himselfsoadvantageouslybeforehismaster，astoexcludehim
entirelyfromtheeyesofhissubjects。“
Whilstthesewordswerespeaking，M。deMaupeouandM。dela
Vrillierewereannounced；theking，stillwarm，letfallsomewords
expressiveofhisdispleasureatwhathadhappened。
Thegauntlet
wasthrown；andsowelldidweworkupontheirritatedmindof
LouisXV，thatitwasdeterminedM。deChoiseulshouldbedismissed
thefollowingday，December24，1770。
Chanteloupwaschosen
fortheplaceofhisretreat，andM。delaVrilliere，bythe
dictationoftheking，wrotethefollowinglettertotheduke:——
“Cousin，-，Thedissatisfactioncausedmeby
yourconductcompelsmetorequestyouwill
confineyourselftoyourestateatChanteloup，
whitheryouwillremoveinfourandtwenty
hoursfromthedatehereof。
Ishouldhavechosen
amoreremotespotforyourplaceofexile，wereit
notforthegreatesteemIentertainfortheduchesse
deChoiseul，inwhosedelicatehealthIfeelmuch
interest。
Haveacarethatyoudonot，byyour
ownconduct，obligemetoadoptharsher
measures；andhereuponIprayGodtohaveyou
inhiskeeping。“
Signed“Louis，
andlowerdown“PHILIPPEAUX“
Whenthisletterwascompleted，Isaidtotheking，
“Surely，sire，youdonotmeantoforgettheduke’sfaithfulally，
M。dePraslin？
Itwouldillbecomeustodetainhimwhenthe
headofthefamilyhastakenleaveofus。“
“Youareright，“repliedtheking，smiling；“besides，anoldbroom
takenfromamastheadwouldbeasusefultousashewould。“
Then，turningtoM。delaVrilliere，thekingdictatedthe
followinglaconicnotice:——
“COUSIN，——Ihavenofurtheroccasionfor
yourservices；IexileyoutoPraslin，and
expectyouwillrepairthitherwithinfourand
twentyhoursafterthereceiptofthis。“
“Shortandsweet，“criedI。
“Nowletusdropthesubject，“saidLouis；
“letmadamedeChoiseul
reposeinpeaceto-night，andto-morrowmorning，ateleven
o’clock，goyourself，M。delaVrilliere，andcarrymyordersto
theduke，andbringbackhisstaffofoffice。“
“Towhomwillyougiveit，sire？“
inquiredthechancellor。
“Ihavenotyetconsideredthesubject，“repliedtheking。
AtthisinstantM。deSoubisewasannounced。
““exclaimed
theking，asM。deSoubise，littlesuspectingthenatureofour
conversation，enteredtheroom。
Iprofitedbyhiscomingtoslip
outoftheroomintomyboudoir，fromwhichIdespatchedthe
followingnotetoM。d’Aiguillon:
“MYDEARDUKE，——Victoria！
Weareconquerors；
masterandmanquitParisto-morrow。
Weshall
replacethembyourfriends；andyoubestknow
whetheryouareamongstthenumberofthem。“
WhenIreturnedtothedrawing-room，thekingexclaimed，
“Come，madam。，youarewaitedfor；theprincedeSoubisehasa
verycuriousanecdotetorelate，whichbefellaladyofhis
acquaintance；Ibeggedofhimtodefertellingittillyou
rejoinedus。“
“Areyouafraidofghosts？“
inquiredthemarechalofme。
“Notthisevening，“repliedI；“to-morrow，perhaps，orthenext
day，Imaybe。“
ThisjestamusedthekingandtheducdelaVrilliere，whilstM。
deMaupeou，whoseemedtofearlestIshouldbyanyindiscretion，
revealoursecret，madeasignalofimpatience；towhichI
replied，byshruggingupmyshoulders。
PoorM。deSoubise，
althoughhedidnotcomprehendmyjoke，laughedatitasheartily
asheartilyastherestwhosawitsapplication。
“Oh！
you
courtier，“thoughtIWethenentreatedofhimtocommencethe
recitalofhistale，whichhedidinthefollowingwords——
“ThereisinLowerBrittanyafamilygiftedwithamostsingular
endowment:eachmemberofthefamily，maleorfemale，iswarned
exactlyonemonthprevioustohisorherdeceaseoftheprecise
houranddayinwhichitwilltakeplace。
Aladybelongingto
thispeculiarracewasvisitingmerathermorethanamonthsince；
wewereconversingquietlytogether，when，allatonce，she
utteredaloudcry，arosefromherseat，endeavoredtowalk
acrosstheroom，butfellsenselessuponthefloor。
Muchgrieved
andsurprisedatthisscene，Ihastilysummonedmyservants，who
bestowedupontheunfortunateladytheutmostattention，butit
waslongeresherevived。
