Unfortunatelyforthemarechale，comteJean
presentedhimselfbeforeshedid。
Hecametoinformme，thatmy
husbandofwhosequittingToulouseIhadforgottentotellyou
hadagainarrivedinParis。
Ididnotdisguisethevexationwhich
thispieceofintelligenceexcitedinme。
“AndwhereforehascomteGuillaumereturnedtoParis？“
inquiredI，angrily。
“Becauseheisafraid。“
“Afraidofwhat？“
repliedI。
“Ofbeingmurdered，“answeredcomteJean:“itisamosthorrible
andauthenticstory。
Imaginetoyourselfthedangersofhis
situation:somebrigands，whohaveadesignonhislife，have
writtenhimananonymousbillet，inwhichtheyprotesttheywill
certainlymurderhim，unlesshedeposits50，000livresinacertain
place。
Youmaysupposehisterror；moneyhehadnone，neither
washiscreditsufficientlygoodtoenablehimtoborrowany。
Asalastandonlychance，hethrewhimselfintoacarriage，and
hastened，tremblingly，toimploreyourassistance。“
“AndIamquitecertainyouwillnotwithholdyoursfromhim，“
answeredI
“Youareperfectlyright，“criedhe，“butunfortunatelyjustnow
IhavenotasinglecrownIcancallmyown；sothatitrests
withyoualone，mydearestsister，tosavethelifeofthis
haplesscomteduBarry。“
“Iamextremelydistressed，mydearbrother-in-law，“repliedI，
“thatIamjustaspoor，andasunabletoaffordthenecessary
aidasyourself；mypurseisquiteempty。“
“Faith，mydearsister-in-law，Iamnotsurprisedatthatifyou
convertachinavaseintoareceptacleforyourbanknotes。“
Sayingthis，hedrewabundleofnotesfromthehiding-placein
whichIhaddepositedthem。
“Doyouknow，“continuedcomte
Jean，“Ireallythinkweshallfindmoneyenoughhere。“
Hebegan
tocountthem:andwhenhehadfinishedhesaid，“Mydearsister，
neitheryourhusbandnormyselfwishtoimportuneyou，orput
youtoanyinconvenience，thereforeyoushallmerelyobligehim
withtheloanofthese50，000livrestoextricatehimfromhis
presentperil；theyshallbefaithfullyandquicklyrestoredto
you，andanoteofhandgivenyouforthatpurposeifyoudesire
it。“
Sosaying，hedividedthemoneyintotwoparts，replaced
oneinthevase，andpocketedtheother。
Iwasveryindignantatthecoolimpudencewithwhichthiswas
done，andmypatiencehadwellnighforsakenme:however，I
restrainedmyself；andIwashappyenoughthatIcouldsofar
conquermyself。
MyreproacheswouldnothaveinducedcomteJean
togivemebackmymoney，andwouldonlyhaverousedhisviolence；
which，whenonceexcited，foundventinlanguagesovehementand
energetic，thatIdidnotdesiretohearanymoreofitthanI
couldhelp。
Atthesemomentsheselectednotthepolitestexpressions，
butthosewhichwerethestrongest:andbesides，suchwasthe
ungovernablenatureofcomteJean’stemper，thatonceroused，he
wouldhavetreatedthekinghimselfwithaslittleconsideration
ashedidme。
Still，heneverdeliberatelyinsultedme，nordid
hecomposethoseinsultingversesrespectingme，whichwereprinted
ashis，in“。“
Thiswould
havebeenanindignityIwouldquicklyhavecausedhimtorepent
havingoffered。
“Well，“inquiredI，“areyouverygladtoseeyourbrotherinParis？“
’No，’ponmysoul！“
returnedhe；“butsinceheishere，wemust
dothebestwecanwithhim；hewasveryanxioustoseehis
sister-in-lawandniece。
Hesaystheformerisuglyassin，and
thelatteralmostashandsomeasyou。“
“Verygallant，“repliedI；“buttellme，comteJean，doesthis
elegantcomplimentproceedfrommyhusbandoryourself？“
Wewerejusttheninterruptedbythearrivalofthe
marechale，
andcomteJeanretired。
“Well，mydear，“shebegan，“haveyouseenM。deSartines，and
didyouspeaktohimrespectingthose100，000livres？“
“Oh，yes，“repliedI，“hegavethembacktome；butIhave
alreadyhadhalfofthemstolenfromme。“
“BycomteJean，I’llengage，“criedshe。
“Uponmyword，that
manisaperfectspendthrift，aprodigal；who，ifyoudonottake
greatcare，willcertainlyruinyou。
Andwhatwillyoudowith
theremaining50，000livres，mydearfriend；wherewillyou
placethem？“
“Inyourhands，mydearmarechale；’tishismajesty’scommand。“
“Tothatcommand，“answeredshe，“Imustperforcesubmit“；and，
takingthebundleofnotes，shecontinued，“Assurehismajesty
thatitwilleverbemygreatestprideandpleasuretoobeyhis
slightestwish。
Myrespectforhisorderscanonlybeequalled
bymytenderfriendshipforherwhoisthebeareroftheroyal
mandate。“
Then，deliberatelyputtingthemoneyinherpocket，
sheexclaimed，“YoumustownthatcomteJeanisagreatrogue。“
alarms——Anofthe——ComteJean
