Joseph Balsamo (43 page)
The old lady bent her thick gray eyebrows. ” I do not think,” said she, ” her visit will turn out very profitable to me.”
” Did the vice-chancellor receive you ill, then, madame ? “
” Empty promises.”
” But it seems to me that I offered you something more tangible than promises.”
” Madame, God disposes though man proposes.”
” Come, madame, let us view the matter seriously. You have scalded your foot ?”
” Scalded it very badly.”
” Could you not, in spite of this accident painful, no doubt, but, after all, nothing dangerous make an effort to bear the journey to Luciennes in my carriage, and stand before his majesty for one minute ? “
” It is quite impossible, madame.”
” Is the injury so very serious ? “
” Serious, indeed “
324 JOSEPH BALSAMO.
” And pray, who dresses it for you, and nurses you ?”
” Like all housekeepers, I have excellent recipes for burns, and I dress it myself.”
” Might I take the liberty of requesting to see your specific.”
” Oh, yes ; it is in that vial on the table ‘
“Hypocrite !” though the countess, “to carry dissimulation to such a point ! She is as cunning as a fox, but I shall match her. Madame,” she added, aloud, “I also have an excellent oil for accidents of this kind ; but before applying it it is necessary to know what kind of scald it is whether it is inflamed, or blistered, or the skin broken.”
” Madame, the skin is broken,” said the old lady.
” Oh, heavens ! how yon must suffer. Shall I apply my oil to it ?”
” With all my heart, madame. Have you brought it ?”
” Xo, but I shall send for it. In the meantime, I must see the state of your leg.”
” Oh, madame !” exclaimed the old lady, “I could not think of permitting you to see such a spectacle. I know too well what is due to good manners.”
“Delightful!” thought
Mme.
Duharry, “she is now fairly caught.” Then she added, ” AY here we can serve our fellow-beings, madame, we must not stand upon etiquette ;” and she stretched out her hand toward the old lady’s leg, which was extended on the sofa.
Mme.
de Beam uttered a scream of pain.
” Very well acted,” said
Mme.
Dubarry to herself, watching her every feature distorted with anguish.
” How you frightened me, madame,” said the old lady “,it is almost death to me to touch it ; ” and, with pale cheeks and half-closed eyes, she leaned back as if nearly fainting.
” Do you allow me to look at it ? “
” If you choose, madame,” said the old lady, in a weak and suffering voice.
Mme.
Dubarry did not lose an instant ; she took out the pins in the bandages, and rapidly unrolled them. To her great surprise, she was permitted to go on. ” When it
JOSEPH BALSAMO. 325
comes to the last covering,” thought she, ” she will scream, and try to prevent me from seeing it ; but, though she kill herself calling on me to stop, I will see the leg ! ” and she proceeded in her task.
Mme.
de Beam groaned, but offered no resistance.
At last the bandages were untied, the last covering was removed, and a real wound caused by a scald lay before
Mme.
Dubarry’s eyes. Here ended the old lady’s diplomacy. Livid and inflamed, the wound spoke for itself. The Countess de Beam might have seen and recognized Chon ; but if so, her courage and determination raised her far above Portia and Mutius Scevola.
Mme.
Dubarry gazed at her in silent admiration. The old lady, now somewhat recovered, enjoyed her victory to the utmost ; her inflamed eye brooded with satisfaction on the countess kneeling at her feet.
Mme.
Dubarry replaced the bandages with that delicate care which women exercise toward the suffering, placed the limb once more on its cushion, and took her seat beside the couch.
“Come, madame,” said she, “I see of what you are capable, and I beg your pardon for not having begun this subject in the way in which I ought with such a woman as yon. Make your own conditions.”
The eyes of the old lady sparkled, but it was only for a moment. ” In the first place,” said sne, ” state what your wishes are, and then I shall see if I can be of any service to you.”
” Madame, I wish to be presented at Versailles by you, though it cost you another hour of the horrible suffering which yon have endured this morning.”
The Countess de Beam listened unflinchingly. ” Anything else, madame ? ” said she.
“That is all. Now for your turn.”
” I must have,” replied
Mme.
de Beam, with a decision which showed clearly that she treated with the countess as one power with another ” I must have the two hundred thousand francs of my lawsuit secured to me.”
