CHAPTER XVII.
SPLENDIDE MENDAX.
Amid the ruins of the once magnificent palace of the Intendant,
massive fragments of which still remain to attest its former
greatness, there may still be traced the outline of the room where
Bigot walked restlessly up and down the morning after the Council of
War. The disturbing letters he had received from France on both
public and private affairs irritated him, while it set his fertile
brain at work to devise means at once to satisfy the Marquise de
Pompadour and to have his own way still.
The walls of his cabinet--now bare, shattered, and roofless with the
blasts of six score winters--were hung with portraits of ladies and
statesmen of the day; conspicuous among which was a fine picture
from the pencil of Vanloo of the handsome, voluptuous Marquise de
Pompadour.
With a world of faults, that celebrated dame, who ruled France in
the name of Louis XV., made some amends by her persistent good
nature and her love for art. The painter, the architect, the
sculptor, and above all, the men of literature in France, were
objects of her sincere admiration, and her patronage of them was
generous to profusion.
Pages:
314
315
316
317
318
319
320
321
322
323
324
325
326
327
328
329
330
331
332
333
334
335
336
337
338