The Presentation

by H. De Vere Stacpoole

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CONTENTS

BOOK I
CHAPTER		PAGE
I.	The Duc de Choiseul’s Ball	[9]
II.	The House of the Dubarrys	[21]
III.	A Council of War	[37]
IV.	The Methods of Monsieur De Sartines	[54]
V.	Ferminard	[60]
VI.	The Comtesse De Béarn	[75]
VII.	The Artist	[82]
VIII.	The Presentation	[84]
IX.	The Reward	[97]
X.	The Order of Arrest	[100]
XI.	Flight	[106]
XII.	A Duel of Wits	[110]
BOOK II
I.	A Lodging for the Night	[115]
II.	The Gratitude of the Dubarrys	[129]
III.	The Pair of Spectacles	[137]
IV.	The Arrest of Rochefort	[143]
V.	Captain Roux	[154]
BOOK III
I.	The Poisoning of Atalanta	[171]
II.	Monsieur Brommard	[178]
III.	Choiseul’s Letter	[191]
IV.	The Declaration of Camus	[195]
V.	The House of Count Camus	[201]
VI.	The Laboratory	[210]
VII.	The Fawn and the Serpent	[218]
VIII.	The Catacombs of Paris	[222]
BOOK IV
I.	News from Vincennes	[227]
II.	The Two Prisoners	[233]
III.	The Two Prisoners (continued)	[242]
IV.	The Two Prisoners (continued)	[249]
V.	M. De Rochefort Reviews Himself	[254]
VI.	The Escape	[259]
VII.	Rochefort’s Plan	[265]
VIII.	The Honour of Lavenne	[275]
IX.	The Gathering Storm	[287]
X.	The Duc De Choiseul’s Reception	[291]
XI.	Rochefort and Choiseul	[301]
XII.	Envoi	[312]

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BOOK I

THE PRESENTATION
CHAPTER I
THE DUC DE CHOISEUL’S BALL

IT was the night of the Duc de Choiseul’s ball, that is to say, the night before the expected presentation of the Comtesse Dubarry at Court, and Versailles was in a ferment, the seething of which reached to the meanest streets of Paris.

France had long been accustomed to the rule, not of kings, but of favourites and ministers, and at the present moment in the year of our Lord, 1770, she was under the rule of the most kind-hearted of women since the harmless La Vallière and the most upright minister since Colbert.