De Broglio’s friendly remonstrances and reproaches were without effect upon D’Eon, who became the more obdurate from the moment that de Prunevaux resolutely, and once for all, refused to entertain any such idea as his reinstatement to his former official position. De Prunevaux was succeeded by Captain Pommereux of the Grenadiers, ordered to treat with D’Eon on the basis of an indemnity; but the only concession the Chevalier would make being to reduce his claim to 256,000 livres, de Vergennes submitted to the King that since a high sum was still persisted in, it would be unwise to underrate the importance of keeping on good terms with the Chevalier, and recommended that for the present, at least, his quarterly allowance should be paid as before, anticipating that he would become more tractable with time, and if less importance were attached to the recovery of the papers of which he was the depositary. Louis XVI. approved, but said that he had never read a more impertinent or ridiculous letter than D’Eon’s,[284] and were it not for the safety of the documents, he should certainly send him about his business.[285] I cannot conclude this paragraph without noticing that the gallant captain became so thoroughly persuaded, during his stay in London, of the truth of the reports on the presumed sex of the Chevalier, that he became enamoured of the heroine, and actually proposed marriage before taking his departure for France! [Sidenote: THE DUBARRY SCANDAL] There now appears on the scene a remarkable man, one who, relying upon his abilities, of which he was singularly vain, was prepared to act as mediator, and by pursuing a policy of something like oppression, bring D’Eon to his bearings. This was no less an individual than Beaumarchais, the watchmaker’s apprentice, lieutenant-general of the royal hunt, champion of the Americans in revolt against Britain, and in the secret service of Louis XVI., but more universally known, perhaps, as the author of ‘Le Barbier de Seville,’ a play first published with the authority of that sovereign, and unjustly condemned for a season as being a plagiary on Molière’s ‘École des Femmes.’ When D’Eon and Beaumarchais met for the first time, the latter was in London on a mission from the King, in which D’Eon was likewise concerned, and it is scarcely to be doubted he was under instructions from de Vergennes to make the Chevalier’s acquaintance with a view to entering eventually into further relations with him. By Beaumarchais’ management were shaped the destinies of D’Eon, who has left a record of how they met and what their intercourse, in a written statement he addressed to the Count de Vergennes, on May 27, 1776,[286] and from which we quote the following passages:—