and who possessed great influence over her, induced her to present
herself at my house.  She accordingly came to call upon me, with a
mind bursting with spite and jealousy; yet she choked down her
angry passions, and so far humbled herself, as to entreat my
pardon for her own sake and that of her family, for all her
unkindness towards me.  I would not allow her to finish; "Madame,"
said I, "I only allow agreeable recollections to find a place in
my memory; had I entertained the slightest resentment against
either you or yours, you may be quite certain I should not have
again entered your dwelling; and I again repeat the offer I
made the other day, of gladly seizing the first opportunity
of being useful to you."

Each of these words expressive of the kindest feelings towards
her was like the stab of a poniard.  She, however, extolled them
with the most exaggerated praise, imploring me to believe how
deeply she regretted her behavior, and talked so long and so much
about it, that when she quitted me, it was with the most certain
impression on my mind, that in her I possessed a most violent and
implacable enemy, and in this conclusion I was quite correct.  M.
Dudelay, her son, had the effrontery to request to be presented to
me, and charged the excellent M. de Laborde to make known his
wishes to me.  I begged he would inform M. Dudelay, that I admitted
into the circle of my acquaintance only such as were known to the
king; and that if he thought proper to apply to his majesty, I
should obey his royal will on the subject, whatever it might be.
He justly considered this repulse as a biting raillery, for which
he never forgave me.  I entertained no ill will against him for his
past perfidy, but I considered it strange that he should presume to
approach me with familiarity.  I should not have adopted the same
line of conduct towards the farmer-general, his brother, who,
less assuming, contented himself with assuring me of his devotion,
and the sincere regret with which he contemplated the past, without
ever seeking to introduce himself into my presence.



CHAPTER XXII


The chevalier de la Morliere--Portrait of the duc de Choiseul--
The duc de Choiseul and the comtesse du Barry--No
reconciliation effected--Madame du Barry and the duc
d'Aiguillon--Madame du Barry and Louis XV

About this period I received a piece of attention, any thing but
gratifying if considered in a strictly honourable sense.  The
contemptible chevalier de la Morliere, who detested me, and
subsequently pursued me with rage, presumed to dedicate to me
some wretched collection of his compositions, and I had the
weakness to accept the dedication; I had even the still greater
folly to receive its author at my house; this piece of condescension
injured me greatly.  Until that period I had not, like madame de
Pompadour, shown myself the protectress and patroness of men of
letters; and even my warmest friends could not deny, that in
stepping forwards as the encourager of literature, I had made a
very unfortunate choice in selecting the chevalier de la Morliere
as the first object of my patronage.  But how could I have done
otherwise?  The prince de Soubise, who found this man serviceable
upon many occasions, would have sacrificed any thing to promote
his advancement; and I have been assured, that had the marechal
taken half the pains on the day previous to the battle of Rasbach,
we should not have left it so disgracefully.

The king well knew the unfortunate chevalier for a man as destitute
of modesty as merit; when therefore he saw his book upon the
mantel-piece of my drawing-room, he said,

'So!  you are the inspiring muse of the chevalier de la Morliere;
I only warn you, when the day comes for him to be hanged,
not to ask me to pardon him."

"Be assured," replied I, "that I will never deprive the Place de
Greve of one so formed to do honour to it."

In fact, the chevalier was within an ace of reaching it before
his friends anticipated; for, very shortly after this conversation,
he was guilty of the most detestable piece of knavery I ever
heard of.  He learned that an unfortunate young man from the
country, into whose confidence he had wormed himself, was to
receive 15,000 livres on his father's account; he invited him to
supper, and, by the aid of two villains like himself, stripped him
of his last sous.  Not satisfied with this, he wrote the father
such an exaggerated account of his son's loss and general bad
habits, that the enraged and irritated parent procured an order
to confine his son at Saint Lazare!  Did you ever hear of a more
infamous and accomplished rogue than my honourable ?
However, I shall give him up to his fate, be it good or bad, and
proceed with the relation of my affair with duc de Choiseul.

