Memoirs of Louis XIV, vol 15 | Page 7

that the chastisement would overbalance the offence, and
would be complained of; that violent resolutions, although necessary,
should always have reason and appearances in their favour; that
therefore I was against allowing punishment to follow too quickly upon
the real offence, inasmuch as M. le Duc d'Orleans had one of the best
pretexts in the world for disgracing the Marechal, a pretext known by
everybody, and which would be admitted by everybody.
I begged the Regent then to remember that he had told me several times
he never had been able to speak to the King in private, or even in a
whisper before others; that when he had tried, the Marechal de Villeroy
had at once come forward poking his nose between them, and declaring
that while he was governor he would never suffer any one, not even his
Royal Highness, to address his Majesty in a low tone, much lest to
speak to him in private. I said that this conduct towards the Regent, a
grandson of France, and the nearest relative the King had, was
insolence enough to disgust every one, and apparent as such at half a
glance. I counselled M. le Duc d'Orleans to make use of this
circumstance, and by its means to lay a trap for the Marechal into
which there was not the slightest doubt he would fall. The trap was to
be thus arranged. M. le Duc d'Orleans was to insist upon his right to
speak to the King in private, and upon the refusal of the Marechal to
recognise it, was to adopt a new tone and make Villeroy feel he was the
master. I added, in conclusion, that this snare must not be laid until
everything was ready to secure its success.
When I had ceased speaking, "You have robbed me," said the Regent;
"I was going to propose the same thing if you had not. What do you

think of it, Monsieur?" regarding M. le Duc. That Prince strongly
approved the proposition I had just made, briefly praised every part of
it, and added that he saw nothing better to be done than to execute this
plan very punctually.
It was agreed afterwards that no other plan could be adopted than that
of arresting the Marechal and sending him right off at once to Villeroy,
and then, after having allowed him to repose there a day or two, on
account of his age, but well watched, to see if he should be sent on to
Lyons or elsewhere. The manner in which he was to be arrested was to
be decided at Cardinal Dubois' apartments, where the Regent begged
me to go at once. I rose accordingly, and went there.
I found Dubois with one or two friends, all of whom were in the secret
of this affair, as he, at once told me, to put me at my ease. We soon
therefore entered upon business, but it would be superfluous to relate
here all that passed in this little assembly. What we resolved on was
very well executed, as will be seen. I arranged with Le Blanc, who was
one of the conclave, that the instant the arrest had taken place, he
should send to Meudon, and simply inquire after me; nothing more, and
that by this apparently meaningless compliment, I should know that the
Marechal had been packed off.
I returned towards evening to Meudon, where several friends of
Madame de Saint-Simon and of myself often slept, and where others,
following the fashion established at Versailles and Paris, came to dine
or sup, so that the company was always very numerous. The scene
between Dubois and Villeroy was much talked about, and the latter
universally blamed. Neither then nor during the ten days which elapsed
before his arrest, did it enter into the head of anybody to suppose that
anything worse would happen to him than general blame for his
unmeasured violence, so accustomed were people to his freaks, and to
the feebleness of M. le Duc d'Orleans. I was now delighted, however,
to find such general confidence, which augmented that of the Marechal,
and rendered more easy the execution of our project against him;
punishment he more and more deserved by the indecency and
affectation of his discourses, and the audacity of his continual

challenges.
Three or four days after, I went to Versailles, to see M. le Duc
d'Orleans. He said that, for want of a better, and in consequence of
what I had said to him on more than one occasion of the Duc de
Charost, it was to him he intended to give the office of governor of the
King: that he had secretly seen him that Charost had accepted with
willingness the post, and was now safely shut up in his apartment at