e house of Bourbon should not have reached the
honors of the ducal peerage: to which Louis XV replied, that he had no
desire to increase the number of princes of the blood, of whom
there were quite sufficient of legitimate birth without placing the
illegitimate upon the same footing; that Louis XIV had been a sufficient
warning of the folly of acting too indulgently towards these latter, who
were only so many additional enemies to the royal authority. To all
this I answered, that it was not fitting to treat the family of Bourbon
Busset, however illegitimate might be its origin, as though it merely
belonged to the _petite noblesse_, etc.; but my arguments were in vain,
and, as the proverb says, "I talked to the wind." My friends recommended
me not to press the subject, and the matter ended there. However,
in order to smooth the refusal as much as possible, I procured M. de
Bourbon Busset the appointment of first gentleman usher to the young
prince.

The establishment of the comtesse d'Artois was now formed. M. de
Cheglus, bishop of Cahors, had the post of first almoner; and strange
to say, although a prelate, was a man of irreproachable virtue; he had
little wit but strong sense, and was better known by his many charitable
deeds than by the brilliancy of his sayings. He was eminently suited for
the office now conferred on him; and those who knew him best were the
least surprised to find the nomination had fallen on him.

I also procured a post in the establishment of the young couple for my
sister-in-law, the comtesse d'Hargicourt. Her maiden name was Fumel, an
ancient family in Guienne, and M. de Fumel, her father, was governor
of the chateau Trompette at Bordeaux. This marriage had at first
encountered many difficulties from the deadly hatred which existed in
the chateau against us. Comte Jean, perceiving that things were going
against us, applied to the king himself for assistance in the affair.
Louis XV could not endure him, but his dislike was manifested only by an
uneasy timidity in his presence, and he freely granted any request that
would the soonest free him from his presence. The king acted upon the
same principle in the present conjuncture; he bestowed a million of
livres upon the comte d'Hargicourt, that is to say, 500,000 livres to be
employed in paying the debts of the comte de Fumel, and in freeing his
estates from a dowry of 60,000 livres to be paid to his daughter on her
marriage, with various other cle