It was determined I should take post. I
had no carriage. The marechal made me a present of a cabriolet, and
lent me horses and a postillion the first stage, where, in consequence
of the measures he had taken, I had no difficulty in procuring others.
As I had not dined at table, nor made my appearance in the castle,
the ladies came to bid me adieu in the entresol where I had passed the
day. Madam de Luxembourg embraced me several times with a melancholy
air; but I did not in these embraces feel the pressing I had done in
those she had lavished upon me two or three years before. Madam de
Boufflers also embraced me, and said to me many civil things. An
embrace which surprised me more than all the rest had done was one
from Madam de Mirepoix, for she also was at the castle. Madam la
Marechale de Mirepoix is a person extremely cold, decent, and
reserved, and did not, at least as she appeared to me, seem quite
exempt from the natural haughtiness of the house of Lorraine. She
had never shown me much attention. Whether, flattered by an honor I
had not expected, I endeavored to enhance the value of it; or that
there really was in the embrace a little of that commiseration natural
to generous hearts, I found in her manner and look something
energetical which penetrated me. I have since that time frequently
thought that, acquainted with my destiny, she could not refrain from a
momentary concern for my fate.
The marechal did not open his mouth; he was as pale as death.
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