"H. B. M., thanks to his close and varied conversation, did not give me an opening to tell him something with which the King had specially charged me; but the favourable and early occasion of a new audience is about to present itself."
This "something" with which the King had specially charged me related to M. le Duc Decazes. Later, I executed my orders: I told George IV. that Louis XVIII. was distressed at the coldness with which the Ambassador of His Most Christian Majesty had been received. George IV. replied:
"Listen, Monsieur de Chateaubriand, I will confess to you: M. Decazes' mission was not to my liking; it was acting a little cavalierly towards me. My friendship for the King of France alone made me put up with a favourite who had no other merit than his master's attachment. Louis XVIII. reckoned greatly on my good-will, and he was right; but I could not carry indulgence so far as to treat M. Decazes with a distinction at which England would have taken offense. However, tell your King that I am touched by what he ordered you to represent to me, and that I shall always be happy to prove my real attachment for him."
Emboldened by these words, I laid before George IV. all that came to my mind in favour of M. Decazes. He answered, half in English, half in French:
"À merveille! You are a true gentleman!"
When I returned to Paris, I gave Louis XVIII. an account of this conversation: he seemed grateful to me. George IV. had spoken to me like a well-bred but easy-going prince; he was free from bitterness because he thought of other things. Nevertheless it did not do to trifle with him beyond moderation. One of his table-fellows[161] had wagered that he would ask George IV. to ring the bell, and that George IV. would obey. George IV. did in fact ring the bell and said to the gentleman-in-waiting:
"Show this gentleman the door."
The idea of restoring strength and brilliancy to our arms continued to dominate me. I wrote to M. de Montmorency, on the 13th of April:
"I have had an idea, monsieur le vicomte, which I submit to your judgment. Would you think it amiss that, in the form of a conversation with Prince Esterhazy[162], I should give him to understand that, if Austria required to withdraw a part of her troops, we could replace them in Piedmont? A few rumours spread as to an intended muster of our troops in Dauphiné would give me a favourable pretext. I proposed to the former ministry to garrison Savoy at the time of the revolt in June 1821[163]. He rejected that measure and I think that, in so doing, he made a capital mistake. I persist in thinking that the presence of some French troops in Italy would produce a great effect on public opinion and that the King's Government would derive much glory from it."