Comte
Jean, perceiving that things were going against us, applied to
the king himself for assistance in the affair. Louis XV could
not endure him, but his dislike was manifested only by an uneasy
timidity in his presence, and he freely granted any request that
would the soonest free him from his presence. The king acted
upon the same principle in the present conjuncture; he bestowed
a million of livres upon the comte d'Hargicourt, that is to say,
500,000 livres to be employed in paying the debts of the comte de
Fumel, and in freeing his estates from a dowry of 60,000 livres to
be paid to his daughter on her marriage, with various other
clearances and payments; besides this my brother-in-law, comte
d'Hargicourt, was appointed captain in the prince's Swiss guards,
one of the most honorable commissions that could have been
conferred on him.
The comte de Crussel and the prince d'Henin were named captains
of the guard to M. d'Artois. This prince d'Henin was of such
diminutive stature that he was sometimes styled, by way of jest,
the "prince of dwarfs," "the dwarf of princes." He was the
beloved nephew of the marechale de Mirepoix, whose fondness
could not supply him with the sense he so greatly needed; he was
besides very profligate, and continually running into some
difficulty or other by his eager pursuit after pleasure.
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