80 MEMOIRS OF A PHYSICIAN. " The secretary of the Abbe Terray." 'Well?" ' ' Well ' he told me that his master was appointed to the war department." "Oh hoi" said Richelieu, with his eternal smile. " What does Monseigneur conclude from this?" " That if M. Terray is appointed to the war depart- ment, 1 am not, that if he is not. I may perhaps be." Rafte had satisfied his conscience ; he was a bold, indefatigable, ambitious man, as clever as his master, and much better armed than he, for he knew himself to be of low origin and dependant, two defects in his coat of mail which for forty years had exercised all his cunning, strength and acuteuess to obviate. When Rafte saw his master so confident he believed he had nothing more to fear. "Come, my Lord," said lie, " make haste ; do not oblige them to wait too long; that would be a bad com- mencement." '¦ I am ready; but tell me once more who is there?" "Here is the list." He presented a long list to his master, who saw with increasing satisfaction the names of the first among the nobility, the law, and the finance. " Suppose I should be popular, hey, Rafte?" " We are in the age of miracles," replied the latter. "Hal Taverney!" said the marshal, continuing to peruse the list. " What does he come here for ?" "I have not the least idea, my Lord Marshal ; but come, make your entrée," and the secretary with an authoritative air almost pushed his master into the grand saloon. Richelieu ought to have been satisfied; his reception might have contented the ambition of a prince of the blood royal. But the refined cunning and craft which characterized the period and particularly the class of society we are speaking of, only too well assisted Richelieu's unlucky star, which had such a disagree- able contretemps in store for him. From propriety and respect for etiquette all this crowded isvee abstained from pronouncing the word minister before Richelieu; some were bold enough to venture as far as the word congratulation, but they knew that they must pass quickly over the word, and that Richelieu would scarcely reply to it. ¦ For one and all this morning visit was a simple dem- onstration of respect, a mere expression of good will; for at this period such almost imperceptible shades of policy were frequently understood and acted upon by the general mass of the commuirity. There were cer- tain of the courtiers who even ventured in the course of conversation to express some wish, desire or hope. The one would have wished, he said, to have his gov- ernment rather nearer Versailles; and it gratified him to have an opportunity of speaking on the subject to a man of such great influence as M. de Richelieu. Another said he had been three times forgotten by M. de Choiseul in the promotions of the knights of tho order, and he reckoned upon M. de Richelieu's obliging memory to refresh the king's, now that there existed no obstacle in the way of his majesty's good will. In short, a hundred requests more or less grasping,[but all veiled by the highest art, were preferred to the de- lighted ears of the marshal. Gradually the crowd retired; they wished, as they said, to leave the marshal to his important occupations. One man alone remained inthe saloon; he had not approached as the others had, he had asked for noth- ing, he had not even presented himself. When the courtiers had gone, this man advanced to- wards the duke with a smile upon his lips. "Ahl Monsieur de Taverney!" said the marshal; "I am enchanted to see you, truly enchanted." "I.was waiting, Duke, to pay you my compliments, and to offer you mv sincere congratulations." "Ahl indeed? arid for what?" replied Richelieu, for the cautious reserve of his visitors had imposed upon him the necessity of being discreet and even myste- rious. "On your new dignity, Duke." "Hush, hush!" said the marshal, "let us not speak of that; nothing is settled; it is a mere rumor." "Nevertheless, my dear Marshal, there are many people of my opinion, for your saloons were full." "In truth, I do not know why." "Oh! I know very well." "Why then? Why?" " One word from me." "What word?" " Yesterday I had the honor of paying my respects to the king at Trianon. 