I had named to madame de l'Hopital the hour at which I could
receive the duke.  She had requested, in pursuance of her directions,
no doubt, that the conversation between us should take place
either amidst the groves of Versailles or in the labyrinth of
Marly;--the self-love of M. de Choiseul inducing him to desire
that this interview should be so contrived, as to wear the air of
a mere chance rencontre.  To this I would not consent; saying,
that it did not suit my pleasure to quit the house; and that when
a gentleman solicited the favour of speaking to a lady, it became
his business to wait upon her, without expecting she should come
in search of him; and, spite of all the arguments of madame de
l'Hopital, I persisted in my determination: she had no alternative
but to submit, and I awaited the coming of M. de Choiseul on the
following day.

The duc de Choiseul possessed a greater reputation than his
talents were entitled to; and his advancement was more attributable
 to his good fortune than his merit.  He had found warm and
powerful assistants in both philosophers and women; he was a
confirmed egotist, yet passed for a man who cared little for self.
He was quick at matters of business, and he obtained the character
of a deep and profound politician.  It must, however, be admitted,
that he was witty, gallant, and gifted with manners so elegant and
fascinating, that they never failed to remove the first unfavourable
impression caused by his excessive plainness.  The tide of public
favour was with him; and, in order to contest it, it required all
the influence of a woman, and that woman to be no less than the
beloved mistress of the king of France.

He presented himself before me tastefully and magnificently dressed,
both look and voice wearing the stamp of high-born pride and
haughtiness.  Nevertheless, amidst all this pomp, it was evident
that he did not entirely feel the ease he assumed, and that a
species of remorse rankled at his heart, spite of the courtier-like
gallantry with which he had invested himself.

"Madam," said he, bowing twice most profoundly, "the moment has
arrived which I have long most ardently desired."

"The fault has not been mine, my lord," said I, "that it has been
delayed until now.  My door has never been shut against any
visit you might have honoured me with."

"Ah, madam!  why have I not known this sooner?  Some evil planet
ruled my thoughts when it occurred to me that I might not be so
happy as to meet with a favourable reception."

"There, my lord, you were indeed in error; for though I might not
feel a very tender friendship towards you whilst supposing I had
many causes for complaint, I could not refuse you those marks of
respect your rank and station entitle you to receive."

"Then, madam, I may flatter myself that I should have been
kindly received?"

"Yes, sir, you would ever have been welcome, but not those
belonging to you, for I will be perfectly candid; always excepting
the duchesse de Choiseul, for whom I entertain the greatest
veneration and respect."

"She is indeed well worthy the exalted opinion you express of her;
and had I followed her advice, I should not have been found
amongst the ranks of your enemies."

"You confess the fact then, monsieur le duc?"  said I.

"I trust, madam, you will not take advantage of an inadvertent
expression to turn it against myself.  What I fear is, that without
ever having been your enemy, I may have passed for such in your
estimation; and such indeed is the cruel position in which I
am placed."

"Stay, my lord duke," cried I; "be candid, and acknowledge that
you are my enemy as you have ever been; and that it is only
because there has been war between us that you are now come to
conclude a treaty of peace--"

"Peace or war, madam," replied he, "as you please to will it; all
I will admit is, that things have turned out most unfavourably for
my wishes.  Your arrival at Versailles, your grace, beauty, and
wit, excited universal jealousy; and, amidst the general panic
caused by your all-excelling merit, was it not necessary I too
should keep myself on my guard?  For the first time in my life
a beautiful woman became an object of alarm to me; you may
further believe me, when I protest that, at the outset, I warmly
defended you; but how could I wage war against so many--how
oppose the general torrent?  It bore me down."

"And you fear lest it should carry you beyond your depth, and
would fain return to ; is it not so, my lord duke?"

At this ironical speech an expression of heavy displeasure rose
to the countenance of M. de Choiseul, and he remained for several
minutes like a man who fears to trust himself to reply.  Then
he added,

"Madam, when I solicited the favour of this conversation, it was
with the sincerest desire of adjusting all differences between
us, and it would but ill advance that purpose were I now to reply
to you with warmth and petulance; condescend, on your part, to
lay aside sarcasm and raillery.  You have already too many advantages
over me, and it would ill accord with your wonted generosity to
insult a half-conquered foe."

"You are right, my lord," answered I; "jests and recrimination
will effect nothing; let us rather proceed at once to consider
what is best for the interest of both."

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