himself with asking me again for my friendship,
which I willingly accorded him, and I have always found myself fortunate
in his. Thus did I accept the offers of service from the prince de
Soubise, the duc de la Vauguyon, and the marquis de Chauvelin.

A fourth sought to swell the ranks; the comte, afterwards prince, de
Montbarrey. This gentleman made up in pretensions for what he lacked
in talent. He was weak, self-important, selfish, fond of women, and
endeavored to preserve all the airs of a man of good breeding in the
midst of the grossest debauchery. He was full of respect for himself and
his house, of which in time of need he could cite the whole genealogy.
His nomination was a real scandal; no one dreamt of his ever being
minister of war. It was one of the thousand follies of old Maurepas,
whom the late king knew well, and called the ballad-maker of the
council.

The comte de Montbarrey, whom I had known at Paris, came to me one fine
day, fully powdered, performed, and apparelled. He had a smile on
his lip, a loud tone, and an insolent look. He came not to ask
my friendship, but my obedience. He told me that he loved me to
distraction, and of course my head must be equally towards him. He
amused me. I let him run out the full length of his line; and when he
had spun it all out, I said to him, "Monsieur, be so good as to call me
to the recollection of madame de Merfort."

She was one of the gambling ladies, and at her house I had formerly met
the chevalier de Montbarrey. My reply confounded him: he saw that he had
gone the wrong way to work with me; and, raising the siege, he left me
excessively embarrassed.

Figure to yourself, my friend, what confidence a man, lost in the
crowd of lower courtiers, could inspire me with; for to judge of the
proceedings of the comte de Montbarrey, it would have been necessary
to have seen him as he then was, and not what he became since the
imbecility of M. de Maurepas. When I told comte Jean of his visit, he
would not believe such insolence. You must know that my brother-in-law
also wished to direct me, but I did not consider him sufficiently
clever. His marvellous genius was eclipsed in politics. He swore at my
ingratitude, and I could only appease him by an offering of plenty of
money.

In the midst of this cross-fire of intrigues, one was devised against me
which might have terminated in my ruin; but, thanks to the indefatigable
activity of comte Jean, only served to fix