” But if you gain your cause, you will then have four hundred thousand “
326 JOSEPH BALSAMO.
” No ; for I look on the disputed two hundred thousand as mine already, and the other two hundred thousand I shall reckon as merely an additional piece of good fortune to that of possessing the honor of your acquaintance.”
“You shall have them, madame. “Well ?”
“I have a son, whom I love tenderly, madame. Our house has already been distinguished by military genius ; but, born to command, we make but indifferent subalterns. My son must have a company immediately, and next year a colonel’s commission.”
” Who will pay all the necessary expenses, madame ? “
” The king. You perceive that if I expended on my son the sum which I am to receive from you, I should be as poor to-morrow as I am to-day.”
” At the lowest, I may reckon that at six hundred thousand francs.”
“Four hundred thousand, supposing the commission worth two hundred thousand, which is a high estimate.”
” This shall be granted you also.”
” I have now to request from the king payment for a vineyard in Touraine, containing four acres, which the engineers deprived me of eleven years ago in making a canal.”
” But they paid you then ? “
” Yes, they paid me according to the valuator’s estimate, but I value it at just double the sum.”
” Well, you shall be paid a second time. Is that all ?”
” Excuse me. I am out of cash, as you may suppose, madame, and I owe Master Flageot something about nine thousand francs.”
” Nine thousand francs ? “
” Yes ; it is absolutely necessary to pay him he is an excellent lawyer.”
“J have not the least doubt of it, madame. Well, I shall pay these nine thousand francs out of my own private purse. I hope you will acknowledge that I am accommodating.”
” Perfectly accommodating. But I think I have also proved that I wish to serve you.”
JOSEPH BALSAMO. 327
“I have only to regret that you scalded yourself,” replied the favorite, with a smile.
“I do not regret it, madame, since in spite of the accident, my devotion to your interests will, I trust, give me strength to be useful to yon ‘
” Let us sum up,” said
Mme.
Dubarry.
“Pardon me one moment. I had forgotten one thing. Alas, it is so long since I have been at court that I have no dress fit for it.”
“I foresaw that, madame, and yesterday, after your departure, I ordered a dress for you. To-morrow, at noon, it will be ready.”
“I have no diamonds.”
“Bcemer & Bossange will give you to-morrow, on my order, a set of ornaments worth two hundred and ten thousand livres, which, the following day, they will take back at two hundred thousand. Thus your indemnity will be paid.”
“Very well, madame ; I have nothing more to wish.”
“I am delighted to hear it.”
” However, about my son’s commission- ? “
” His majesty will give it to you himself.”
” And for the attendant expenses ?”
“The order will be given with the commission.”
” Quite right. There now only remains about the vineyard four acres “
“How much were they worth ?”
” Six thousand livres an acre ; it was excellent land.”
” I will not subscribe an obligation to pay you twenty-four thousand livres, which will be about the whole.”
” There is the writing-desk, madame.”
” I shall do myself the honor to hand the desk to you.”
” To me ? “
” Yes ; that you may write a little letter to his majesty, which I shall dictate a fair return, you know.”
” Very true,” replied the old lady ; and arranging her paper, and taking a pen, she waited.
Mme.
Dubarry dictated :
323 JOSEPH BALSAMO.
” SIRE, The happiness which I feel on learning that your majesty has accepted my offer to present my dear friend, the Countess Dubarry “
The old lady made a grimace, and her pen began to spit.
” You have a bad pen,” said the favorite; “you must change it.”
” It is unnecessary, madame ; I shall get accustomed to it.”
” Do you think so ?”
” Yes.”
Mme.
Dubarry continued :
‘ ‘ Emboldens me to solicit your majesty to look on me with a favorable eye, when I shall appear at Versailles to-morrow, as you have designed to permit me to do. I venture to hope, sire, that I merit your majesty’s favor, in-asmuch as I am allied to a house, every chief of which has shed his blood for the princess of your august race ‘
” Now sign, if you please,” said the favorite. And the countess signed :
” ANASTASIE EUPHEMIE RODOLPHE,
” COUNTESS DE-BEARN.”
The old lady wrote with a firm hand, in great letters half an inch long, and sprinkled her letter with a sufficient quantity of aristocratic mistakes in orthography.
When she had signed, still holding the letter fast with one hand, she passed with the other the paper, pen, and ink to
Mme.
