havebeensuspectedofanytendernesstowardsaparticularfemale，
everyspeciesofintriguehasbeeninstantlyputinrequisition。
Moreover，“hecontinued，“madamedeGrammontattacksyouwithtoo
muchobstinacynottomakemebelievebutthatshewouldemployall
possiblemeanstoattainherend。“
“Ah，“Iexclaimed，“becauseshehasparticipatedinyourfriendship
youarereadytosupporther。“
“Donotsaysoinaloudtone，“herepliedlaughingly；“herjoy
wouldknownoboundsifshecouldbelieveitwasinherpower
toinspireyouwithjealousy。“
“But，“Isaid，“thatinsolentGuemenee；hasshealsotoplume
herselfonyourfavorsasanexcuseforoverpoweringmewithher
hatred，andfortearingmetopiecesinthewayshedoes？“
“No，“wastheking’sanswer；“sheiswrong，andIwilldesireher
father-in-lawtosayso。“
“AndIwillcometoanexplanationwiththeprincedeSoubiseon
thispoint；andwewillseewhetherornotIwillallowmyselfto
havemythroatcutlikeanunresistingsheep。“
Ididnotfailtokeepmyword。
TheprincedeSoubisecamethe
nextmorning；chanceonthatdayinducedhimtobeextraordinarily
gallanttowardsme；neverhadhepraisedmesoopenly，orwithso
muchexaggeration。
Iallowedhimtogoon；butwhenatlengthhe
hadfinishedhispanegyric，“Monsieurlemarechal，“saidItohim，
“youareoverflowingwithkindnesstowardsme，andIwishthatall
themembersofyourfamilywouldtreatmewiththesameindulgence。“
Likearealcourtierhepretendednottounderstandme，andmade
noreply，hoping，nodoubt，thatthewarmthofconversationwould
leadmetosomeothersubject；butthisoneoccupiedmetoofully
toallowmetodivertmyattentionfromit；and，seeingthathe
continuedsilent，Icontinued:“Farfromtreatingmeaswellasyou
do，madameyourdaughter-in-lawbehavestowardsmelikeadeclared
enemy；sheassailsmebyallsortsofprovocation，andatlastwill
soact，thatIshallfindmyselfcompelledtostruggleagainsther
withopenforce。“
Youmustbeacourtier，youmusthavebeeninthepresenceofa
kingwhoisflatteredfrommorningtonightinallhiscaprices，to
appreciatethefrightfulstateinwhichmydirectattackplacedthe
princedeSoubise。
Neitherhispoliticalinstinct，northetoneof
pleasantrywhichheessayedtoassume，northemoredangerous
resourceofoffendeddignity，couldextricatehimfromthe
embarrassmentinwhichhewasthrownbymywords。
Hecoulddo
nothingbutstammeroutafewunintelligiblephrases；andhis
confusionwassogreatandsovisible，thatthemarquisdeChauvelin，
hisnotoversincerefriend，cametohisassistance。
Theking，equally
surprisedatwhatIhadjustsaid，hastilyturnedandspoketoChon，
whotoldmeafterwards，thattheastonishmentofLouisXVhad
beenequaltothatoftheprincedeSoubise，andthathehadevinced
itbytheabsenceofmindwhichhehadmanifestedinhisdiscourse
andmanners。
M。deChauvelinthenturningtowardsme，said，“Well，madame，on
whatevilherbhaveyouwalkedto-day？
Canitbepossiblethat
youwouldmaketheprince，whoisyourfriend，responsibleforthe
hatredwhichoughttobeflatteringratherthanpainfultoyou，since
itisahomageexactedtowardsyourbrilliantloveliness？“
“Inthefirstplace，“Ireplied，“Ihavenointentiontocaston
monsieurlemarechal，whomIlovewithallmyheart，theleast
responsibilityrelativetotheobjectofwhichIcomplain。
Ionly
wishedtoevincetohimtheregretIexperiencedatnotseeingall
themembersofhisfamilylikehim:thisisall。
Ishouldbein
despairifIthoughtIhadsaidanythingthatwouldwoundhim；
andifIhavedoneso，Imostsincerelyaskhispardon。“
OnsayingthesewordsIpresentedmyhandtotheprince，who
instantlykissedit。
“Youare，“saidhe，“atthesametimecruelandyetmostamiable:
butifyouhavethepainfuladvantageofgrowingoldatcourt，you
willlearnthatmychildrenhavenotallthedeferenceandrespect
towardsmewhichtheyowetotheirfather；andIoftenampained
toseethemactinamannerentirelyoppositetomydesires，
howeveropenlymanifested。
Ifmydaughterdoesnotloveyou，it
istome，mostprobably，thatyoumustlookfortheand
:itisbecauseIloveyousomuchthatsheisagainst
you。
Ihavecommittedanerrorinpraisingyoubeforeher，and
herjealousywasnotproofagainstit。“
“Thatisveryamiableinyou，“saidI；“andnowwhatevermaybe
myfeelingsagainsttheprincessedeGuemenee，Iwillendeavorto
dissembleitoutofregardforyou；and，Iassureyou，thathowever
littleconsiderationyourdaughter-in-lawmaytestifytowardsme，I
willshowherafairside:endeavortomakepeacebetweenus。
I
onlyasktobeletalone，forIdonotseektobecometheenemy
ofanyperson。“
Altho’M。deSoubisesaidthathehadnoinfluenceoverthe
princessedeGuemenee，Ilearned，subsequently，thatthedayafter
thisscenehetestifiedtotheGuemeneesomefearsastohisfuture
