The Road to Compiegne (16 page)

He was right.

She was there, the shawl over her magnificent hair.

Le Bel smiled at her delightedly. He greatly enjoyed such commissions. They delighted Louis and they were extremely profitable to himself. People were beginning to say that Le Bel was one of the King’s most valued friends.

As he took the girl’s arm and helped her into the carriage he wondered whether to warn her that the person to whom he was taking her was of very high nobility. Perhaps that would not be wise. Louis particularly enjoyed the outrageous remarks and behaviour of the little girls who were brought to
le trébuchet
. Indeed there were occasions when he himself would make use of a phrase which was indigenous to the St Antoine district and afforded him great amusement because it could never have been heard before in the royal apartments at Versailles.

Le Bel smiled at her, well pleased. She would be a success, he was sure. She was almost unbelievably beautiful and by no means shy. She would be impressed by the grandeur even of the secret apartments, yet not overawed.

‘I must tell you,’ he said, ‘that I am presenting you to a nobleman who has heard of your attractions.’

She nodded. He noticed that she was twirling the ring round and round on her finger.

Certainly the King was going to be very grateful for his adroitness in the case of Mademoiselle O’Murphy.

They left the carriage and entered the Palace by the door which led to the private staircase. If any noticed them they were wise enough to make no comment. Le Bel, hurrying into the Palace with a muffled figure, was not such an unusual sight.

The King was waiting for them in the small apartment under the roof of the Palace, where a table was laid for two. Louise O’Murphy had never seen anything so luxurious. But her attention was all for the nobleman, who believed himself to be sombrely clad but to her seemed magnificent.

He was the most handsome man she had ever seen, although he seemed old in her fourteen-year-old eyes. She was fascinated by his movements, and his voice was the most musical she had ever heard.

He took the shawl from her and threw it to Le Bel who caught it and stood as though waiting.

‘Thank you, my friend,’ said the King. ‘Mademoiselle and I are grateful to you. Goodnight.’

Le Bel retired, grimacing at the shawl in his hands.

The King meanwhile drew Louise towards the table.

‘You are even more beautiful than I believed possible,’ he told her. ‘Your picture does not do you justice after all.’

Louise laughed suddenly – rather harsh laughter it was – and said: ‘Yours does not do you justice either.’

Louis looked surprised but very interested.

‘You know who I am then?’

She nodded. ‘Your picture is on all the coins,’ she told him.

Chapter VIII

UNIGENITUS

W
hile the King sought to forget the controversy over the Bull Unigenitus in the company of Mademoiselle O’Murphy, the
Parlement
was not idle. Its President sought an interview with Louis and warned him that there was the utmost danger in the present state of unrest.

‘Sire,’ he said, ‘schisms such as this one need small forces to dethrone great Kings, whereas great armies are necessary to defend them.’

‘I am weary of this matter,’ said Louis.

‘Sire,’ was the answer, ‘you cannot afford to be weary.’

Still the King declined to take any action, while the supporters of the Bull continued to refuse the sacrament to the Jansenites, and the Jansenites continued to protest.

Many of the King’s ministers felt sure that from such a situation revolution could grow. They impressed this fear upon the King who at length decided to act. He was firmly convinced that the power of the State was invested in the crown, and determined therefore to deal with the matter in accordance with his own views.

Rarely had he acted so energetically. On a certain May evening he had
lettres de cachet
delivered by his musketeers to the members of the
Parlement
, ordering them to leave Paris immediately for certain places which had been assigned to them.

The members of the Grande Chambre were not included in the list of exiles but decided that they would follow the
Parlement
into retirement as a protest to the King. They reassembled at Pontoise.

From Pontoise the Grande Chambre made itself heard. The
Grandes Remonstrances
were drawn up and published. Farsighted men read them and gravely shook their heads. It was as though the shadow of revolution had appeared on the horizon.

The gist of the
Remonstrances
was that if his subjects must obey the King, the King must obey the law. They would not allow a schism to triumph which could not only strike a blow at religion but at the sovereignty of the State. They were resolved to remain faithful to the State and the King, even if they suffered through such fidelity.

The end of Charles I of England was now openly recalled and the fact emphasised that a parliament could condemn a king to the scaffold. The King was being weighed against the State, and the people of France were beginning to tell each other that nations came before Kings.

