Her eyes were gleaming with emotion. Her lips moved.
‘I will say it for you,’ said Louis. ‘This is the happiest night of our lives!’
Charles-Guillaume came to the Hôtel de Gesvres in high spirits. He had been long away, and was longing to be with his wife and two children – but most of all with Jeanne-Antoinette.
When he entered the house he was greeted by his uncle, who looked at him solemnly.
‘Is anything wrong?’ he asked.
‘Come along in,’ said Monsieur de Tourneheim. ‘There is something we have to say to you.’
‘Jeanne-Antoinette . . . she is well?’
His uncle nodded.
‘The children then?’
‘They are also well.’
He led him into a small parlour where the Poissons were waiting for him.
It was Madame Poisson who explained. ‘Jeanne-Antoinette has gone away,’ she said.
‘Gone away! But where?’
‘She is at Versailles.’
‘Versailles!’
‘With the King.’
‘But I don’t understand.’
‘She always explained, did she not?’ cried Madame Poisson fiercely. ‘It is no fault of hers. It is her destiny. She is to stay at Versailles with the King.’
‘But this is fantastic. It cannot be true.’
‘It is quite true,’ said François. ‘Our Jeanne-Antoinette has become the King’s whore.’
His wife turned on him. ‘Don’t say such things. She is to be acknowledged as his mistress.’
‘I’m a plain man with a plain way of saying what I mean,’ said François.
‘She must come back,’ cried Charles-Guillaume. ‘She must come back at once. What of me . . . what of the children? . . .’
‘This was bound to happen,’ said Madame Poisson. ‘She always told you.’
‘That! It was a joke.’
‘There is nothing you can do about it,’ said François. He jerked his finger at his wife and Lenormant. ‘They arranged it. They always meant to.’
Madame Poisson folded her arms across her breasts. What has to be will be,’ she said. ‘There’s no saying nay to it.’
‘My Jeanne-Antoinette . . .’ murmured the anguished husband.
Then he shut himself into the bedroom he had shared with her, and he would not come out when they sought to comfort him.
He wrote to her: ‘Jeanne-Antoinette, come back. This is your home. I am your husband. Your children are here . . . Come back to us.’
Distracted he waited for her reply. She was kind, he knew. She would not ignore that anguished appeal.
And she did reply.
For the rest of her life, she said, she would be with the King. Neither of them could have prevented this thing which had happened to them. It had been ordained. When she had been only nine years old she had known that it would come to pass. Never, never would she leave the King.
With the coming of the spring it was necessary for Louis to return to his armies, and while he was away he wished Jeanne-Antoinette to learn the intricacies of Court Etiquette, so that when he came back again she should join him at the Court, be presented, and henceforth be known throughout France as the woman with whom he had chosen to share his life.
Her mother and Monsieur de Tourneheim made the arrangements, while poor broken-hearted Charles-Guillaume was dispatched to the South of France on business, that he might not distress them with his misery.
It was inadvisable to remain in Paris because the people had become aware of the existence of Madame d’Etioles, and they were not very kind to the King’s mistresses when he was not at hand to protect them. Therefore to the Château d’Etioles went Jeanne-Antoinette.
But how different was life there now from what it had been in those days when she had sought to attract the King’s attention by her sorties into the forest.
Now courtiers flocked to the château to cement their friendship with a lady who was clearly going to be a power in the land.
On the King’s orders the Abbé de Bernis arrived. He was to teach her the family histories of the most noble families at Court. The Marquis de Gontaut must teach her the manners of the Court. It was very important to bow to some people and only nod at others, for a bow given to one who was only worthy of a nod could create a scandal at Versailles. Certain terms of speech were used at Versailles which would not be understood or indeed might have a different meaning outside. It was very necessary for a King’s mistress to be aware of matters embodied in that all-important Etiquette, which, it was said, ruled the Court even more sternly than did the King.
She worked hard and with passionate desire to succeed. She swept about the lawns at the Château d’Etioles as though they were the gardens of Versailles. She grew in dignity and beauty.
Madame Poisson almost wept with joy every time she looked at her. There were few, she said, who were so blessed as to see that, which they had hoped and longed and worked for, come true.
The King wrote regularly to her that she might never doubt his devotion.
He was longing, as she was, for the time when they could be together at Versailles – openly together.
And one day a further example of his esteem arrived at the Château d’Etioles in the form of documents which assured her that she was no longer Madame d’Etioles; she was the Marquise de Pompadour.
Chapter X
MARQUISE DE POMPADOUR
The war of the Austrian Succession had taken a new turn for Charles of Bavaria, the candidate whom the French had supported, had died, leaving as Elector, a son who was too young to govern Bavaria, let alone wear the Imperial crown.
Here was a chance for peace, but Frederick of Prussia had no wish for peace and wanted his allies to keep Austria engaged on one side while he attacked on the other. Maria Theresa was however ready to make peace on condition that her husband François, Grand Duke of Tuscany, be proclaimed Emperor of Austria; and France, suffering under heavy taxation, could have seized this opportunity; but the Minister for Foreign Affairs, the Marquis d’Argenson, was not farsighted enough to understand what loss and misery he could have saved his country, and, trusting Frederick of Prussia, he decided that the war must go on.
Meanwhile the new Elector of Bavaria made peace with Maria Theresa on terms very favourable to her. The Elector was to renounce all claims to the throne, to support Maria Theresa’s husband, the Grand Duke, as claimant to the Imperial throne and to sever his alliances with Prussia and France.
This decided d’Argenson to increase his activity against the Austrians, and as all through the winter, preparations had been going on to make war on the Flanders front, it was decided with the coming of spring to launch an attack.
The great Comte de Saxe had been in charge of operations for the French, and he was reckoned to be one of the greatest soldiers in Europe.
An extraordinary man of amazing energy, noted for his outstanding bravery, he claimed to be a bastard of Augustus II of Poland and Saxony – Augustus was reputed to have had three or four hundred illegitimate children – and his mother was the Swedish Countess of Konigsmarck.
It was said that Maurice de Saxe was hoping to oust Frederick of Prussia, and it was for this reason that he showed such stalwart courage in the service of France.
Louis travelled to Flanders in the company of the Dauphin who was to have his first taste of war. Arriving at Tournai, Louis found that a formidable force of Hanoverians, Dutch and English were drawn up against him and that one of the sons of George II of England, the Duke of Cumberland, was in charge of operations. Comte Maurice de Saxe was suffering from dropsy so acutely that to ride horseback was agony for him; he refused however to give up command and had a wicker chair on wheels made so that he could sit in comparative comfort and direct his men.