Memoirs of a Physician (21 page)

But the duke was not duped ; he knew most of the secrets of every royal and ministerial residence. To listen when

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other people were speaking of him was one of his means; to speak while others were overhearing him was one of his ruses.

He determined, therefore, still joyous at the reception which D’Aiguillon had met with, to proceed in the same vein, and to reveal to the favorite, under cover of her supposed absence, such a plan of secret happiness and of lofty power, complicated with intrigues, as would present a double bait too powerful for a pretty woman, and above all, for a court lady, to resist.

He desired the duke to be seated, and commenced:

” You see, duke, I am installed here.”

” Yes, sir, I see it.”

” I have had the good fortune to gain the favor of the charming woman, who is looked upon as a queen here, and who is one in reality.”

D’Aiguillon bowed.

” I must tell you, duke,” continued Eichelieu, ” what I could not say in the open street that Madame Dubarry has promised me a portfolio.”

” Ah ! ” said D’Aiguillon, ” that is only your desert, sir.”

” I do not know if I deserve it or not, but I am to have it rather late in the day, it is true. Then, situated as I shall be, I shall endeavor to advance your interests, D’Aiguillon.”

” Thank you, my lord duke ; you are a kind relative, and have often proved it.”

” You have nothing in view, D’Aiguillon ? “

” Absolutely nothing, except to escape being degraded from my title of duke and peer, as the parliament insists upon my being.”

” Have you supporters anywhere ? ” .

” Not one.”

” You would have fallen, then, had it not been for the present circumstances ? “

” I would have bit the dust, my lord duke.”

” Ah ! you speak like a philosopher. Diable ! that is the reason that I am so harsh, my poor D’Aiguillon, and address you more like a minister than an uncle.”

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” My uncle, your goodness penetrates me with gratitude.”

” When I sent for you in such a hurry, you may be certain it was because I wished you to play an important part here. Let me see; have you reflected on the part Monsieur de Choiseul played for ten years ? “

“Yes; certainly his was an enviable position.”

” Enviable ! Yes, enviable, when, along with Madame de Pompadour, he governed the king and exiled the Jesuits; but very sad when having quarreled with Madame Dubarry, who is worth a hundred Pompadours, he was dismissed from office in four-and-twenty hours. You do not reply.”

” I am listening, sir, and endeavoring to discover your meaning.”

” You like Monsieur de Choiseul’s first part best, do you not ? “

” Certainly.”

“Well, my dear duke, I have decided upon playing this part.”

D’Aiguillon turned abruptly toward his uncle.

” Do you speak seriously ? ” said he.

“Yes” Why not?”

” You intend to be a candidate for Madame Dubarry’s favor ? “

” Ah ! diable ! you proceed too fast. But I see you understand me. Yes, Choiseul was very lucky; he governed the king, and governed his favorite also. It is said he was attached to Madame de Pompadour in fact, why not? Well, no, I cannot act the lover; your cold smile tells me plainly so. You, with your young eyes, look compassionately at my furrowed brow, my bending knees, and my withered hands, which were once so beautiful. In place of saying, when I was speaking of Choiseul’s part, that I would play it, I should have said we will play it.”

“Uncle!”

“No, she cannot love me, I know it; nevertheless I may confess it to you without feiar, for she will never learn it I could have loved this woman beyond everything but “

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D’Aiguillon frowned. “But,” said he.

“I have a splendid project,” continued the marshal. ” This part which my age renders impossible for me, I will divide into two.”

” Ha ! ” said D’Aiguillon.

” Some one of my family,” continued Eichelieu, ” will love Madame Dubarry. Parbleu ! a glorious chance such an accomplished woman ! “

And Eichelieu in saying these words raised his voice.

” You know it cannot be Fronsac. A degenerate wretch, a fool, a coward, a rogue, a gambler duke, will you be the man ? “

” I ? ” cried D’Aiguillon ; ” are you mad, uncle ? “

” Mad ? What ! you are not already on your knees be-fore him who gives you this advice ? What ! you do not bound with joy ? You do not burn with gratitude ? You are not already out of your senses with delight at the man-ner in which she receives you ? You are not yet mad with love ? Go ! go ! ” cried the old marshal, ” since the days of Alcibiades there has been but one Eichelieu in the world, and I see there will be no more after him.”

