The Road to Compiegne (29 page)

‘The destiny of France,’ he cried, ‘is in the hands of that woman.’

There were many in the country who, with great apprehension, believed him to be right.

Perceiving France to be approaching one of the most disastrous hours of her destiny, the Abbé de Bernis, prevented by the Marquise from making peace, had two desires: one for his Cardinal’s hat, the other to relinquish his post, or to call in an assistant.

Bernis had always believed that a Cardinal’s hat was an umbrella to shelter a man from the storms which could threaten him.

He was scarcely an ambitious man and had had honours thrust upon him rather than having won them for himself. He had been born a poor man, but had made a fortune and would have been content with that. But since he had been selected by the King to teach the Marquise de Pompadour – Madame d’Etioles as she had been then – the graces of Versailles, the Marquise had selected him to be her friend, and thus he had become one of the most important ministers in France.

Like many of his compatriots he was an extremely sensual man, had become something of a rake, and was reputed to have indulged in a love affair with Madame Infanta, Louis’ eldest daughter.

He was a man who found himself continually subdued by women. Madame Infanta had made her demands; now Madame de Pompadour arranged which path he should tread.

Yet he longed for peace because he was overwhelmed by the tragic position of his country, and he saw ahead not only defeat on the Continent but the loss of the French Colonial Empire to those zealous colonisers, the British. Already French possessions in India and Canada were in jeopardy.

Thus in spite of the Marquise he pleaded eloquently with the Council to sue for peace.

He pointed out that Clive was gaining the upper hand in India and that Louisiana and Canada were in dire need of help.

The Council wavered. Peace seemed the answer.

But the Marquise was not so easily defeated.

Madame de Pompadour sat with three of her women – her greatest friends. They all came from Lorraine, and were Madame de Mirepoix, Madame de Marsan and the Duchesse de Gramont.

Each of these women had profited by the friendship of the Marquise; Madame de Mirepoix being her
confidante
, Madame Marsan having been given the post of governess to the King’s daughters, and the Duchesse de Gramont, like Madame de Mirepoix, sharing the Marquise’s confidences; the Duchesse had not yet achieved the place she intended to have at Court, but she was the most ambitious of the three.

With her friends the Marquise discussed the weakness of Bernis and his flouting of her wishes by delivering that oration to the Council which had almost resulted in a plea for peace.

‘I shall never forget, my little cat,’ said the Marquise, ‘that, after the Damiens affair, when I was preparing to leave Versailles, you told me that to quit the game was to lose it. That is what this coward Bernis is preparing to do now.’

‘You need a strong man at the head of affairs,’ said the Duchesse de Gramont.

‘Indeed you are right,’ answered the Marquise. ‘But where are the strong men of France?’

‘I know of one who now serves his country abroad and would welcome a chance to do so at home.’

The Marquise was smiling at the Duchesse. She had no need to ask who that man was, being fully aware of the devotion which existed between the Duchesse and her brother.

The Comte de Stainville had brought his sister to Court some years before. They were a devoted pair; too devoted, it was said.

Although the Duchesse had been a
chanoinesse
of a convent – a life for which she had no wish or aptitude – and the Comte de Stainville sought to make his way at Court, they lived openly together there to the astonishment of all who beheld them.

Stainville had been of immeasurable help to the Marquise in the Choiseul-Beaupré affair, and since then she had determined to make him her firm ally. His sister had become her friend, and he had his embassies. But it was natural that a man such as Stainville would look higher than an ambassadorial post; he would also like to be at Versailles with his sister. The virtuous and beautiful wife – with whom the Marquise had provided him – accompanied him on his mission, laid her immense fortune at his service, forgave him his many love affairs and was herself, besides being exceptionally virtuous, decidedly charming.

Stainville however believed no woman could equal his tall, flamboyant and ambitious sister; he had found an old and rich husband for her in the Duc de Gramont, whom she left soon after the marriage ceremony.

