de Maupeou should see me again, accompanied
by the duc d'Aiguillon, who should have the credit of presenting him,
and he left me with as much mystery as he had entered.
When the king came to see me, I said to him, "I have made acquaintance
with your chancellor: he is a very amiable man, and I hope that he
will not conduct himself improperly towards me."
"Where did you see him?"
"Here, sire, and but a short time since."
"He came then to visit you?"
"Yes, in person, that he might obtain the favor of being permitted
to pay his court to me."
"Really what you tell me seems perfectly unaccountable. He has
then burst from the hands of the Choiseuls? It is amusing. Poor
Choiseul, when soliciting for Maupeou, he most tremendously
deceived himself."
"At least, sire, you must own that he has given you no fool."
"True. The chancellor is a man full of talents, and I do not
doubt but that he will restore to my crown that power which
circumstances have deprived it of. However, if you see him
familiarly, advise him not to persuade me to extreme measures.
I wish all should work for the best, without violent courses and
without painful struggles."
These last words proved to me the natural timidity of the king.
"I knew very well," added the king, "that Maupeou would not prove
a man for the Choiseuls. The main point is, that he should be mine,
and I am content."
Louis XV was then satisfied with the chancellor, but he was not
equally so with the comte Jean.
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