The abbe Terray acted with less ceremony, for he came himself to
say, that, so long as the king remained ill, he would pay no money
without his majesty's signature, for which my brother-in-law might
either ask or wait till there no longer existed any occasion for
such a precaution; and that, for his own part, he could not
conceive how he could have consumed the enormous sums he had
already drawn from the treasury.
This manner of speaking stung me to the quick.
"I find you," said I to him, "precisely the mean, contemptible
wretch you were described to me; but you are premature. I am
not yet an exile from court, and yet you seem already to have
forgotten all you owe to me."
"I have a very good memory, madam," replied he, "and if you wish
it, I can count upon my fingers the money you and your family have
received of me. You will see--"
"What shall I see?" interrupted I, "unless, indeed, it be an
amount of your regrets that such a sum was not left in your
hands to be pillaged by your mistresses and their spurious
offspring. Really, to hear you talk, any one would suppose you
a Sully for integrity, and a Colbert in financial talent."
This vigorous reply staggered the selfish and coarse-minded abbe,
who easily perceived that he had carried matters too far, and had
reckoned erroneously upon the feebleness and timidity of my
natural disposition; he attempted to pacify me, but his cowardly
insolence had exasperated me too highly to admit of any apology
or peace-making.
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