but it was a sure one. I spoke of the high
magistracy and its perpetual resistance to the throne. Then the king
aroused, instantly sprung from his seat, traversed the room with rapid
strides, and declaimed vigorously against the _black gowns_; thus he
styled the parliaments. I confess, however, that I only had recourse to
the "black gowns" at the last extremity. Little did I think that at a
later period I should league myself against them. On the one hand, the
duc d'Aiguillon hated them mortally, and on the other, the comte Jean,
like a real Toulousian, would have carried them in his slippers; so that
wavering between the admiration of the one and the hatred of the other,
I knew not which to listen to, or which party to side with. But to
return to present matters.

The king was always thinking of the "_ Nouvelles a la Main,_" and
determined to avenge me as openly as I had been attacked. Two or three
days afterwards he gave a supper, to which he invited the duchesse and
comtesse de Grammont, madame de Forcalquier, the princess de Marsan, the
marechale de Mirepoix, and the comtesses de Coigny and de Montbarrey.
They were seated at table laughing and amusing themselves; they talked
of the pleasure of being to _themselves_, of having no _strangers_; they
pierced me with a hundred thrusts; they triumphed! And yet the king was
laughing in his sleeve. At a premeditated signal the duc d'Aiguillon,
one of the guests, asked his majesty if he had seen the comtesse du
Barry that day. This terrible name, thrown suddenly into the midst of my
enemies, had the effect of a thunder-clap. All the ladies looked at each
other first and then at the king, and the duc d'Aiguillon, reserving
profound silence. His majesty then replied, that he had not had the
happiness of visiting me that day, not having had one moment's leisure;
then eulogized me at great length, and ended by saying to the duke, "If
you see the comtesse before I do, be sure to say that I drank this glass
of wine to her health."

The ladies did not anticipate this. The duchesse de Grammont
particularly, in spite of long residence at court, turned pale to her
very ears, and I believe but for etiquette she would have fallen into
a swoon. I learnt afterwards from the marechale de Mirepoix, that the
duchesse, on going home, gave herself up to a fit of rage, which did
not terminate even on the following day. When the king related this
occurrence to me, he was as proud of it as if he