It was the hot breath of revolution. Nation above the ruler; Church above the Pope. That was the propaganda which was spreading throughout the country.

Tension was particularly high in Paris. One careless step now, and up would go the barricades and the revolution would begin.

The Marquise was earnestly watching the conflict. Her health had improved considerably lately, and she congratulated herself on the step she had taken. Now she was able to rest each night, knowing that the King was safe with some little working-girl who probably lacked the education to write her own name.

The latest, Louise O’Murphy, to whom he had been faithful for many months, was a typical example. The girl must be unusual to have amused Louis all this time; she was more than pretty, being a real beauty, and her ribald wit was proving very amusing to the King.

She no longer lived in the secret apartments of the bird-snare, for Louis had installed her in a little house not far from the Palace, where she had her own servants. Thus he could call on her whenever he felt the inclination to do so, at the same time using the
trébuchet
for other little birds.

It was impossible to keep the existence of a mistress of such long-standing entirely secret, and the Court had long since begun to speculate on the ‘Petite Morphise’, as they called her. As for Louise herself she was so delighted with life that she bubbled over with good spirits and, having her own carriage, could not resist the temptation to ride out every day, expensively clad, with jewels flashing on her person, smugly content and more strikingly beautiful than ever.

She was so pleased with her good fortune that she attended the Church of St Louis regularly to give thanks to the saints for bringing her to the King’s notice.

She had recently borne a child and was overjoyed by this event.

The Marquise was delighted with the Petite Morphise, who was clever enough to know that she could never aspire to the position of
maîtresse-en-titre
, and had no wish to do so. She was completely happy as she was, and no doubt had the good sense to make provision for the days when the King’s favour should not shine so continually upon her.

The Marquise could therefore look back on the dangerous step she had taken, with some complacency.

Madame du Hausset brought her news of the Petite Morphise from time to time, and she was always kept informed of the young girls whom the indefatigable Le Bel conducted to the secret apartments.

‘The only danger,’ she had confided to Madame du Hausset, ‘is that a lady of the Court should take the place of these little girls.’

‘That,’ agreed Madame du Hausset, ‘we must indeed watch for and guard against.’

‘But,’ said the Marquise, ‘at the moment the King is too deeply immersed in this wretched affair of Unigenitus. He is determined to be firm though and I am sure he is right in this.’

‘It is dangerous, though, Madame, for a King to dismiss his
Parlement
.’

‘If Louis is strong he will come well out of this matter,’ mused the Marquise. ‘You know, Hausset, I have often thought that Louis needs adversity to bring out his strength. He can be wise, calm . . . he has all the qualities of kingship. The point is that he does not exert himself to use them.’

She smiled tenderly.

‘You are as much in love with him as you were when you first came to Versailles,’ Madame du Hausset told her.

‘One does not fall out of love with Louis,’ said the Marquise. ‘I think, dear Hausset, that we shall, through this affair, be rid of some of our ministers, and there will be new ones to take their places. I should like to see Monsieur de Stainville holding a high post.’

‘He would be your friend. We could be sure of that.’

‘He has shown me that he is.’

‘And you have shown yourself his friend, Madame. What a brilliant marriage it was that you arranged for him!’

‘The little Crozat girl, yes, one of the richest heiresses in France. Monsieur de Stainville is somewhat extravagant. Such a gambler! He was certainly delighted with that marriage and, although she is but twelve, she will grow up, and she adores him already, I have heard.’

‘Poor little thing!’ murmured Madame du Hausset.

‘Poor little thing to be the wife of a man who in a few years’ time – I promise you this, Hausset – may well be France’s most important minister!’

‘I was thinking of all the mistresses he will have. I know his kind.’

‘She will forgive him. He has great charm. I could wish that he had not gone to Rome. It was his great desire to have had the post of Ambassador. I believe he has Vienna in mind. He is prepared to be very friendly with the Austrians. I am sure he will do well, but I should like to have had him here in Paris. One has not so many friends that one can lose them without regret.’

One of the Marquise’s women appeared at the door with the news that a messenger had come to see her and had stated that the matter was urgent.

‘Bring this messenger to me at once,’ cried the Marquise and, when she saw that it was one of the nuns from the Convent of the Assumption, she felt faint with apprehension.

‘Alexandrine . . .’ she murmured.

‘Madame, your daughter was taken ill a short while ago. We think you should come to her at once.’