‘Well?’ said the Marquise, smiling.

‘I refer, of course, to my brother,’ said the Duchesse. ‘He is eager for a chance to use his undoubted talents where they can best serve France.’

The Marquise was thoughtful.

It was the answer, of course. Bring Stainville to Court, let him replace Bernis. He had once proved himself to be the faithful friend of the Marquise. Let him continue to do so.

The Comte de Stainville had returned from Austria to take the place of Bernis, who received his Cardinal’s hat and was dismissed to Soissons. Stainville was created Duc de Choiseul, and under this bright and energetic man hope returned to France.

Choiseul was brilliant; no one denied it. He was ugly yet he could charm to such a degree that at any gathering he would become the central figure.

He was short of stature though shapely; his forehead was very high and broad, his eyes small, his hair red, and his lips thick, but it was the small
retroussé
nose which gave his face a comic look and would, on another man, have robbed him of dignity.

He was extremely witty – often cruelly so; his love affairs were as numerous as those of Richelieu, although there was no woman who held such a high place in his affections as his sister. He was very extravagant; fortunately for him his wife was one of the richest women in France. He was recklessly generous. Whoever called on him near dinner-time would be asked to stay to the meal. For this reason he kept two huge tables in his dining salon. The first was laid for thirty-five, and if there were more guests the second was immediately made ready.

Many said he was an atheist although he appeared occasionally at religious ceremonies; it was clear however that he was there for the sake of convention. He had a tremendous respect for the intellect, and he sought his true friends among the philosophers and the free-thinkers, who found a more ready welcome in his house than did the religious. He corresponded regularly with Voltaire; and was always eager to study new ideas.

He was a man of many parts, supremely confident in his own ability to make a name for himself and extricate France from the morass of failure in which she seemed fast to be sinking; he cared for the opinion of no one.

He made wild love to every woman whose charms appealed to him although these affairs were of short duration; and he made no attempt to conceal his relationship with his sister. Indeed he set a new fashion at Court. Many gallants, whose habit it was slavishly to follow any new fashion, began to profess a love for their sisters.

In some quarters Choiseul was ironically known as Ptolemy, after the Egyptian kings who married their sisters.

The Duc d’Ayen told Madame de Pompadour that he would very much like to follow the prevailing fashion, but he had three sisters and it was so hard to choose – they were all so unattractive.

Choiseul enjoyed criticism. He had the utmost confidence in himself and his future. He could spend half the night in pleasure, and next day bring his tremendous energy, not in the least impaired by the previous night’s revelry, to bear on State affairs.

It was believed that, at times of stress, there often arose the man of the moment – a man of genius, in whose capable hands could be placed the helm of the Ship of State which appeared about to founder on the rocks of defeat, famine and perhaps revolution.

Louis believed he had found that man in the Duc de Choiseul.

Chapter XIII

MADEMOISELLE DE ROMANS

L
ouis sought desperately to forget the war and all its problems and, because he was Louis, he found his greatest consolation among the attractive young women whom Le Bel brought to him.

Most of these came to him by way of the Parc aux Cerfs but some pleased him so much that he took them from this establishment and set them up in houses of their own.

Mademoiselle Hainault was the daughter of a prosperous merchant. Her outstanding beauty had brought her to Le Bel’s notice and, as even prosperous merchants saw great advantage in their daughters’ being given to the King, her family put nothing in the way of her progress. They did insist however that this daughter of members of the respectable middle class should not be an inmate of the Parc aux Cerfs.

Having seen the girl, Louis found the parents’ request reasonable. Thus Mademoiselle Hainault was given her own establishment and when – but not for some years – Louis tired of her, he provided a Marquis for a husband. In return she gave Louis two daughters.

Another girl who received special favours was the illegitimate daughter of the Vicomte de Ravel – Lucie-Magdeleine d’Estaing, who also gave the King two daughters.