ce. A blow is bad,
of course, but not so bad as death; and Branicki might very well have run
his sword through the manager's body. Certainly, if Branicki had killed
him he would have been stigmatised as an assassin, for though Tomatis had
a sword the Polish officer's servants would never have allowed him to
draw it, nevertheless I could not help thinking that Tomatis should have
tried to take the servant's life, even at the risk of his own. He wanted
no more courage for that than in ordering the king's favourite to come
out of the carriage. He might have foreseen that the Polish noble would
be stung to the quick, and would surely attempt to take speedy vengeance.

The next day the encounter was the subject of all conversations. Tomatis
remained indoors for a week, calling for vengeance in vain. The king told
him he could do nothing for him, as Branicki maintained he had only given
insult for insult. I saw Tomatis, who told me in confidence that he could
easily take vengeance, but that it would cost him too dear. He had spent
forty thousand ducats on the two ballets, and if he had avenged himself
he would have lost it nearly all, as he would be obliged to leave the
kingdom. The only consolation he had was that his great friends were
kinder to him than ever, and the king himself honoured him with peculiar
attention. Madame Binetti was triumphant. When I saw her she condoled
with me ironically on the mishap that had befallen my friend. She wearied
me; but I could not guess that Branicki had only acted at her
instigation, and still less that she had a grudge against me. Indeed, if
I had known it, I should only have laughed at her, for I had nothing to
dread from her bravo's dagger. I had never seen him nor spoken to him; he
could have no opportunity for attacking me. He was never with the king in
the morning and never went to the palatin's to supper, being an unpopular
character with the Polish nobility. This Branicki was said to have been
originally a Cossack, Branecki by name. He became the king's favorite and
assumed the name of Branicki, pretending to be of the same family as the
illustrious marshal of that name who was still alive; but he, far from
recognizing the pretender, ordered his shield to be broken up and buried
with him as the last of the race. However that may be, Branicki was the
tool of the Russian party, the determined enemy of those who withstood
Catherine's design of Russianising the ancient Polish constit