“My uncle,” replied the duke, with much agitation, either feigned, and in that case it was admirably counterfeited, or real, for the proposition was sudden, ” my uncle, I perceive all the advantage you would gain by the position of which you speak; you would govern with the authority of Monsieur de Choiseul, and I should be the lover who would constitute that authority. The plan is worthy of the cleverest man in France, but you have forgotten one thing in projecting it.”

” What ! ” cried Eichelieu, uneasily, ” is it possible you do not love Madame Dubarry ? Is that it fool ! triple f ool ! wretch ! is that it?”

” Ah, no ! that is not it, my dear uncle,” cried D’Aiguillon, as if he knew that not one of his words was lost. ” Madame Dubarry, whom I scarcely know, seems to me the most charming of women. I should, on the contrary, love Madame Dubarry madly, I should love her only too well that is not the question.”

“What is it, then?”

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“This, my lord duke. Madame Dubarry will never love me, and the first condition of such an alliance is love. How do you imagine the beautiful countess could distinguish among all the gentlemen of this brilliant court surrounded as she is by the homage of so much youth and beauty how should she distinguish one who has no merit, who is already no longer young, who is overwhelmed with sorrows, and who hides himself from all eyes because he feels that he will soon disappear forever? My uncle, if I had known Madame Dubarry in the period of my youth and beauty, when women admired in me all that is lovable in a man, then she might have given me a place in her memory. That would have been much. But now there is no hope neither past, nor present, nor future. No, uncle, we must renounce this chimera. You have pierced my heart by presenting it to me in such bright and glowing colors.”

During this tirade, which was delivered with a fire which Mole might have envied, and Lekain would have thought worthy of imitation, Eichelieu bit his lips, muttering to himself :

“Has the man guessed that the countess is listening? Peste ! he is a clever dog. He is a master of his craft. In that case, I must take care ! “

Eichelieu was right ; the countess was listening, and every word D’Aiguillon spoke sunk deep into her heart. She eagerly drank in the charm of this confession, and appreciated” this exquisite delicacy in not betraying the secret of their former intimacy to his nearest confidant, for fear of throwing a shadow over a perhaps still dearly cherished portrait.

“Then you refuse?” said Richelieu.

” Oh ! as for that, yes, my uncle, for unfortunately I see it is impossible.”

” But try, at least, unfortunate that you are.”

“And how?”

” You are here, one of us you will see the countess very day; please her, morbleu ! “

“With an interested aim? Never! If I should be so unfortunate as to please her with this unworthy view, I

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should flee to the end of the world, for I should be ashamed of myself.”

Kichelieu scratched his chin.

” The thing is settled ‘ said he to himself, ” or D’Aiguillon is a fool.”

All at once a noise was heard in the courtyard, and several voices cried out, ” The king ! “

” Diable ! ” cried Richelieu ; ” the king must not see me here; I shall make my escape.”

” And I ? ” said the duke.

” It is different with you ; he must see you. Eemain ; and, for God’s sake, do not throw the handle after the ax.”

With these words Richelieu stole out by the back stairs, saying, as he left the room:

” Adieu till to-morrow.”

CHAPTER XXI.

THE KING DIVIDES THE SPOILS.

X the Duke d’Aiguillon was left alone he felt at first somewhat embarrassed. He had perfectly understood all his uncle had said to him perfectly understood that
Mme.
Dubarry was listening perfectly understood, in short, that, for a clever man, it was necessary to this conjecture to seem a man of heart, and to play alone that part in which the old marshal sought to obtain a share.

The king’s arrival luckily interrupted the explanation which must have resulted from the puritanical declaration of M. d’Aiguillon.

The marshal was not a man to remain long a dupe, nor above all one who would make another’s virtue shine with exaggerated brilliancy at the expense of his own.

But, being left alone, D’Aiguillon had time to reflect.

The king had in truth arrived. Already his pages had opened the door of the antechamber, and Zamore had darted toward the monarch, begging for bonbons, a touching familiarity which Louis, when he was in a bad temper,

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punished by sundry fillips on the nose or boxes on the ears, both exceedingly disagreeable to the young African.

