M. l' abbe waited us in a boat: he flung himself
bodily into the water, dressed in a sort of cork-jacket, moved in
any direction in the water, drank, ate, and fired off a gun. So far
all went off well, but the poor abbe, to close the affair, wrote a
letter to the king. The letter was carried in great pomp to his
majesty. It contained two verses of Racine, which had some
double allusion to the experiment. This, you may be sure, was
interpreted in the worst manner. The duc d'Ayen gave the finishing
stroke to the whole, on his opinion being asked by the king.
"Sire," said he, "such men ought to be thrown into the water; but
all we can wish for them is, that they should remain there."
The abbe was not more fortunate in the evening. He presented
himself at supper, but the king did not address a word to him, and
he was compelled to bear the malicious jokes of the courtiers. But
let us leave Choisy and the experimentalist, and return to Versailles
and myself.
My friends were excessively desirous for my presentation, which
would decide my position at the chateau. As yet I only had an
equivocal existence, having rank neither at play, theatre, or public
festival; so that if the king should be capricious I could be
dismissed as one of the demoiselles of the
. The
duc d'Aiguillon, whose attachment to me increased, calculated
accurately all the advantages of this presentation.
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