mpadour; and four years later
"Dame d'Honneur" to the Queen, a title of charmingly unconscious
irony! The day of her demise (1764) was stormy, and the King is
said to have been genuinely grieved over the loss, remarking:
"Madame la Marquise has ill weather for her journey."

But to the last she herself was charming, debonnaire, masterful.
She had smiled her way into power, and she smiled even in the
face of death. "She felt it a duty to maintain to the end the
pose of elegance which she had established for herself," say
her French critics. "For the last time she applied the touch
of rouge to her cheeks, by which she had hidden, for several
years, the slow ravages of decay; set her lips in a final smile;
and with the air of a coquette uttered to the priest, who extended
to her the last rites of religion, this laughing quip (mot
d'elegance): "Attendez-moi, monsieur le cure, nous partirons
ensemble" ("Wait a moment, monsieur, and we will set forth
together").

THE MEMOIRS OF LOUIS XV.

AND OF

MADAME DE POMPADOUR

SECTION I

An early friend of mine, who married well at Paris, and who has
the reputation of being a very clever woman, has often asked
me to write down what daily passed under my notice; to please
her, I made little notes, of three or four lines each, to recall
to my memory the most singular or interesting facts; as, for
instance--_attempt to assassinate the King; he orders Madame
de Pompadour to leave the Court; M. de Machault's ingratitude_,
etc. I always promised my friend that I would, some time or other,
reduce all these materials into the form of a regular narrative.
She mentioned the "Recollections of Madame de Caylus," which were,
however, not then printed; and pressed me so much to produce a
similar work, that I have taken advantage of a few leisure moments
to write this, which I intend to give her, in order that she may
arrange it and correct the style. I was for a long time about
the person of Madame de Pompadour, and my birth procured for me
respectful treatment from herself, and from some distinguished
persons who conceived a regard for me. I soon became the intimate
friend of Doctor Quesnay, who frequently came to pass two or
three hours with me.

His house was frequented by people of all parties, but the number
was small, and restricted to those who were on terms of greatest
intimacy with him. All subjects were handled with the utmost
freedom; and it is infinitely to his honou