Memoirs of Louis XIV, vol 15 | Page 5

him, and give a more pleasant tone
to the conversation. But the mental tide had begun to rise, and now it
was entirely carrying away the brains of Villeroy. From bad to worse
was easy. The Marechal began now to utter unmistakable insults and
the most bitter reproaches. In vain Bissy tried to silence him;
representing to him how far he was wandering from the subject they
came to talk upon; how indecent it was to insult a man in his own
house, especially, after arriving on purpose to conclude a reconciliation
with him. All Bissy could say simply had the effect of exasperating the
Marechal, and of making him vomit forth the most extravagant insults
that insolence and disdain could suggest.
Dubois, stupefied and beside himself, was deprived of his tongue,
could not utter a word; while Bissy, justly inflamed with anger,
uselessly tried to interrupt his friend. In the midst of the sudden fire
which had seized the Marechal, he had placed himself in such a manner
that he barred the passage to the door, and he continued his invectives
without restraint. Tired of insults, he passed to menaces and derision,
saying to Dubois that since he had now thrown off all disguise, they no
longer were on terms to pardon each other, and then he assured Dubois
that, sooner or later, he would do him all the injury possible, and gave
him what he called good counsel.
"You are all powerful," said he; "everybody bends before you; nobody
resists you; what are the greatest people in the land compared with you?

Believe me, you have only one thing to do; employ all your power, put
yourself at ease, and arrest me, if you dare. Who can hinder you? Arrest
me, I say, you have only that course open."
Thereupon, he redoubled his challenges and his insults, like a man who
is thoroughly persuaded that between arresting him and scaling Heaven
there is no difference. As may well be imagined, such astounding
remarks were not uttered without interruption, and warm altercations
from the Cardinal de Bissy, who, nevertheless, could not stop the
torrent. At last, carried away by anger and vexation, Bissy seized the
Marechal by the arm and the shoulder, and hurried him to the door,
which he opened, and then pushed him out, and followed at his heels.
Dubois, more dead than alive, followed also, as well as he could--he
was obliged to be on his guard against the foreign ministers who were
waiting. But the three disputants vainly tried to appear composed; there
was not one of the ministers who did not perceive that some violent
scene must have passed in the cabinet, and forthwith Versailles was
filled with this news; which was soon explained by the bragging, the
explanations, the challenges, and the derisive speeches of the Marechal
de Villeroy.
I had worked and chatted for a long time with M. le Duc d'Orleans. He
had passed into his wardrobe, and I was standing behind his bureau
arranging his papers when I saw Cardinal Dubois enter like a whirlwind,
his eyes starting out of his head. Seeing me alone, he screamed rather
than asked, "Where is M. le Duc d'Orleans?" I replied that he had gone
into his wardrobe, and seeing him so overturned, I asked him what was
the matter.
"I am lost, I am lost!" he replied, running to the wardrobe. His reply
was so loud and so sharp that M. le Duc d'Orleans, who heard it, also
ran forward, so that they met each other in the doorway. They returned
towards me, and the Regent asked what was the matter.
Dubois, who always stammered, could scarcely speak, so great was his
rage and fear; but he succeeded at last in acquainting us with the details
I have just given, although at greater length. He concluded by saying
that after the insults he had received so treacherously, and in a manner

so basely premeditated, the Regent must choose between him and the
Marechal de Villeroy, for that after what had passed he could not
transact any business or remain at the Court in safety and honour, while
the Marechal de Villeroy remained there!
I cannot express the astonishment into which M. le Duc d'Orleans and I
were thrown. We could not believe what we had heard, but fancied we
were dreaming. M. le Duc d'Orleans put several questions to Dubois, I
took the liberty to do the same, in order to sift the affair to the bottom.
But there was no variation in the replies of the Cardinal, furious as he
was. Every moment he presented the same option to the Regent; every
moment he proposed that the Cardinal de Bissy should be sent for as
having witnessed everything. It may be imagined that