All that I conceive from what I heard
of it, is, that in the revolution caused at Turin by the abdication of
the King of Sardinia, she feared being forgotten, and was willing by
favor of the intrigues of M. d'Aubonne to seek the same advantage in
the court of France, where she has often told me she should have
preferred it, as the multiplicity of business there prevents your
conduct from being so closely inspected. If this was her business,
it is astonishing that on her return she was not ill received; be that
as it will, she continued to enjoy her allowance without any
interruption. Many people imagined she was charged with some secret
commission, either by the bishop, who then had business at the court
of France, where he himself was soon after obliged to go, or some
one yet more powerful, who knew how to insure her a gracious reception
at her return. If this was the case, it is certain the ambassadress
was not ill chosen, since being young and handsome, she had all the
necessary qualifications to succeed in a negotiation.
BOOK IV
[1731-1732]
LET any one judge my surprise and grief at not finding her on my
arrival. I now felt regret at having abandoned M. le Maitre, and my
uneasiness increased when I learned the misfortunes that had
befallen him. His box of music, containing all his fortune, that
precious box, preserved with so much care and fatigue, had been seized
on at Lyons by means of Count Dortan, who had received information
from the Chapter of our having absconded with it.
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