I only
wished to evince to him the regret I experienced at not seeing all
the members of his family like him: this is all. I should be in
despair if I thought I had said anything that would wound him;
and if I have done so, I most sincerely ask his pardon."
On saying these words I presented my hand to the prince, who
instantly kissed it.
"You are," said he, "at the same time cruel and yet most amiable:
but if you have the painful advantage of growing old at court, you
will learn that my children have not all the deference and respect
towards me which they owe to their father; and I often am pained
to see them act in a manner entirely opposite to my desires,
however openly manifested. If my daughter does not love you, it
is to me, most probably, that you must look for the
and
: it is because I love you so much that she is against
you. I have committed an error in praising you before her, and
her jealousy was not proof against it."
"That is very amiable in you," said I; "and now whatever may be
my feelings against the princesse de Guemenee, I will endeavor to
dissemble it out of regard for you; and, I assure you, that however
little consideration your daughter-in-law may testify towards me, I
will show her a fair side: endeavor to make peace between us. I
only ask to be let alone, for I do not seek to become the enemy
of any person."
Altho' M. de Soubise said that he had no influence over the
princesse de Guemenee, I learned, subsequently, that the day after
this scene he testified to the Guemenee some fears as to his future
destiny at court.
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