Dubarry, who, in a little, straight, sharp hand signed the obligation to pay the sums above stated.
Then she wrote a letter to Bcemer & Bossange the crown jewelers, requesting them to give the bearer the set of diamond and emerald ornaments called ” Louise,” because they had belonged to the Princess Louise, aunt to the dauphin, who sold them to obtain funds for her charities.
That done, the ladies exchanged their papers.
“Now,” said
Mme.
Dubarry, “give me a proof of your friendship, my dear countess.”
JOSEPH BALSAMO. 329
” With all m.y heart, madame.”
” I am sure that if you come to me, Tronchin will cure you in less than three days. Come, then, and you can at the same time try my oil, which is really excellent.”
” Well, but do not let me detain you, madame ‘ said the prudent old lady, ” I have some matters to settle here before I can set out.”
” Then you refuse me ? “
” On the contrary, madame, I accept your invitation, but not at this moment. It is just now striking one o’clock by the abbey clock ; give me until three, and at five precisely I shall be at Luciennes.”
” Permit my brother then to return with the carriage at three.”
” Certainly.”
” In the meantime take care of yourself.”
” Fear nothing ; you have my word, and though my death should be the consequence, I shall present you to-morrow at Versailles.”
” Good-by, then, my dear madame.”
” Good-by, my charming friend.”
And so saying, they parted, the old lady, with her foot still on the cushion, and her hand on her papers ; the countess in better spirits than on her arrival, but certainly rather vexed that she had not been able to make better terms with an old woman from the country ; she, who could outwit the king of France when she chose.
Passing by the door of the principal saloon, she saw Jean, who, doubtless merely to prevent any one harboring suspicions as to the cause of his long stay, was taking a second bottle of wine. Perceiving his sister, he jumped from his chair and ran after her.
” Well ?” cried he.
” Well, I may say, as Marshal Saxe once said to his majesty in the battle-field of Fontenoy, ‘ Sire, learn from this spectacle how dearly a victory may be purchased.’”
” Then we have conquered ? “
” Yes ; only it costs us about a million ! “
Jean made a frightful grimace.
330 JOSEPH BALSAMO.
” Why, I had no choice ; I must either take her at that or give her up.”
“But it is abominable.”
” It is as I tell you ; and perhaps if you make her angry, she will make us pay double.”
” Pardieu ! what a woman ! “
” She is a Eoman ! “
” She is a Greek ! “
” Never mind ! Greek or Roman, be ready to bring her to Luciennes at three o’clock. I shall never be easy until I have her under lock and key.”
” I shall not stir from this,” said Jean.
” And I, on my side, shall hasten to prepare everything,” said the countess.
She sprang into her carriage.
” To Luciennes !” said she. ” To-morrow I shall say, to Marly ! “
Jean followed the carriage with his eyes. ” We cost France a pretty little sum,” said he. ” No matter ; it is very flattering for the Dubarrys ! “
CHAPTEE XXXVI.
MARSHAL RICHELIEU’S FIFTH CONSPIRACY.
THE king returned to hold his court at Marly, as usual. Less the slave of etiquette than Louis XIV., who sought, even in the evening parties of his courtiers, means of exhibiting his power, Louis XV. sought in them only news, of which he was inordinately fond, and, above all, a variety of faces around him, a gratification which he preferred to all others, particularly if they were smiling ones.
In the evening of the day on which the interview just related took place, and two hours after the Countess de Beam who this time kept her promise faithfully was comfortably installed in
Mme.
Dubarry’s cabinet, the king was playing cards at Marly, in the drawing-room. On his
JOSEPH BALSAMO. 331
left sat the Duchess d’Ayen, on his right the Princess de Guemenee. His majesty appeared very absent, losing, in consequence of inattention to his game, eight hundred louis-d ors. Bather sobered by his loss for, like a true descendant of Henry IV., Louis loved to win the king left his cards, and retired into the recess of a window to talk to M. de Malesherbes, son of the ex-chancellor, while M. de Maupeou, who was conversing with the Duke de Choiseul in an opposite window, watched the interview with an anxious eye. In the meantime, after the king left the card-table, a circle was formed near the fireplace. The Princesses Adelaide, Sophie, and Victoire, attended by their ladies of honor and their equerries, had placed themselves there on their return from a walk in the gardens.