Ithenwishedtopersuadehertotake
somerest。
’No，’criedshe，risingandgivingmeordersforher
immediatedeparture，“Ihavenotsufficienttimeforrest；scarcely
willtheshortperiodbetweenmeandeternityallowmetosetmy
affairsinorder。’Surprisedatthislanguage，Ibeggedofherto
explainherself。
’Youareaware，’saidshe，’ofthefatalpower
possessedbymyfamily；well，atthemomentinwhichIwassitting
besideyouonthissofa，happeningtocastmyeyesonthemirror
opposite，Isawmyselfasacorpsewrappedinthehabilimentsof
death，andpartlycoveredwithablackandwhitedrapery；beside
mewasanopencoffin。
Thisissufficient；Ihavenotimetolose:
farewell，myfriend，weshallmeetnomore’Thunderstruckatthese
words，Isufferedtheladytodepartwithoutattemptingtocombat
heropinion。
ThismorningIreceivedintelligencefromhersonthat
theprophecyhadbeenfulfilled——shewasnomore。“
Whenthemarechalhadfinished，Iexclaimed，
“Youhavetoldusasaddismaltale；IreallyfearIshallnot
beabletoclosemyeyesatallto-nightforthinkingofit。“
“Wemustthinkofsomemeansofkeepingupyourspirits，“answered
LouisXV。
“Asforyourstory，marechal，itdoesnotsurpriseme；
thingsequallyinexplicablearecontinuallytakingplace。
Iread
inaletteraddressedbyPhilipV，ofSpain，toLouisXIV，“that
thespiritofPhilipII，founderoftheEscurial，wandersat
certainintervalsaroundthatbuilding。
PhilipVaffirmsthat
hehimselfwitnessedtheapparitionofthespectreoftheking。“
Atthismomentsupperwasannounced。
“Come，gentlemen，“saidI，
“letusseektobanishthesegloomyideasaroundourfestive
board。“
Uponwhichthekingconductedmetothesupper-room，
therestofthecompanyfollowingus。
Spiteofallmyefforts
tobegay，andinduceotherstobesolikewise，theconversation
stilllingereduponthisdismalsubject。
“Heavengrant，“exclaimedthechancellor，“thatImaynotsoon
havetodreadavisitfromtheghostofthedeceasedparliament；
however，ifsuchwerethecase，itwouldnotpreventmysleeping。“
“Oh！“
criedtheking，“theselong-robedgentlemenhaveoften
moreeffectuallyrobbedmeofsleepthanallthespectresinthe
worldcoulddo；yetonenight——“
“Well，sire，“saidI，seeingthatLouiswassilent，“andwhat
happenedtoyouthatnight？“
“NothingthatIcanrepeat，“answeredLouisXV，glancingaround
withamournfullook。
Adeadsilencefollowed，whichlastedseveralminutes；andthis
evening，whichwastoushermydayoftriumph，passedawayinthe
mostinconceivabledullness。
Whatmostcontributedtorenderme
uneasywasthereflection，that，attheverymomentwhenwehad
freedourselvesofourenemies，wewereignorantwhowouldfill
theirvacantplaces。
Thiswasanerror，andagreatone。
My
friendswouldnotlistentothenominationoftheComtedeBroglie，
theComtedeMaillebois，theducdelaVauguyon，anymorethan
eitherM。deSoubiseorM。deCastries。
TheabbeTerray，having
upononeoccasionproposedthe
marechalducdeRichelieu，he
verynarrowlyescapedhavinghisfacescratchedbyM。d’Aiguillon，
whocaredverylittleforhisdearuncle；butIhaveunintentionally
wanderedfromthethreadofmynarrative；Iwilltherefore
resumeitatonce。
Ihadhopedthatthekingwouldthisnighthaveretiredtohis
ownapartment，andthatIshouldhavebeenenabledtoholda
secretcouncilwithM。deMaupeou，andtheducsdelaVrilliere
andd’Aiguillon；butnosuchthing。
Imagining，nodoubt，thatI
shouldbekeptawakebymyfearofghosts，hismajestyinsisted
uponremainingwithme，andIwascompelledtoacquiesce。
He
passedaveryagitatednight，muchmoreoccupiedwiththedes
Choiseulsthanme；hecouldthinkofnothing，speakofnothing，
butthesensationwhichtheirdisgracewouldproduce；heseemed
todreadhisfamily，thenobility，thenation，Europe，andthe
wholeworld。
Istrovetore-assurehim，andtoinspirehimwith
freshcourage；and，whenhequittedmeinthemorning，Ifelt
convincedthathewouldnotagainalterhisdetermination。
AssoonasLouisXVhadleftme，ComteJeanentered。
Although