1 lis majesty spoke to me of my children, and ended by saying: " You know, M. de Richelieu, I think; pay your compliments to him." " Ah! his majesty said that?" replied Richelieu/with a glow of pride, as if these words had been the official brevet the destination of which Rafte doubted, or at least deplored its delay. "So that," continued Taverney, "I soon suspected the truth—in fact, it was not difficult to do so, when I saw the eagerness of all Versailles—and I hastened to obey the king by paying my compliments to you, and to gratify my own feelings by reminding you of our old friendship." The duke had now reached a pitch of intoxication. It is a defect in our nature from which the highest minds cannot always preserve themselves. He saw in Taver- ney only one of those expectants of the lowest order— poor devils who have fallen behind on the road of favor, who are useless even as proteges, useless as ac- quaintances, and who are reproached w'th coming forth from their obscurity after a lapse of twenty years, to warm themselves at the sun of another's pros- perity. " I see what you are aiming at," said the marshal, harshly; "you have some favor to ask of me." "You have said it, Duke." "Ah!" grumbled Richelieu, seating himself on, or rather plumping into a sofa. "Itold you I had two children," continued Taverney, pliant and cunning, for he perceived the coolness of his great friend, and therefore only advanced the more eagerly; " I have a daughter whom I love very dearly, and who is a model of virtue and beauty. She is placed with her higness the dauphiness, who has been condescending enough to grant her her particular es- teem. Of my beautiful Andrée, therefore, I need not speak to you. Her path is smoothed, her fortune is made. Have you seen my daughter? Did I not once Eresent her to you somewhere? Have you not heard of er?" "Pshaw!—I don't know," said Richelieu, carelessly, " perhaps so." '' No matter," pursued Taverney, " there is my daughter settled. For my own part, I want nothing; the king grants me a pension upon which I can live. I confess I would like to have some emolument to enable me to rebuild Maison-Rouge, where I wish to end my days, and with your interest and my daughter's-----" "Ha!" thought Richelieu, who until now had not listened, so lost was he in contemplation of his gran- deur, but whom the words, "my daughter's interest," had roused from his reverie. " Oh ! ho I y our daughter ! Why she is a young beauty who annoys our countess; she is a little scorpion who is sheltering herself under the wings of the dauphiness, in order to bite some one at Luciennfes. Come, I will not be a bad friend, and as for gratitude, this dear countess who has made me a minister shall see if I am wanting in time of need." Then aloud: "Proceed," said he to the Baron de Taverney in a haughty tone. " Faith, I am near the end," replied the latter, prom- ising himself to laugh in his sleeve at tlie vain marshal if he could only get what he wanted from him. " I am anxious, therefore, about my sou Philip, who bears a lofty name, but who will never be able to support it worthily unless some one assists him. Philip is a bold and thoughtful youth ; rather too thoughtful, perhaps, but that is the result of his embarrassed position. You know the horse which is reined in too tightly droops its head." " What is all. this to me?" thought Richelieu, giving most unequivocal signs of weariness and impatience. "I want someone," continued Taverney remorse- lessly, " some one in authority like yourself, to procure a company for Philip. Her highness the dauphiness on entering Strasbourg, raised him to the rank of captain, but he still wants a hundred thousand livres to enable him to purchase a company in some privileged regi- ment of cavalry. Procure that for me, my powerful friend." " Your son, " said Richelieu, " is the young man who rendered the dauphiness a service, is he not?" " A most essential service," replied Taverney; "it was he who forced the last relay for her royal highness from that Dubarry who wanted to seize it by force." "Oh, ho!" thought Richelieu, "that is just it; the most violent enemies of the countess. He comes at the right time, this Taverney! He advances claims that are sufficient to damn him forever." " You do not answer, Duke?" said Taverney, rather soured by the marshal's obstinate silence. "It is perfectly impossible, my dear M. de Taver- ney," replied the marshal, rising to show that the audi- ence was over. "Impossible? Such a trifle impossible? An old friend tell me that?" "Why not! Is it any reason, because you are a friend as you say, that you should seek to make me commit treason both against friendship and