destinyatcourt。
Hebeggedhernottoopposeherselftome；to
besilentwithrespecttome，andtokeepherselfsomewhatinthe
shadeifshewouldnotmakesomeadvancestowardsme。
Hisdaughter-
in-law，whosearroganceequalledherdissipationanddissolute
manners，replied，thatshewastoomuchaboveawomanofmysort
tofearorcareforme；thatmyreignatthechateauwouldbebut
brief，whilstherswouldonlyterminatewithherlife:thatshe
wouldneverconsenttoanactofweaknessthatwouldbederogatory
tohercharacterandrank。
Invaindidtheprincetrytosoften
her，andmakeherconsiderthatmyinfluenceoverthekingwas
immense:hepreachedtothedesert，andwascompelledtoabandon
hispurposewithoutgettinganythingbyhisendeavors。
Inowreturntomyconversationwithhim。
Duringthetimeitlasted
thekingdidnotceasetalkingtoChon，allthetimelisteningwith
attentiontowhattheprinceandIweresaying；andhedidnot
approachusuntiltheinterventionofM。deChauvelinhadterminated
thiskindofaquarrel。
Hereturnedtohisseatinfrontofthe
fire；andwhenwewerealone，saidtome，
“Youhavebeenveryspitefultothepoormarechal，andIsuffered
forhim。“
“Youareanexcellentfriend；and，nodoubt，itistheaffection
youbeartoM。deSoubisewhichmakesyoubehavesoharshlytome。
CanInot，withoutdispleasingyou，defendmyselfwhenIamattacked？“
“Ididnotsayso；butisitnecessarythathemustberesponsible
forthefolliesofhisrelations？“
“Intruth，sire，somuchtheworseforthefatherwhocannotmake
hischildrenrespecthim。
Ifthemarechalwasrespectedbythe
public，believemehewouldbesobyhisfamily。“
Thisretortwasperhapstoosevere。
Ifoundthisbythesilence
oftheking；butas，infact，itimportedlittle，and，byGod’s
help，Iwasneverundermuchconstraintwithhim，Isawhimblush，
andthenhesaidtome，
“Now，IundertaketobringmadamedeGuemeneeintoproperorder。
ThefavorIaskis，thatyouwouldnotmeddle。
Ihavepower
enoughtosatisfyyou，but，forheaven’ssake，donotenterinto
morequarrelsthanyouhavealready。
Itseemstomethatyou
oughttoavoidtheminsteadofcreatingsuchdisturbances。“
Hehadassumedagravetoneinreadingmethislecture:butaswe
wereinaplaceinwhichmajestycouldnotbecommitted，Ibegan
tolaughheartily，andtostartlehim，IsaidthathenceforwardI
wouldpilotmybarkmyself，anddefendmyselfbyopenlyassailing
allpersonswhotestifiedanaversiontome。
Howlaughableit
wastoseethecomicdespairinwhichthisdeterminationthrewthe
king。
Itseemedtohimthatthewholecourtwouldbeatloggerheads；
andhecouldnotrestrainhimselffromexclaiming，thathewoulda
hundredtimesratherstruggleagainstthekingofPrussiaandthe
emperorofGermanyunited，thanagainstthreeorfourfemalesof
thechateau。
Inaword，Ifrightenedhimsocompletely，thathe
decidedonthegreatestactofcouragehehadeveressayedinmy
favor:itwas，todesiretheinterventionoftheducdeChoiseul
inallthesequarrels。
Thecreditofthisministerwasimmense，andthiscreditwasbased
onfourpowerfulauxiliaries；namelytheparliament，thephilosophers，
the，andthewomen。
Thehighmagistracyfoundinhim
apublicandprivateprotector。
Theparliamentshadthemselvesa
greatmanyclients，andtheirvoices，giventotheducdeChoiseul，
gavehimgreatpowerinthedifferentprovinces。
Thephilosophers，
rangedunderthebannerofVoltaire，whowastheirgod，andof
d’Alembert，theirpatriarch，knewallhisinclinationsforthem，and
knewhowfartheymightrelyonhissupportinallattemptswhich
theymadetoweakenthepoweroftheclergy，andtodiminishthe
giganticricheswhichhadbeenamassedbyprelatesandmonasteries。
Thewriterswereequallydevotedtohim:theyprogressedwiththe
age，andasonallsidestheyessayedtoeffectimportantreforms，
itwasnaturalthattheyshouldrallyabouthiminwhosehands
wasthepoweroftheiroperations。
Theladiesadmiredhisgallantry:infact，theducdeChoiseulwas
amanwhounderstoodmarvellouslywellhowtocombineserious
laborswithpleasure。
Iwas，perhaps，theonlywomanofthecourt
whomhewouldnotlove，andyetIwasnottheleastagreeablenor
themostugly。
Itwasverynaturalforthemtoexalthismerit
andtakehimundertheirespecialprotection。
Thuswashe
supportedineveryquarterbythem；theyboastedofhismeasures，
andbydintofrepeatingintheearsofeverybodythatM。de
Choiseulwasaminister，andthesupportof
monarchy，theyhadcontrivedtopersuadethemselvesofthetruth
oftheirassertion。
Infact，ifFrancefoundherselffreedfrom
theJesuits，itwastotheducdeChoiseulthatthiswasowing，and
thisparamountbenefitassuredtohimuniversalgratitude。
Thekingwasfullyawareofthisunanimityofpublicopinionin
favorofhisminister。
Hewas，besides，persuaded，thatin