"
The duke, without quitting me, wrote immediately to his two
colleagues as well as to M. de Sartines, requesting this latter
to repair to my apartment without delay. One of the ministers
summoned by M. d'Aiguillon was not at that moment at Versailles,
having left at an early hour in the morning for Paris. Neither
he nor M. de Sartines could possibly be with us before eight
o'clock in the evening; it was therefore agreed to adjourn our
conference till their arrival. Meanwhile M. d'Aiguillon, the
marechale, and myself, remained in a state of the most cruel
anxiety. The duke first blamed me for not having caused the
woman to be arrested, and afterwards he confessed to the marechale,
that perhaps it was better the conspiracy should be allowed time
to ripen into maturity. Daring this time the liquid contained
in the four bottles was being decomposed: M. Quesnay, first
physician, Messrs. Thiebault and Varennes, visiting physicians,
M. de la Martiniere, counsellor of state, surgeon to his majesty,
as well as Messrs. Ducor and Prost, apothecaries to his majesty,
had been collected together for this purpose by the duc d'Aiguillon.
These gentlemen came to report the termination of their experiments
at the very moment when the chancellor and lieutenant of police
entered the room; the duc de la Vrilliere had preceded them by
about five minutes; the duc d'Aiguillon requested these gentlemen
to be seated.
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