She also writes to Marie Antoinette on the 29th June 1777, as follows:—
“J’en attends les plus heureuses suites, et même pour votre état de mariage, sur lequel on me laisse espérance: mais on remet le tout au retour,[[50]] où on pourra me parler.”
[50]. “The return,” of the Emperor, that is.
It is evident that nothing was done during the Emperor’s actual stay, or in his presence. On the 29th of August, Maria Theresa, having seen her son, is still by no means certain.[[51]] One must allow a fortnight (more or less) for news to reach her from Versailles. We may be confident, therefore, that whatever was written to her about the middle of the month of August was not yet wholly reassuring, though this may not prove that no operation had taken place; it may only go to show that success was not yet certain.
[51]. Marie Theresa to Mercy, 29th August 1777.—“Je le souhaite à l’égard du roi, mais je n’en suis pas rassurée.”
It is on the 10th of September, in a letter from Marie Antoinette to Maria Theresa, that the first note of confidence on the part of the Queen appears. It was premature, but matters were now certain.[[52]]
[52]. “Ce nouveau-né”—she writes of her sister-in-law’s child—“me fait encore plus de plaisir par l’espérance que j’ai d’avoir bientôt le même bonheur.”
We may, therefore, take it for certain that things were settled not earlier than the middle of August, nor later than the end of the first week of September; and it may be predicted that when Lassone’s paper sees the light it will bear a date within those three weeks.
Mercy sees by January[[53]] that everything is long settled. The Queen knew herself to be with child in the first week in April, and news was sent to her mother on the date which I have given in the text.
[53]. “Je dois aussi ajouter la remarque très essentielle que la reine continue à se conduire très-bien avec le roi, qui de son côté persiste à vivre maritalement dans le sens le plus exact et le plus réel.”