CONTENTS
| PART I | ||
| THE GIRL | ||
| CHAPTER | PAGE | |
| I. | —A Farewell Banquet | [3] |
| II. | —The Rulers of France | [10] |
| III. | —Pompadour's Choice | [23] |
| IV. | —A Woman's Surrender | [32] |
| V. | —The First Trick | [45] |
| VI. | —A False Position | [51] |
| VII. | —The Young Pretender | [58] |
| VIII. | —The Last Trick | [72] |
| IX. | —The Winning Hand | [82] |
| PART II | ||
| THE STATESMAN | ||
| X. | —The Beggar on Horseback | [95] |
| XI. | —La Belle Irène | [103] |
| XII. | —The Promises of France | [112] |
| XIII. | —The Weight of Etiquette | [127] |
| XIV. | —Royal Favours | [136] |
| XV. | —Diplomacy | [148] |
| XVI. | —Strangers | [160] |
| PART III | ||
| THE WOMAN | ||
| XVII. | —Splendid Isolation | [179] |
| XVIII. | —Clever Tactics | [185] |
| XIX. | —A Crisis | [201] |
| XX. | —A Farewell | [212] |
| XXI. | —Royal Thanks | [215] |
| XXII. | —Paternal Anxiety | [221] |
| XXIII. | —The Queen's Soirée | [228] |
| XXIV. | —Gossip | [233] |
| XXV. | —The First Doubt | [238] |
| XXVI. | —The Awful Certitude | [245] |
| XXVII. | —A Fall | [267] |
| XXVIII. | —Husband and Wife | [276] |
| XXIX. | —The Fate of the Stuart Prince | [294] |
| XXX. | —M. de Stainville's Seconds | [308] |
| XXXI. | —The Final Disappointment | [321] |
| XXXII. | —The Dawn | [328] |
| XXXIII. | —The Ride | [333] |
| XXXIV. | —"Le Monarque" | [338] |
| XXXV. | —The Stranger | [349] |
| XXXVI. | —Revenge | [359] |
| XXXVII. | —The Letter | [370] |
| XXXVIII. | —The Home in England | [375] |
PART I
THE GIRL
PETTICOAT RULE
CHAPTER I
A FAREWELL BANQUET
"D'Aumont!"
"Eh? d'Aumont!"
The voice, that of a man still in the prime of life, but already raucous in its tone, thickened through constant mirthless laughter, rendered querulous too from long vigils kept at the shrine of pleasure, rose above the incessant babel of women's chatter, the din of silver, china and glasses passing to and fro.