M. D----n and madame de Blessac--Anecdote--The rendezvous and the Ball--The
wife of Gaubert--They wish to give her to the king-- Intrigues--Their results--Letter
from the duc de la Vrilliere to the countess--Reply--Reconciliation
Amongst the pages of the chapel was one whom the king distinguished so
greatly, that he raised him to the rank of a gentleman of the bedchamber, and
confided to his charge the cabinet of medals, for which he had imbibed a taste
since his liaison with madame de Pompadour. This esteemed page was named
M. D-----n, who united to the most amiable wit a varied and deep knowledge of
men and things. He had had adventures at an age when they are usually just
understood, and talked of them with the utmost indiscretion. But this so far from
doing him any injury in the eyes of the world only served to make him the more
admired; for women in general have an inclination for those who do not respect
their reputation.
At the period I allude to a madame de Blessac, a very well-looking woman, took
upon herself to be very kindly disposed towards the gentleman-in-waiting. She
told him so, and thereupon M. de D------n ranged himself under her banner, and
swore eternal constancy. However, the lady, by some accident, became greatly
smitten with the prince de la Trimouille, and without quitting the little keeper of
medals, gave him a lord for a substitute. M. D------n soon learnt this fact, that he
was not the sole possessor of a heart which formed all his joy and glory. He
found he was deceived, and he swore to be revenged.
Now the prince de la Trimouille had for his mistress mademoiselle Lubert, an
opera-dancer, very pretty and extraordinarily silly. M. D------n went to her;
"Mademoiselle," said he, "I come to offer my services to you in the same way that
M. de la Trimouille has offered his to madame de Blessac, with whom I was on
exceedingly intimate terms."
The services of young D------n were accepted, and he was happy. He then wrote
to his former mistress, saying, that anxious to give her a proof of his sincere
attachment he had visited mademoiselle Lubert, that he might leave her at
leisure to receive the visits of the prince de la Trimouille.
Madame de Blessac, stung to the quick, quarrelled with the prince, who was
excessively enraged with his rival; and there certainly would have been an affair
between these two gentlemen, had not the king preserved the peace by sending
his gentleman to St. Petersburg as attaché to the embassy. M. D------n went to
Russia, therefore, and on his return came to see me, and is now one of the most
welcome and agreeable of the men of my private circle.
As to madame de Blessac, she continued to carry on the war in grand style. Her
husband dying she married again a foolish count, three parts ruined, and who
speedily dissipated the other quarter of his own fortune and the whole of his
wife's. Madame Ramosky then attacked the rich men of the day one after
another. One alone stood out against her; it was M. de la Garde, who had been
one of my admirers. Madame Ramoski wrote to him; he did not answer. At length
she determined on visiting him, and wrote him a note, to say that she should call
upon him about six o'clock in the evening. What did M. de la Garde? Why he
