspondences——Thebrokenglass
TheprincedeSoubisewasnottheonlypersonwhowishedtoact
inthecapacityofmentortome。
M。theducdelaVauguyon
attemptedalsotobetheguideofmyyouth。
Thisnoblemanwas
toomuchofaJesuitnottohaveanoseofprodigiouslyfinescent。
Heperceivedthatthewindwasinmyfavor，andapproachedmein
consequence。
Ihavementionedtoyouhisfirstvisit，andhemade
measecondafewdaysafterwards。
Heappearedveryaffable，
veryconciliating，andinsistedparticularlyseveraltimes，and
thatwithoutanyapparentmotive，thattheking，notbeingnow
engagedinthetiesofwedlock，heshouldchoosesomeagreeable
companion，andassuredlycouldnotdobetterthanselectme。
The
dayafterthisvisit，earlyinthemorning，thedukesentmea
splendidbouquet，ahomagewhichheafterwardsrepeated，and
thencalledonmeathirdtime。
Duringthisvisitafteraconversationontheembarrassmentsofan
introductionatVersailles，heproposedthatIshouldavoidthem。
“Youcannotconcealfromyourself，“hesaid，“howpowerfulwill
bethecabalagainstyou；and，withoutincludingtheChoiseuls，
youwillhaveespeciallytofearthepiousparty，whowillonly
seeinyourintimacywiththeking，allowmetosay，acrying
scandal，andonenotprofitableforreligion。“
“Ifthepiouspartyunitewiththosewhoarenotsotodestroy
me，“Irejoined，laughing，“IshallhaveallFranceagainstme。“
“No；butperhapsallthechateau。
Butthereisawayofaverting
thestorm。
Attachyourselftothepartyofhonestmenwhohave
beensogreatlycalumniated——theJesuits。
Philosophy，supported
bytheducdeChoiseul，hasrepressedthem；butthehighclergyand
theareattachedstronglytothem，andyouwould
interesttheminyourfortunebyfavoringtheseworthyfathers。“
“What！
monsieurleduc，“criedI，“willtheclergy
ofFrance，andandtheirsuitebefavorableto
me，ifIusemyinfluencewiththekinginespousingthecauseof
thesocietyofJesus？“
“Certainly，madame，andIamauthorizedtopromiseyou。
Igive
youmywordforthis。
Endeavortore-establishtheorder，and
therewillnotbeoneofusbutwillbezealousinsupportingyou。“
“Icertainlyamdesirousofpleasingyourfriends；butIcansee
that，fromthefirstmomentofmyappearanceatcourt，Ishall
beatopenwarwiththeChoiseulsandtheparliaments。“
“Whatmattersit？
Iconfessthatthevictorywillnotbeeasyat
first，butthereisnoneedtoexaggeratethedifficulties。
Itis
truethatthekinghasesteemfortheducdeChoiseul，buthehas
muchaffectionforyou，whichavailsmuchmore。
“Asfortheparliaments，hehatesthem，andformanyyearshas
beendesirousofriddinghimselfofthementirely，andhewill
effectthisbythehelpofGodandyourinterference。“
“ThiswillbehardworkforonesoweakasIam。“
“Oh，youaresufficientlypowerful，Iassureyou。
Onlyconfide
inme，theintermediarybetweenyouandmyfriends，letmeguide
you，andIwillsteertotherightport。
Whatdoyouthinkof
this，madame？“
“Oh！