hat he has retained the name of _the handsome
man_, it was natural enough that he should be thought the lover
of a very handsome woman. I have heard something more than this.
I was told that the King said to M. de Bridge, "Confess, now,
that you were her lover. She has acknowledged it to me, and I
exact from you this proof of sincerity." M. de Bridge replied,
that Madame de Pompadour was at liberty to say what she pleased
for her own amusement, or for any other reason; but that he, for
his part, could not assert a falsehood; that he had been her
friend; that she was a charming companion, and had great talents;
that he delighted in her society; but that his intercourse with
her had never gone beyond the bounds of friendship. He added,
that her husband was present in all their parties, that he watched
her with a jealous eye, and that he would, not have suffered him
to be so much with her if he had conceived the least suspicion
of the kind. The King persisted, and told him he was wrong to
endeavour to conceal a fact which was unquestionable. It was
rumoured, also, that the Abbe de Bernis had been a favoured lover
of hers. The said Abbe was rather a coxcomb; he had a handsome
face, and wrote poetry. Madame de Pompadour was the theme of
his gallant verses. He sometimes received the compliments of
his friends upon his success with a smile which left some room
for conjecture, although he denied the thing in words. It was,
for some time, reported at Court that she was in love with the
Prince de Beauvau: he is a man distinguished for his gallantries,
his air of rank and fashion, and his high play; he is brother
to the little Marechale: for all these reasons, Madame is very
civil to him, but there is nothing marked in her behaviour. She
knows, besides, that he is in love with a very agreeable woman.

Now that I am on the subject of lovers, I cannot avoid speaking
of M. de Choiseul. Madame likes him better than any of those I
have just mentioned, but he is not her lover. A lady, whom I
know perfectly well, but whom I do not choose to denounce to
Madame, invented a story about them, which was utterly false.
She said, as I have good reason to believe, that one day, hearing
the King coming, I ran to Madame's closet door; that I coughed in
a particular manner; and that the King having, happily, stopped
a moment to talk to some ladies, there was time to adjust matters,
so that Madame came out of the closet with me and M. de Choiseul,