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were it not for the great esteem I entertain for the duchesse de Choiseul; in whose delicate health I feel much interest。 Have a care that you do not; by your own conduct; oblige me to adopt harsher measures; and hereupon I pray God to have you in his keeping。〃
(Signed) 〃Louis;
(and lower down) 〃PHILIPPEAUX〃
When this letter was completed; I said to the king;
〃Surely; sire; you do not mean to forget the duke's faithful ally; M。 de Praslin? It would ill become us to detain him when the head of the family has taken leave of us。〃
〃You are right;〃 replied the king; smiling; 〃besides; an old broom taken from a masthead would be as useful to us as he would。〃
Then; turning to M。 de la Vrilliere; the king dictated the following laconic notice:
〃COUSIN;I have no further occasion for your services; I exile you to Praslin; and expect you will repair thither within four and twenty hours after the receipt of this。〃
〃Short and sweet;〃 cried I。
〃Now let us drop the subject;〃 said Louis; 〃let madame de Choiseul repose in peace to…night; and to…morrow morning; at eleven o'clock; go yourself; M。 de la Vrilliere; and carry my orders to the duke; and bring back his staff of office。〃
〃To whom will you give it; sire?〃 inquired the chancellor。
〃I have not yet considered the subject;〃 replied the king。
At this instant M。 de Soubise was announced。 〃〃 exclaimed the king; as M。 de Soubise; little suspecting the nature of our conversation; entered the room。 I profited by his coming to slip out of the room into my boudoir; from which I despatched the following note to M。 d'Aiguillon:
〃MY DEAR DUKE;Victoria! We are conquerors; master and man quit Paris to…morrow。 We shall replace them by our friends; and you best know whether you are amongst the number of them。〃
When I returned to the drawing…room; the king exclaimed;
〃Come; madam。; you are waited for; the prince de Soubise has a very curious anecdote to relate; which befell a lady of his acquaintance; I begged of him to defer telling it till you rejoined us。〃
〃Are you afraid of ghosts?〃 inquired the marechal of me。
〃Not this evening;〃 replied I; 〃to…morrow; perhaps; or the next day; I may be。〃
This jest amused the king and the duc de la Vrilliere; whilst M。 de Maupeou; who seemed to fear lest I should by any indiscretion; reveal our secret; made a signal of impatience; to which I replied; by shrugging up my shoulders。 Poor M。 de Soubise; although he did not comprehend my joke; laughed at it as heartily as heartily as the rest who saw its application。 〃Oh! you courtier;〃 thought I We then entreated of him to commence the recital of his tale; which he did in the following words
〃There is in Lower Brittany a family gifted with a most singular endowment: each member of the family; male or female; is warned exactly one month previous to his or her decease of the precise hour and day in which it will take place。 A lady belonging to this peculiar race was visiting me rather more than a month since; we were conversing quietly together; when; all at once; she uttered a loud cry; arose from her seat; endeavored to walk across the room; but fell senseless upon the floor。 Much grieved and surprised at this scene; I hastily summoned my servants; who bestowed upon the unfortunate lady the utmost attention; but it was long ere she revived。 I then wished to persuade her to take some rest。 'No;' cried she; rising and giving me orders for her immediate departure; 〃I have not sufficient time for rest; scarcely will the short period between me and eternity allow me to set my affairs in order。' Surprised at this language; I begged of her to explain herself。 'You are aware;' said she; 'of the fatal power possessed by my family; well; at the moment in which I was sitting beside you on this sofa; happening to cast my eyes on the mirror opposite; I saw myself as a corpse wrapped in the habiliments of death; and partly covered with a black and white drapery; beside me was an open coffin。 This is sufficient; I have no time to lose: farewell; my friend; we shall meet no more' Thunderstruck at these words; I suffered the lady to depart without attempting to combat her opinion。 This morning I received intelligence from her son that the prophecy had been fulfilledshe was no more。〃
When the marechal had finished; I exclaimed;
〃You have told us a sad dismal tale; I really fear I shall not be able to close my eyes at all to…night for thinking of it。〃
〃We must think of some means of keeping up your spirits;〃 answered Louis XV。 〃 As for your story; marechal; it does not surprise me; things equally inexplicable are continually taking place。 I read in a letter addressed by Philip V; of Spain; to Louis XIV; 〃that the spirit of Philip II; founder of the Escurial; wanders at certain intervals around that building。 Philip V affirms that he himself witnessed the apparition of the spectre of the king。〃
At this moment supper was announced。 〃Come; gentlemen;〃 said I; 〃let us seek to banish these gloomy ideas around our festive board。〃 Upon which the king conducted me to the supper…room; the rest of the company following us。 Spite of all my efforts to be gay; and induce others to be so likewise; the conversation still lingered upon this dismal subject。
〃Heaven grant;〃 exclaimed the chancellor; 〃that I may not soon have to dread a visit from the ghost of the deceased parliament; however; if such were the case; it would not prevent my sleeping。〃
〃Oh!〃 cried the king; 〃these long…robed gentlemen have often more effectually robbed me of sleep than all the spectres in the world could do; yet one night〃
〃Well; sire;〃 said I; seeing that Louis was silent; 〃and what happened to you that night?〃
〃Nothing that I can repeat;〃 answered Louis XV; glancing around with a mournful look。
A dead silence followed; which lasted several minutes; and this
evening; which was to usher my day of triumph; passed away in the most inconceivable dullness。 What most contributed to render me uneasy was the reflection; that; at the very moment when we had freed ourselves of our enemies; we were ignorant who would fill their vacant places。 This was an error; and a great one。 My friends would not listen to the nomination of the Comte de Broglie; the Comte de Maillebois; the duc de la Vauguyon; any more than either M。 de Soubise or M。 de Castries。 The abbe Terray; having upon one occasion proposed the marechal duc de Richelieu; he very narrowly escaped having his face scratched by M。 d'Aiguillon; who cared very little for his dear uncle; but I have unintentionally wandered from the thread of my narrative; I will therefore resume it at once。
I had hoped that the king would this night have retired to his own apartment; and that I should have been enabled to hold a secret council with M。 de Maupeou; and the ducs de la Vrilliere and d'Aiguillon; but no such thing。 Imagining; no doubt; that I should be kept awake by my fear of ghosts; his majesty insisted upon remaining with me; and I was compelled to acquiesce。 He passed a very agitated night; much more occupied with the des Choiseuls than me; he could think of nothing; speak of nothing; but the sensation wh