Volume II Part 25 (1/2)
His irl on his knees, bestowed a few caresses on her, and having ascertained with his royal hand that the fruit had not yet been plucked, he gave her a kiss
O-Morphi was looking attentively at herat?” said the king
”I laugh because you and a crown of six francs are as like as two peas”
That naivete h heartily, and he asked her whether she would like to remain in Versailles
”That depends upon my sister,” answered the child
But the sister hastened to tell the king that she could not aspire to a greater honour The king locked theain in the pavilion and went away, but in less than a quarter of an hour St Quentin cairl in an apartment under the care of a female attendant, and with the sister he went to ave fifty Louis for the portrait, and nothing to Morphi He only took her address, pro her that she would soon hear from him; the next day she received one thousand Louis The worthy Gerave me twenty-five louis for my portrait, with a proiven to Patu, and he offered to paint for ht wish to keep a portrait
I enjoyed heartily the pleasure of the good Fleeting, when she found herself in possession of the thousand gold pieces which she had received Seeing herself rich, and considering me as the author of her fortune, she did not kno to shewand lovely O-Morphi--for the king always called her by that nan by her simplicity and her pretty ways more even than by her rare beauty--the ular, I recollect to have ever seen He placed her in one of the apartments of his Parc-dux-cerfs--the voluptuous et admittance except the ladies presented at the court At the end of one year she gave birth to a son ent, like soas Queen Mary lived no one ever knehat became of the natural children of Louis XV
O-Morphi fell into disgrace at the end of three years, but the king, as he sent her away, ordered her to receive a suht as a dowry to an officer fro to be in Fontainebleau, Ie and the living portrait of his htest knowledge, and I thought it hten hied him to present my compliments to his mother
A wicked trick of Madame de Valentinois, sister-in-law of the Prince of Monaco, was the cause of O-Morphi's disgrace That lady, ell known in Paris, told her one day that, if she wished tovery merry, she had only to ask hiuess the snare thus laid out for her, O-Morphi actually asked that iave her a look of fury, and exclaiht you to address me that question?”
The poor O-Morphi, alht, threw herself on her knees, and confessed the truth
The king left her and never would see her again The Countess de Valentinois was exiled for two years fro towards his wife as a husband, would not deserve any reproach at her hands as a king, and woe to anyone who forgot the respect due to the queen!
The French are undoubtedly the most witty people in Europe, and perhaps in the whole world, but Paris is, all the same, the city for impostors and quacks to make a fortune When their knavery is found out people turn it into a joke and laugh, but in the midst of the merriment anothermore wonderful than those who preceded hi of the people is in abeyance It is the unquestionable effects of the pohich fashi+on has over that a is astonishi+ng, no ant it reedily, for anyone would be afraid of being taken for a fool if he should exclaim, ”It is impossible!” Physicians are, perhaps, the only ulf yawns between the will and the deed, whilst in Italy it is an axiom known to everybody; but I do not mean to say that the Italians are superior to the French
A certain painterwhich was an i that he could take a portrait of a person without seeing the individual, and only froiven But he wanted the description to be thoroughly accurate The result of it was that the portrait did greater honour to the person who gave the description than--to the painter himself, but at the saation of finding the likeness very good; otherwise the artist alleged the itimate excuse, and said that if the likeness was not perfect the fault was to be ascribed to the person who had given an i supper at Silvia's when one of the guests spoke of that wonderful new artist, without laughing, and with every appearance of believing the whole affair
”That painter,” added he, ”has already painted more than one hundred portraits, and they are all perfect likenesses”
Everybody was of the sa heartily, took the liberty of saying it was absurd and iht the wonderful news, feeling angry, proposed a wager of one hundred louis I laughed all the more because his offer could not be accepted unless I exposedmade a dupe
”But the portraits are all admirable likenesses”
”I do not believe it, or if they are then therebent upon convincing Silvia and me--for she had taken my part proposed to make us dine with the artist; and we accepted
The next day we called upon the painter, wherea quantity of portraits, all of which the artist clai likenesses; as we did not know the persons whom they represented we could not deny his claim
”Sir,” said Silvia to the artist, ”could you paint the likeness ofher?”
”Yes,me an exact description of the expression of her features”