a purse of ten thousand livres to defray his travelling expenses. Such
was the fortunate termination of this disgraceful affair; and now,
having completed my painful confession, I will change the subject to
others doubtless more calculated to interest you than the recital of
such lapses.

CHAPTER XXV

Madame du Barry succeeds in alienating Louis XV from the duc
de Choiseul--Letter from madame de Grammont--Louis XV--The
chancellor and the countess--Louis XV and the abbe de la
Ville--The marechale de Mirepoix and madame du Barry

Matters now assumed an air of importance. My struggle with the des
Choiseuls had become a deadly war, which could only be terminated either
by his downfall or my dismissal from court; this latter measure was not
very probable; an old man is not easily detached from a woman whom he
loves, and each day only added to my ascendancy over the mind of the
king. It is true, that the same force of habit which enchained Louis XV
to me bound him likewise to M. de Choiseul. The idea of change terrified
him; and so great was his dread of fresh faces, that he would have
preferred dying with his old minister, to creating a younger one who
might witness his end. Happily the duke himself brought on the crisis of
his fate; his power was cramped on all sides, yet, resolved not to lay
it down till the last extremity, he sought to stay his failing credit
with the rising influence of the dauphiness. His enemies were not slow
in pointing out to the king his minister's frequent visits and great
assiduities to a foreign princess, and enlarged upon the fatal effects
this new alliance might produce to the monarchy.

Meanwhile the chancellor, threatened by the parliaments, saw only one
way of averting the storm which was about to burst on his head. This was
to introduce into the cabinet persons entirely devoted to himself;
but to accomplish his purpose, it was necessary to exclude the duc de
Choiseul and his party. M. de Maupeou came to me in December, and after
having gently scolded me for what he termed my carelessness, he showed
me a letter from the duchesse de Grammont, which, he said, would
wonderfully aid our plans. This letter was written to one of the
presidents of the parliament of Toulous, M. de ----. I cannot give you
his name; for, although I have preserved the original of the letter, I
have mislaid the envelope on which the address was written. I here give
you a copy of this curi