Such was the fortunate
termination of this disgraceful affair; and now, having completed
my painful confession, I will change the subject to others doubtless
more calculated to interest you than the recital of such lapses.
CHAPTER XXV
Madame du Barry succeeds in alienating Louis XV from the due de
Choiseul--Letter from madame de Grammont--Louis XV--The chancellor
and the countess--Louis XV and the abbe de la Ville--The marechale
de Mirepoix and madame du Barry
Matters now assumed an air of importance. My struggle with the
des Choiseuls had become a deadly war, which could only be
terminated either by his downfall or my dismissal from court;
this latter measure was not very probable; an old man is not
easily detached from a woman whom he loves, and each day only
added to my ascendancy over the mind of the king. It is true,
that the same force of habit which enchained Louis XV to me
bound him likewise to M. de Choiseul. The idea of change terrified him;
and so great was his dread of fresh faces, that he would have
preferred dying with his old minister, to creating a younger one
who might witness his end. Happily the duke himself brought on
the crisis of his fate; his power was cramped on all sides, yet,
resolved not to lay it down till the last extremity, he sought
to stay his failing credit with the rising influence of the dauphiness.
His enemies were not slow in pointing out to the king his minister's
frequent visits and great assiduities to a foreign princess, and
enlarged upon the fatal effects this new alliance might produce
to the monarchy.
Pages:
320
321
322
323
324
325
326
327
328
329
330
331
332
333
334
335
336
337
338
339
340
341
342
343
344