justice? You never came to see me for twenty years, for during that time I was nothing; now that I am a minister, you come." " M. de Richelieu, it is you who are unjust at this moment. "No, my dear friend, no; I do not wish to see you dangling in ante-chambers; I am a true friend, and therefore-----" " You have some reason for refusing me, then?" " I !" exclaimed Richelieu, much alarmed at the sus- picion Taverney might perhaps form; "I! a reason." " Yes, I have enemies. The duke might have replied what he thought, but that would have been to discover to the baj-on that he tried to please Madame Dubarry from gratitude; it would have been to confess that he was the minister of the favorite, and that the marshal would not have con- fessed for an empire. He therefore hastily replied: " You have no enemy, my dear friend; but I have many. To grant requests at once, without examining claims, would expose me to the accusations of contin- uing the Choiseul system. My dear sir, I wish to leave behind some trace of my administration of affairs. For twenty years I have projected reforms, improve- ments, and now they shall blossom. Favoritism is the ruin of France, I will protect merit. The writings of our philosophers are bright torches whose light has not shone for me in vain ; they have dissipated all the mists of ignorance and superstition wliich brooded over the past, and it was full time it should be so, for the well-being of the state. I shall therefore examine your son's claims, neither more nor less than I should do those of any other citizen. I must make this sacri- fice to my conscience—a grievous sacrifice, no doubt, but which, after all, is only that of one man for the benefit of three hundred thousand. If your son, M. Philip de Taverney, proves that he merits my favor, he shall have it, not because his father is my friend, not because he bears the name he does, but because he is a man of merit. That is my plan of conduct." " You mean your system of philosophy," replied the old baron, biting his nails with rage, and adding to his anger by reflecting how much humiliation and how many petty cowardices this interview had cost him. " Philosophy, if you will, Sir; it is a noble word." "Which dispenses good things, Marshal, does it not?" "You are a bad courtier," said Richelieu, with a cold smile. " Men of my rank are courtiers only of the king." "Oh! M. Rafte, my secretary has a thousand of y our rank in my ante chambers every day," replied Riche- lieu; " they generally come from some obscure den or other in the provinces, where they have learned to be rude to their pretended friends while they preach con- cord." "Oh! I am well aware that a Maison Rouge, a title which dates from the crusades, does not understand Concord so well as a Vignerol fiddler." The marshal had more tact than Taverney. He could have had him thrown out of the windows, but he only shrugged his shoulders and replied: " You are rather behind the time, most noble scion of the crusades ; you only remember the calumnious memoir presented by parliment in 1720, and have not read that of the peers and dukes in reply. Be kind enough to walk into my library, my dear Sir; Rafte will give it to you to read." As he was bowing his antagonist out with this apt repartee, the door opened, and a man entered noisily, crying: "Where is my dear Duke?" This man, with ruddy visage, eyes dilated with satis- faction, and joyous air, was neither more nor less than Jean Dubarry. On seeing this new comer, Taverney started back with surprise and vexation. ------------------------1---------------------------------------------------------—- Jean saw the movement, recognized the face, and! turned his back. " I understand," said the baron, quietly, " and I shall" retire. I leave the minister in most distinguished com- pany." And he left the room with dignity. ^Chapter LXXXVIIL—Richelieu is Disabused. Furious at this extremely provoking exit, Jean made two steps after the baron ; then returning to the mar- shal, he said, shrugging his shoulders: "You receive such people here?" "Oh! my dear Sir, you mistake; on the contrary, I send such people away." " Do you know who this gentleman is?" "Alas! Yes." " No, but do you know really?" " Heis a Taverney." " He is a man who wishes to make his daughter the- king's favorite"' "Oh, come!" "A man who wishes to supplant us, and who takes all possible means to do so. But Jean is there, and Jean