Ladies," added he,
turning towards the comtesse de Moyau and her sister-in-law,
"you owe the lives of your parents to the generous mediation
of the comtesse du Barry."
The joy of the Louernes was only equalled by the base calumny of
my enemies, who accused me of having prepared this scene, which
was got up by the king and myself to produce effect and excite
popularity. Could such disgusting falsehoods have entered the
minds of any but the most depraved? Yet those who continually
watched and misrepresented my least action appeared anxious to
deprive me of even the taste for, as well as the power of, doing
good. This took place at Choisy, which we very shortly after
quitted for Compiegne, where I passed my time very agreeably.
The king would not suffer either the duchesse de Grammont or the
comtesses d'Egmont and de Brienne to accompany us upon this
excursion. It has likewise been asserted, that neither the duchesse
de Grammont nor the princesse de Beauvau was present during the
king's first visit to Chantilly: that is not correct; it was at
the second that they were forbidden by Louis to join the party.
Those who fabricated such accounts, in all probability derived
their information from either the stable or the kitchen, which
was all they knew of the court of Louis XV.
During my abode at Compiegne I dined several times at the house
of my brother-in-law, Cleon du Barry, then a captain in the
regiment de Beauce, who was, with a detachment, quartered in
the neighborhood of the castle; and he, with the rest of his brother
officers, vied in endeavors to please and amuse me.
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