My brother-in-law
divided them into two equal portions, one of which he put into
his pocket, and the other into my
. With this arrangement
I did not interfere; nothing seemed to me more simple than that he
should satisfy his need out of my superfluity. I bestowed two
thousand crowns upon Henriette, and expended in the course of
the day at least a quarter of my riches in trifles, as unnecessary
as useless; and all this without once remembering that as I owed
my present abundance to a momentary inclination on the part of
the king, so the turn of an hour, or a fresh fancy on the part of
my munificent adorer, might reduce me to the unprovided state
in which I had been so lately. That evening was passed
tete-a-tete with comte Jean; he thought, as I did, that the
foundation of our treasure was firm as a rock, and he gave me
many counsels for the future which I promised to observe; for
indeed it was to my own interest to do so. Upon how many follies
did we then debate, which, but a few days afterwards we found
practicable. The different ministers passed in review before us;
some we determined upon retaining, whilst others were dismissed,
and already I began in idea to act with sovereign power over these
illustrious personages, amongst whom I anticipated shortly playing
so important a part. "After all," said I, "the world is but an
amusing theatre, and I see no reason why a pretty woman should
not play a principal part in it.
Pages:
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65