Furious at not having been apprized of the invitation
till too late to cause its rejection, she vowed to make the triumphant
countess pay dearly for her triumph; for my own part I troubled
myself very little with the success of madame de Valentinois,
which, in fact, I perceived would rather assist than interfere
with my projects. Hitherto I had not made my appearance at any
of the houses of the nobility when the princesses were invited
thither; this clearly proved to the public, in general, how great
was the opposition I experienced from the court party. I was
now delighted to prove to the Parisians that I was not always to
lead the life of a recluse, but that I could freely present myself
at those parties to which other ladies were invited. However,
as my friends apprehended that the comtesse de Provence might
prevail upon her lady of honour not to invite me, by the advice
of the chancellor and the minister for foreign affairs, it was
arranged that I should for a week previous to the fete feign a
severe indisposition. It would be impossible to describe the joy
with which these false tidings were received by my enemies. We
are all apt to picture things as we would have them, and already
the eager imaginations of the opposing party had converted the
account of my illness into an incurable and mortal disease.
Every hour my friends brought me in fresh anecdotes of the avidity
with which the rumour of my dangerous state had been received,
whilst I lay upon what the credulous hopes of my enemies had
determined to be my death-bed, laughing heartily at their folly,
and preparing fresh schemes to confound and disappoint their
anticipated triumph.
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