it you. The last
Comte d'Egmont married a reputed daughter of the Duc de Villars; but the
Duchess had never lived with her husband, and the Comtesse d'Egmont is,
in fact, a daughter of the Chevalier d'Orleans.--[Legitimate son of the
Regent, Grand Prior of France.]--At the death of her husband, young,
beautiful, agreeable, and heiress to an immense fortune, she attracted
the suit and homage of all the most distinguished men at Court. Her
mother's director, one day, came into her room and requested a private
interview; he then revealed to her that she was the offspring of an
adulterous intercourse, for which her mother had been doing penance for
five-and-twenty years. 'She could not,' said he, 'oppose your former
marriage, although it caused her extreme distress. Heaven did not grant
you children; but, if you marry again, you run the risk, Madame, of
transmitting to another family the immense wealth, which does not, in
fact, belong to you, and which is the price of crime.'

"The Comtesse d'Egmont heard this recital with horror. At the same
instant, her mother entered, and, on her knees, besought her daughter to
avert her eternal damnation. Madame d'Egmont tried to calm her own and
her mother's mind. 'What can I do?' said she, to her. 'Consecrate
yourself wholly to God,' replied the director, 'and thus expiate your
mother's crime.' The Countess, in her terror, promised whatever they
asked, and proposed to enter the Carmelites. I was informed of it, and
spoke to the King about the barbarous tyranny the Duchesse de Villars and
the director were about to exercise over this unhappy young woman; but we
knew not how to prevent it. The King, with the utmost kindness,
prevailed on the Queen to offer her the situation of Lady of the Palace,
and desired the Duchess's friends to persuade her to endeavour to deter
her daughter from becoming a Carmelite. It was all in vain; the wretched
victim was sacrificed."

Madame took it into her head to consult a fortuneteller, called Madame
Bontemps, who had told M. de Bernis's fortune, as I have already related,
and had surprised him by her predictions. M. de Choiseul, to whom she
mentioned the matter, said that the woman had also foretold fine things
that were to happen to him. "I know it," said she, "and, in return, you
promised her a carriage, but the poor woman goes on foot still." Madame
told me this, and asked me how she could disguise herself, so as to see
the woman with