never turn this
influence against myself; this was a point of no small importance to me.

Madame de Forcalquier most ardently desired the place of lady of honor,
without flattering herself with any hopes of obtaining it; and, not
liking to ask me openly for it, she applied to the duc de Cosse. I felt
some regret that she had gone to work in so circuitous a manner, and in
consequence wrote her the following note:--

"MADAM,--I am aware that you are desirous of obtaining the post of lady
of honor. You should not have forgotten that I am sufficiently your
friend to have forwarded your wishes by every possible exertion. Why did
you apply to a third person in preference to seeking my aid? I really am
more than half angry with you for so doing. Believe me, my friends need
not the intervention of any mediator to secure my best services. You,
too, will regret not having made your first application to me, when I
tell you that I was reserving for you the very place you were seeking by
so circuitous a route. Yes, before you had asked it, the post of lady of
honor was yours. I might have sought in vain for a person more eminently
qualified for the office than yourself, or one in whom I could place
more unlimited confidence. Come, my friend, I pray of you, not to thank
me, who have found sufficient reward in the pleasure of obliging you,
but to acknowledge the extreme kindness and alacrity with which his
majesty has forwarded your wishes.

"Believe me, dear madam,

"Yours, very sincerely,

"THE COMTESSE Du Barry."

Madame de Forcalquier was not long in obeying the summons contained
in my note; she embraced me with the warmest gratitude and friendship,
delighted at finding herself so eligibly established at court, for at
that period every person regarded the comte d'Artois as the only hope of
the monarchy; and blinded by the universal preference bestowed on him,
the young prince flattered himself that the crown would infallibly
ornament his brows. I have been told, that when first the queen's
pregnancy was perceived, a general lamentation was heard throughout the
castle, and all ranks united in deploring an event which removed the
comte d'Artois from the immediate succession to the throne.

Up to the present moment I knew Madame de Forcalquier only as one whose
many charms, both of mind and person, joined to great conversational
powers and the liveliest wit, had rendered her the idol of society, and
obtained for her the appe