urite, by means of Madame d'Estrades, whose ingratitude and
perfidiousness he liberally paid.]

He was perfectly persuaded that every woman would yield to the slightest
desire he might deign to manifest. He, therefore, thought it a mere
matter of course that women fell in love with him. M. de Stainville had
a hand in marring the success of that intrigue; and, soon afterwards,
the Marquise de C-----, who was confined to her apartments at Marly, by
her relations, escaped through a closet to a rendezvous, and was caught
with a young man in a corridor. The Spanish Ambassador, coming out of
his apartments with flambeaux, was the person who witnessed this scene.
Madame d'Estrades affected to know nothing of her cousin's intrigues,
and kept up an appearance of the tenderest attachment to Madame de
Pompadour, whom she was habitually betraying. She acted as spy for M.
d'Argenson, in the cabinets, and in Madame de Pompadour's apartments;
and, when she could discover nothing, she had recourse to her invention,
in order that she might not lose her importance with her lover. This
Madame d'Estrades owed her whole existence to the bounties of Madame,
and yet, ugly as she was, she had tried to get the King away from her.
One day, when he, had got rather drunk at Choisy (I think, the only time
that, ever happened to him), he went on board a beautiful barge, whither
Madame, being ill of an indigestion, could not accompany him. Madame
d'Estrades seized this opportunity. She got into the barge, and, on
their return, as it was dark, she followed the King into a private
closet, where he was believed to be sleeping on a couch, and there went
somewhat beyond any ordinary advances to him. Her account of the matter
to Madame was, that she had gone into the closet upon her own affairs,
and that the King, had followed her, and had tried to ravish her. She
was at full liberty to make what story she pleased, for the King knew
neither what he had said, nor what he had done. I shall finish this
subject by a short history concerning a young lady. I had been, one
day, to the theatre at Compiegne. When I returned, Madame asked me
several questions about the play; whether there was much company, and
whether I did not see a very beautiful girl. I replied, "That there
was, indeed, a girl in a box near mine, who was surrounded by all the
young men about the Court." She smiled, and said, "That is Mademoiselle
Dorothee; she went, this evening, to