has his eyes about him. " " You think he wishes-----" " It is a very difficult matter to see what he wishes, isitnot? Oneof the dauphin's party, my dear Sir; and they have their little stabber too." "Bah!" "A young man, who looks quite ready to fly at peo- ple's throats—a bully, who pinks Jean's shoulder—poor. Jean!" "Yours? Is it a personal enemy of yours, my dear Count?" asked Richelieu, feigning surprise. " Yes; he was my adversary in that affair of the re- lay, you know." " Indeed ! What a strange sympathy. I did not know that, and yet I refused all his demands; only if I had known, I should not only have refused him but kicked him out. But do not be uneasy, Count, I have now this worthy bully under my thumb, and he shall find it out to his cost." "Yes. you'can cure him of his taste for attacking peo- Ele on the highway. For in fact—ha! by-the-bye, 1 ave not yet congratulated you." "Why, yes, Count; it seems the affair is definitively: settled." " Oh ! it is all completed. Will you permit me to em- brace you?" " With all my heart." "Kaith, there was some trouble; but the trouble is nothing when you succeed. You are satisfied, are you ! not?" "Shall I speak frankly? Yes; but I think I can be useful." i "Nodoubtof that. Butitisabold stroke ; there will be some growling." j " Am I not liked by the public?" "You? Why, there is no question of you, eitherone way or other; it is he who is execrated/' "He?" said Richelieu, with surprise; "who? he?" "Of course," interrupted Jean. "Oh! the parlia- ment ~ ill revolt, it will be a second edition of the flag- ellation of Louis XIV. They are whipped, Duke, they are whipped." "Explain." " Why, it explains itself. The parliament, of course, hate the author of their persecutions." "Ah! you think that?" "I am certain of it, as all France is. No matter, Duke, it was a capital stroke of you to send for him that way, just at the very heat of the affair." "Whom? Whom, Duke? lam on thorns—I do not, understand one word of what you say. " " Why, I speak of M. d'Aiguillon, your nephew." *i "Weill what then?" | "Well, I say itwas well advised of you to send for him." " Ah ! very good, very good. You mean to say he will assist me?" "He will assist us all. Do you know he is on the best terms with little Jeanne?" "Oh! indeed?" " On the best terms. They have already had a chat together, and understand each other perfectly, as it seems to me." i "You know that?" " Why, I saw D'Aiguillon's carriage leave Luciennes late yesterday evening, and as he only arrived yester- day morning in Paris, it seems to me that he must be- a great favorite with Jeanne to obtain an audience so- early." "Yes, yes," said Richelieu, rubbing his hands; "he must have supped there. Bravo, D'Aiguillon!" " And so there you are all three, like Orestes and Pylades, with the addition of another Pylades." At this moment, and as the marshal was rubbing his hands with great glee, D'Aiguillon entered the saloon. The nephew saluted his uncle with an air of condo- lence which was sufficient to enable Richelieu, without understanding the whole truth, at least to guess the greatest part of it. He turned pale as though he had received a mortal wound. It flashed across his mind that at court there exist neither friends nor relatives, and that every one seeks only his own aggrandizement. "I was a great fool!" thought he. "Well, D'Aiguil- lon?" continued he aloud, repressing a deep sigh. "Well, Marshal?" "It is a heavy blow to the parliament," said Riche- lieu, repeating Jean's words. D'Aiguillon blushed. " You know it?" said he. "The count has told me all," replied Richelieu ; " even your late stay at Luciennes last night. Your appoint- ment is a triumph for my family." " Be assured, Marshal, of my extreme regret." •'What the devil does he mean by that?" said Jean, folding his arms. " Oh, wo understand each other," interrupted Riche- lieu; " we understand each other." " That is a different affair; but for my part I do not understand you. Regret! Ah! yes, because he will not be recognized as minister immediately—yes, yes, I see." "Oh? there will be an interim?" said the marshal, feeling a ray of hope—that constant guest in the heart of the ambitious man and the lover—once more dawn in his breast. " Yes, Marshal, an interim " "But, in the meantime," cried Jean, "he is toler- ably well paid; the finest command in Versailles." _, " Ah ! a command?" said Richelieu, pierced by a new wound.