He often saw the princess alone, and in Martha's presence. Mlle. de Soissons desired that he should at once ask her hand of Madame Rohan-Soubise, purely as a matter of form. The young girl held in reserve her rights and her invincible will, awaiting the decision of her aunt.
As a man of honor and good sense, Létorière gave Mlle. de Soissons to understand, that according to the loss or gain of the important lawsuit which was still pending against the dukes of Brunswick-Oëls and the prince of Brandebourg-Bareuth, he should or should not be recognized as of princely blood; and if successful, that he would have a fortune equal to the support of that rank. In his judgment, it would be better to wait the issue of this lawsuit, before applying to Madame Rohan-Soubise.
If it were gained, his position would be so eminent that no reasonable objection could be made to his marriage with the princess Julie; if it were lost, it would then be time to dispense with the consent of Mlle. de Soissons' family; but there was no need of uselessly and prematurely provoking publicity, which is always mortifying. Such was the opinion of M. de Létorière. The princess Julie took the opposite view; her resolute character could not accommodate itself to such temporizing. The Marquis proposed to leave it to the judgment of the king, who continued to bestow upon him proofs of the most touching goodness.
Mlle. de Soissons accepted this arbitration. Louis XV. approved of Létorière's delicacy, and promised to write to the French ambassador at Vienna, to push forward his just claims.
A month before, the good Dominique had gone to Vienna, in order to get precise information in regard to the dispositions of the members of the Aulic Council, called to decide, finally, this important lawsuit which had already lasted nearly a century.
One can imagine with how much impatience Létorière awaited the return of the old professor. On the issue of his cause, his marriage with Mlle. de Soissons might almost be said to rest.
[CHAPTER VII]
THE LAWSUIT
At the time of which we write, M. de Létorière occupied a charming detached house, whose garden opened on the ramparts, not far from the Pavilion of Hanover, one of the dependencies of the dwelling of the Marshal Richelieu.
The habitation of the Marquis resembled much more a palacette, as it was then called, than a chateau. Everything therein was elegant, sumptuous, mysterious and retired. In the summer, great trees enclosed the garden with a girdle of verdure impenetrable to the eye; in the winter, an immense curtain of ivy, very artistically disposed on trellises built in the form of trees, rose above the walls, and replaced the foliage of the warmer season.