There was a brief pause, then the Comte told him in French that it was some little place near Cannes.
“About fifteen miles inland,” he added, and I was shocked at the glib manner in which he lied.
“I do not know that part well,” said Leon, ‘but I have passed through it. I wonder if I know the place. ” He turned to me What was the name of it?”
I had not expected to find myself in a difficult position so quickly, but I saw that this could be the first of many.
Before I could have spoken the Comte came to the rescue.
“It was Framercy … was it not. Cousin? I confess I had never heard of it before.”
I did not answer but Etienne said: It must be a small hamlet. “
“There are thousands of such places dotted all over the country,” said the Comte.
“In any case, they had a quiet time, which was what Marguerite needed after her indisposition.”
“It is rare that one can find a peaceful spot in France these days,” said Etienne, dropping back into French.
“In Paris they are talking of nothing but the Deficit.”
“I am sorry,” said the Comte, addressing me, ‘that you have to come to France at a time when the country is in a sad plight. How different it would have been fifteen . twenty years ago. It is astonishing how quickly the clouds can gather. First just a faint shadow on the horizon and the sky starts to grow dark. It has been gradual, but some of us have seen it coming for a long time. Each month it grows a little more menacing. ” He shrugged his shoulders.
“What is France heading for? Who shall say? All we know is that it will come.”
“It could be avoided perhaps,” suggested Etienne.
“If it is not too late,” murmured the Comte.
“I believe it is too late.” Leon’s eyes flashed suddenly.
“There has been too much inefficiency, too much poverty in the country, too many taxes, and high food prices have meant starvation for many.”
“There have always been rich and poor,” the Comte reminded him.
“And now there are some who are saying that it will not always be so.”
“They may say it but what can they do about it?”
“Some of the hotheads think they can do something. They are not only getting together in Paris but throughout the country,”
“A ragged band,” said the Comte.
“A mob … nothing more While the army remained loyal they wouldn’t have a chance. He frowned and turned to me.
“All through the centime;
there has been unrest. We had a great king last century, Louis XIV, the Sun King, the supreme monarch, and none dared question his power.
Under him France led the world. Ii science, in art, in war, none could compare with us. The people did not raise their voices then. Then came his grand son Louis XV . a man of great charm but he did no understand the people. When he was young he was known as Louis the Well Beloved, for he was most handsome. Bu in time his extravagances, his recklessness, his indifference to the will of the people, made him one of the most hat et monarchs France has ever known. There was a time when he dared not ride through Paris and had a road built that he might avoid doing so. It was then that the Monarchy be came insecure. Now we have a good and noble King, bu alas, a weak one. Good men are not always good rulers You will know well. Cousin, that virtue and strength make odd bedfellows. “
“I would question that,” I said.
“Would you deny that th saints, who have died for their religion of ten painfully lack strength to set beside their undoubted virtue?”
There was a moment’s silence at the’ table. Margot was looking worried.
I realized then that it was not usual to interrupt the Comte in his discourse-particularly to contra diet him.
“Fanaticism,” he retorted.
“When they die they believe the are going to glory. What are a few hours of torment be sid an eternity of bliss or whatever they think they are going to? To rule effectively one must be strong and sometime it is necessary to practise expediency which could of fen some moral codes. The essential quality of leadership i strength.”
“I would say justice.”
“My dear Cousin, you have learned your history from books.”
“How, pray, do others learn?”
“Through experience.”
“No one can live long enough. Are we never to judge an act we have not experienced?”
“If we are wise we shall temper our judgement with caution. I was telling you of our King. He is noia. Kingly figure and unfortunately his wife has been of little help to him.”
“Have you heard what they are calling the Queen now?” asked Etienne.
“Madame Deficit.”
“They blame her for the deficit,” said Leon, ‘and perhaps rightly so.
It is said that her dressmakers’ bills are enormous. Her gowns, her hats, her extravagant head adornments, her entertainment at the Petit Trianon, her so-called country life at Le Hameau where she milks the cows in Sevres bowls . are being talked of everywhere. “
“Why should she not have what she wants?” demanded Margot.
“She did not ask to come to France. She was forced to marry Louis. She had never seen him before the marriage.”
“My dear Margot,” the Comte interrupted icily, ‘naturally a daughter of Maria Theresa should think herself honoured to marry a Dauphin of France. She was received here with the utmost respect. The late King was charmed with her. “
“Trust him to be charmed with a pretty young girl,” said Leon.
“We all know what a fancy he had for them … the younger the better. That’s well known through the scandal of the Pare aux Cerfs.”
Etienne said: “Not a suitable subject for the family supper table, Leon.”
The Comte put in: “Our cousin is a woman of the world. She understands such matters.” Again he turned to me.
“Our late King as he grew older had a not unusual partiality for young girls whom his pander was obliged to procure for him. He kept them in a mansion surrounded by a deer park-hence the Pare aux Cerfs.”
“I am not surprised that he ceased to be Louis the Well Beloved,” I said.
“He was a charming man.” The Comte smiled at me challengingly.
“Perhaps my notion of charm is not the same as yours.”
“Dear Cousin, these girls were taken from poverty. It must be so. He could not have taken the daughters of noblemen. They were not forced, nor coerced even. They came of their own free will. Sometimes their parents brought them. Little mi dinettes from the streets of Paris .. girls who had little hope of earning an honest living. Many might have been condemned to lead lewd and evil lives; some might have worked i they could have found work until they died of diseases of th lungs or lost their sight through too close needlework. Then only asset was their beauty … roses somehow growing o a dung heap. They were seen, picked and taught to amuse the King.”
“And when he tired of them?” I asked.
“He was a grateful man. He gave them a handsome dowr the pander found husbands for them and they lived happily ever after. Now, Cousin, my dear advocate of virtue, tell m this: Was it better for those girls to wilt and die on their dung heap or, in exchange for a brief lapse from virtw win for themselves a life of ease and comfort and per hap good works?”
“It depends on what store they set on virtue.”
“You evade the issue. Should they sell their bodies to sweat shop or a royal master?”
“I can only say that it is an evil system which enables yo to pose such a question.”
“It is a system which exists, not only in France.” He looked at me earnestly.
“It is this system against which the people are now murmuring.”
“It will come right,” said Etienne. Turgot and Necker have gone. We shall see what Monsieur Calonne can do for us “Do we bore Mademoiselle Maddox with our politics?” asked Leon.