endeavourstodirecttheking’sideas——AsupperatTrianon——Table
talk——Thekingisseizedwithillness——Hisconversationwithme——The
joiner’sdaughterandthesmall-pox——Mydespair——ConductofLa
Martinierethesurgeon
Ihadoccasionallysomeunaccountablewhimsandcaprices。
Among
otherfolliesItookitintomyheadtobecomejealousofthe
duchessedeCosse，undertheideathatthedukewouldreturnto
her，andthatIshouldnolongerpossesshisaffections。
Nowthe
causeofthisextravagantconductwasthefirmnesswithwhich
madamedeCosserefusedalloverturestovisitme，andIhad
reallybecomesospoiledandpetted，thatIcouldnotbebrought
tounderstandthereasonablenessoftheduchessedeCosserefusing
tosanctionherrivalbyherpresence。
YonmayperceivethatIhadnotcarriedmyheroic
projectswith
regardtomadamedeCosseintoexecution。
Upontheseoccasions，
thepersonmosttobepitiedwastheduke，whomImadeanswerable
forthedignifiedandvirtuousconductofhiswife。
Myinjustice
drovehimnearlytodespair，andheusedeverykindandsensible
argumenttoconvincemeofmyerror，asthoughithadbeenpossible
foronesoheadstrongandmisguidedasmyselftolistentoor
comprehendthelanguageofreason。
Irepliedtohistenderand
beseechingepistlesbyeverycuttingandmortifyingremark；ina
word，allcommonsenseappearedtohaveforsakenme。
Ourquarrel
wasstronglysuspectedbypartofthecourt；buttheextreme
prudenceandforbearanceofM。deCossepreventedtheirsuppositions
fromeverobtaininganyconfirmation。
Butthiswasnottheonly
subjectIhadforannoyance。
Ontheonehand，myemissaries
informedmethatthekingstillcontinuedtovisitthebaronessde
New——k，althoughwitheveryappearanceofcautionandmystery，
bytheassistanceandconnivanceoftheducdeDuras，whohad
givenmehissolemnpromiseneveragaintomeddlewiththe
affair。
Theofthefurnishedme
likewisewithalongaccountofthemanyvisitspaidbyhis
majestytoherestablishment。
Thefactwas，thekingcouldnot
besatisfiedwithoutacontinualvariety，andhispassion，which
ultimatelydestroyedhim，appearedtohavecomeononlyashe
advancedinyears。
Allthesethingscreatedinmymindanextremeagitationandan
alarm，and，improbableasthethingappearedeventomyself，there
weremomentswhenItrembledlestIshouldbesupplantedeither
bythebaronessorsome-freshobjectoftheking’scaprice；and
againacolddreadstole
overmeasIanticipatedtheprobability
ofthehealthofLouisXVfallingasacrificetotheirregularity
ofhislife。
Itwaswellknownthroughoutthechateau，thatLa
Martiniere，theking’ssurgeon，hadstronglyrecommendedavery
temperatecourseoflife，asessentiallynecessarytorecruithis
constitution，wastedbysomanyexcesses，andhadevengoneso
farastorecommendhisnolongerhavingamistress；thisthe
courtiersconstruedintoaprohibitionagainsthispossessinga
friendofanyothersexthanhisown；formyownpart，I
experiencedveryslightapprehensionsofbeingdismissed，forI
wellknewthatLouisXVreckonedtoomuchonmysocietyto
permitmyleavingthecourt，andifone，themoretender，part
ofourunionweredissolved，etiquettecouldnolongerobjectto
mypresence。
StilltheadviceofLaMartinierewasfarfrom
givingmeareasonforcongratulation，buttheseminorgrievances
weresoontobeswallowedupinonefatalcatastrophe，bywhich
thehonours，andpleasuresofVersailleswereforevertornfromme。
Theofthe，fearingthatsomeofthe
subordinatemembersofthatestablishmentmightbringmeintimation
ofwhatwasgoingontherewithouthercognizance，cameoneday
toapprizemethathismajestyhadfallendesperatelyinlove
withayoungorphanofhighbirth，whomchancehadconducted
withinthewallsofherharem；thattoanextraordinaryshareof
beauty，Julieforthatwasthenameofmyrivalunitedthemost
insatiateambition；heraimsweredirectedtoreducingtheking
intoastateofthemostabsolutebondage，“andhe，“saidmadame，
“bidsfairtobecomeallthatthedesigninggirlwouldhavehim。“
Juliefeignedthemostviolentloveforherroyaladmirer，nay
shedidnothesitatetocarryherlanguageandcaressesfar
beyondthestrictrulesofdecency；hermannerswerethoseofone
accustomedtothemostpolishedsociety，whilstherexpressions
werepeculiarlyadaptedtopleaseonewho，liketheking，hada
peculiarrelishforeverythingthatwasindecentorincorrect。
Hismajestyeithervisitedherdailyorsentforhertothe
chateau。
IheardlikewisefromM。d’Aiguillon，that
theking