The king installed himself in the Chinese cabinet; and what convinced D’Aiguillon that
Mme.
Dubarry had not lost a word of his conversation with his uncle, was the fact that he, D’Aiguillon, overheard the entire interview between
Mme.
Dubarry and the king.

His majesty seemed fatigued, like a man who has raised an immense weight. Atlas was less enfeebled when his day’s work was done than when he had held the world suspended on his shoulders for twelve hours.

Louis XV. allowed his favorite to thank, applaud, and caress him, and tell him the whole particulars of M. de ChoiseuPs departure, which amused him exceedingly.

Then
Mme.
Dubarry ventured. It was fair weather for politics ; and besides, she felt herself strong enough at that moment to have raised one of the four quarters of the world.

” Sire 7 said she, ” you have destroyed, that is well ; you have demolished, that is superb; but now you must think about rebuilding.”

” Oh! it is done,” said the king, carelessly.

“You have a ministry?”

” Yes.”

” What ! all at once, without breathing? “

” See what it is to want common sense. Oh ! woman that you are ! before sending away your cook, must you not, as you said the other day, have a new one in readiness? “

” Repeat to me that you have formed the cabinet.”

The king raised himself upon the immense sofa upon which he was lying rather than sitting, using the shoulders of the beautiful countess for his principal cushion.

” One would think, Jeannette,” said he, ” to hear you making yourself so uneasy, that you know my ministry, and wish to find fault with them, or propose another.”

“Well,” said the countess, “that would not be so ab-surd as you seem to imagine.”

” Indeed ? Then you have a ministry ? “

” You have one, have you not ? ” replied she.

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” Oh ! it is my place to have one, countess. Let me see your candidates.”

” By no means ; tell me yours.”

” Most willingly, to set you the example.”

” In the first place, then, who have you for the navy, where that dear Monsieur de Praslin was ? “

” Ah ! something new, countess ; a charming man, who has never seen the sea.”

“Who is it?”

” Ton honor, it is a splendid idea. I shall make myself very popular, and I shall be crowned in the most distant seas in effigy, of course.”

“But who, sire? Who is it?”

” I would wager you do not guess in a thousand attempts. It is a member of parliament, my dear the first president of the parliament of Besangon.”

” Monsieur de Boynes ? “

” The same. Peste ! how learned you are ! You know all these people ! “

” I cannot help it ; you talked parliament to me the whole day. Why, the man would not know an oar if he saw it.”

” So much the better. Monsieur de Praslin knew his duties too well, and made me pay dearly for all his naval constructions.”

” Well, the finance department, sire ? “

” Oh ! that is a different affair ; I have chosen a special man.”

“A financier?”

“Xo; a soldier. The financiers have crushed me too long already.”

” Good heavens ! And the war department ? “

” Do not be uneasy, for that I have chosen a financier, Terray. He is a terrible scrutinizer of accounts ! He will find errors in all Monsieur de ChoiseuFs additions. I may tell you that I had some idea of putting a wonderful man in the war department every inch a man, as they say. It was to please the philosophers.”

” Good. But who ? Voltaire ? “

” xVlmost. The Chevalier de Muy a Cato.”

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” Oh, Heaven,’ You alarm me.” .

” It was all arranged. I had sent for the man, his commission was signed, he had thanked me, when my good or my evil genius judge which prompted me to ask him 1o come to Lneiennes this evening to sup and chat with us.”

” Fy ! Horrible ! “

” Well, countess, that was exactly what De Muy replied.”’

” He said that to you ? “

” Expressed in other words, countess. He said that his most ardent wish was to serve the king, but as for serving Madame Dubarry, it was impossible.”

” Well, that was polite of your philosopher.”

” You must know, countess, I held out my hand to him for his brevet, which I tore in pieces with a most patient smile, and the chevalier disappeared. Louis XIV. would have let the rascal rot in one of those ugly dens in the Bastile; but I am Louis XV., and I have a parliament which gives me the whip, in place of my giving it to the parliament. Ha ! ”