Madame de Pompadour (Paperback)

Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: CHAPTER III Madame d'Etioles opens her campaign?The fair charioteer of the Forest of Senart ? Madame de Chateauroux becomes alarmed ? And adopts precautionary measures ? Death of Madame de Chateauroux?Madame d'Etioles again takes the field?Her allies?Madame de Tencin?Binet, the valet-de- chambre ? Marriage of the Dauphin and the Infanta Maria Theresa?Rejoicings in Paris?The ball at the Hotel de Ville?Madame d'Etioles and Louis XV.?Binet says a word in season?First visit of Madame d'Etioles to Versailles? Suspense. The Chateau d'Etioles was, as we have mentioned, situated on the confines of the Forest of Senart, which was Louis XV.'s favourite hunting-ground, as it was within easy distance of the royal chateau of Choisy and abounded both in large and small game. It was thus admirably adapted as a base for Madame d'fitioles's operations. Now, in the course of the winter of 1743-44, it began to be remarked that almost every day the King went hunting there followed the chase a phaeton, drawn by a pair of magnificent brown horses and driven by a lady coquettishly attired, sometimes in azure, sometimes in pink. The frequent appearance of this lady, her beauty, her effective costumes, and the skill with which she managed her mettlesome steeds soon aroused no small amount of curiosity, and, finally, attracted the notice ofthe King. Louis, however, was at this time completely under the domination of Madame de Chateauroux, and, therefore, contented himself with inquiring the name of the fair charioteer, when he was informed that she was a Madame d'Etioles, the wife of a rich sous-fermier whose chateau was on the borders of the forest. If Louis XV., absorbed in his passion for another woman, evinced no desire to make Madame d'Etioles's acquaintance, the object of his regard was ...