Memoirs of the Court of Marie Antoinette, Queen of France, Volume 3: Being the Historic Memoirs of Madam Campan, First Lady in Waiting to the QueenCampan, Mme. (Jeanne-Louise-Henriette)
History
Memoirs of the Court of Marie Antoinette, Queen of France, Volume 3: Being the Historic Memoirs of Madam Campan, First Lady in Waiting to the Queen
Campan, Mme. (Jeanne-Louise-Henriette)
France -- Court and courtiers; Marie Antoinette, Queen, consort of Louis XVI, King of France, 1755-1793
Another evening one of Monsieur's body-guard seated himself near the
Princesses, and, knowing them, left the place where he was sitting, and
placed himself before the Queen, to tell her that he was very fortunate in
being able to seize an opportunity of imploring the kindness of his
sovereign; that he was "soliciting at Court"--at the word soliciting the
Queen and Princesses rose hastily and withdrew into Madame's
apartment.--[Soulavie has most criminally perverted these two
facts.--MADAME CAMPAN.]--I was at the Queen's residence that day. She
talked of this little occurrence all the time of her 'coucher'; though she
only complained that one of Monsieur's guards should have had the
effrontery to speak to her. Her Majesty added that he ought to have
respected her incognito; and that that was not the place where he should
have ventured to make a request. Madame had recognised him, and talked of
making a complaint to his captain; the Queen opposed it, attributing his
error to his ignorance and provincial origin.
The most scandalous libels were based on these two insignificant
occurrences, which I have related with scrupulous exactness. Nothing
could be more false than those calumnies. It must be confessed, however,
that such meetings were liable to ill consequences. I ventured to say as
much to the Queen, and informed her that one evening, when her Majesty
beckoned to me to go and speak to her, I thought I recognised on the bench
on which she was sitting two women deeply veiled, and keeping profound
silence; that those women were the Comtesse du Barry and her
sister-in-law; and that my suspicions were confirmed, when, at a few paces
from the seat, and nearer to her Majesty, I met a tall footman belonging
to Madame du Barry, whom I had seen in her service all the time she
resided at Court.
My advice was disregarded. Misled by the pleasure she found in these
promenades, and secure in the consciousness of blameless conduct, the
Queen would not see the lamentable results which must necessarily follow.
This was very unfortunate; for besides the mortifications they brought
upon her, it is highly probable that they prompted the vile plot which
gave rise to the Cardinal de Rohan's fatal error.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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