Виктория Холт - The Road to Compiegne

Many said he was an atheist although he appeared occasionally at religious ceremonies; it was clear however that he was there for the sake of convention. He had a tremendous respect for the intellect, and he sought his true friends among the philosophers and the free-thinkers, who found a more ready welcome in his house than did the religious. He corresponded regularly with Voltaire; and was always eager to study new ideas.

He was a man of many parts, supremely confident in his own ability to make a name for himself and extricate France from the morass of failure in which she seemed fast to be sinking; he cared for the opinion of no one.

He made wild love to every woman whose charms appealed to him although these affairs were of short duration; and he made no attempt to conceal his relationship with his sister. Indeed he set a new fashion at Court. Many gallants, whose habit it was slavishly to follow any new fashion, began to profess a love for their sisters.

In some quarters Choiseul was ironically known as Ptolemy, after the Egyptian kings who married their sisters.

The Duc d’Ayen told Madame de Pompadour that he would very much like to follow the prevailing fashion, but he had three sisters and it was so hard to choose – they were all so unattractive.

Choiseul enjoyed criticism. He had the utmost confidence in himself and his future. He could spend half the night in pleasure, and next day bring his tremendous energy, not in the least impaired by the previous night’s revelry, to bear on State affairs.

It was believed that, at times of stress, there often arose the man of the moment – a man of genius, in whose capable hands could be placed the helm of the Ship of State which appeared about to founder on the rocks of defeat, famine and perhaps revolution.

Louis believed he had found that man in the Duc de Choiseul.

Louis sought desperately to forget the war and all its problems and, because he was Louis, he found his greatest consolation among the attractive young women whom Le Bel brought to him.

Most of these came to him by way of the Parc aux Cerfs but some pleased him so much that he took them from this establishment and set them up in houses of their own.

Mademoiselle Hainault was the daughter of a prosperous merchant. Her outstanding beauty had brought her to Le Bel’s notice and, as even prosperous merchants saw great advantage in their daughters’ being given to the King, her family put nothing in the way of her progress. They did insist however that this daughter of members of the respectable middle class should not be an inmate of the Parc aux Cerfs.

Having seen the girl, Louis found the parents’ request reasonable. Thus Mademoiselle Hainault was given her own establishment and when – but not for some years – Louis tired of her, he provided a Marquis for a husband. In return she gave Louis two daughters.

Another girl who received special favours was the illegitimate daughter of the Vicomte de Ravel – Lucie-Magdeleine d’Estaing, who also gave the King two daughters.

Madame de Pompadour looked on benignly at these relationships, since they kept the King amused and gave her not the slightest tremor of apprehension. She knew that since the consequences of the Damiens outrage had brought disgrace to such powerful men as d’Argenson and Machault, it would have to be a very brave man or woman who would dare challenge her power.

But the ever-watchful Marquise began to notice that the King was not visiting his Parc aux Cerfs with the same eagerness as he had previously, and it occurred to her that he had had a surfeit of his grisettes .

If that were so, it could only mean that the danger could become imminent of a Court lady, with powerful friends behind her, winning the King’s attention.

She feared that Le Bel, in searching for women who would please his master, might conceivably choose them according to his own taste. Might this not result in a stream of girls who had rather similar characteristics being brought to the Parc aux Cerfs? No wonder Louis was becoming jaded!

What must be found was a beauty of an entirely different kind, and the Marquise decided she would send out new scouts to discover her.

She sent for Sartines, the Lieutenant of the Police, and told him to search Paris for a girl who was beautiful but not conventionally so; she must have some startling quality in her appearance; she must be someone who was outstandingly different.

Sartines, realising that one of his most important duties, if he were a wise man, was to please the Marquise, set out on his search.

His was a difficult task, for the King’s inexhaustible adventurings appeared to have led him to acquire all shapes and sizes.

One day when he was in a gaming-house, and talking idly to the proprietress, she spoke nostalgically of her childhood in Grenoble.

‘Ah, Monsieur, if my parents could see me now! What a difference, eh . . . That quiet house in the square. Papa so strict, taking such care of his daughters . . . and what has happened? One of them comes to Paris to run a gaming-house.’

Sartines nodded. She was a handsome woman and he had no wish to try his luck at the tables today. He invited her to drink with him and she accepted; but he could see that her thoughts were far away in a quiet house in a Grenoble square.

‘Oh yes, Papa guarded us well. I . . . and my sister. Mind you, he would have to guard her well. I went to see them only a few months ago. Very respectable I had to become, Monsieur le Lieutenant. No mention of the gaming-house! Had I told them of that I should not have been allowed to see my sister. She is beautiful. I have never seen anyone quite like her. She is like one of the statues you see in the gardens. She is the tallest woman I ever saw.’

‘The tallest woman you ever saw . . .’ murmured the Lieutenant hastily. ‘Tell me, how tall is Mademoiselle?’

‘Mademoiselle de Romans is six feet tall, I swear. She is exactly like one of those stone goddesses. I always thought there could not be women quite like that – towering above other women, perfectly shaped, with black eyes and black hair. My sister is a goddess, Monsieur. If you saw her you would know why she is never allowed out without a chaperone.’

‘If I saw her, I am sure I should agree with you,’ said the Lieutenant with a smile.

He was determined to see her – and that without delay.

As soon as Sartines set eyes on Mademoiselle de Romans he was certain that the search which Madame de Pompadour had commanded him to make was ended.

He saw her in the company of her parents. Lawyer de Romans was quite clearly a stern and self-righteous man; but the Lieutenant did not experience any great qualms. The honours to be gained by becoming the King’s mistress were equal to any which could come to Mademoiselle de Romans through any marriage she could make in Grenoble – that was if one counted honour by material gain, which the Lieutenant was sure Lawyer de Romans would.

He asked for an invitation to the house, saying that he came on very important business from Versailles. The magic word ‘Versailles’ immediately gained this and, as they sat over their wine, the Lieutenant said: ‘Your daughter must be the most beautiful girl in Grenoble, perhaps in France.’

The lawyer looked pleased.

‘What a precious possession!’ went on the Lieutenant. ‘For it is clear that not only is she beautiful but virtuous.’

‘We have guarded her well,’ said the lawyer. ‘But Monsieur, shall we discuss your business?’

‘She is my business, Monsieur de Romans. I want you to bring her to Versailles.’

‘For what purpose?’

‘That would depend on your daughter. She could make a great position for herself at Court, Monsieur. It is a sin to hide one so outstanding in beauty and virtue from the world and keep from her those advantages which her merit would bring her.’