Made him little able to endure his presence, and he sometimes
could not refrain himself from saying such things as, had not the other
been too much buoyed up with his vanity to take them as meant to
himself, must have occasioned a quarrel.
She made use of all the power she had over him in order to curb the
impetuosity of his temper whenever he met this disturber of his wishes;
but his jealousy would frequently get the better of the respect he paid
her, and they never were together in her apartment without filling her
with mortal fears. She therefore found it absolutely necessary to get
rid of an adorer she hated, in order to hinder one she loved from doing
any thing which might deprive her of him; and tho' she had a real
friendship for mademoiselle de Coigney, yet she chose rather to break
with her, than run the hazard she was continually exposed to by her
brother's indefatigable pursuit.
But all her precaution was of no effect, as well as, the enforced
patience of Horatio: what most she trembled at now fell upon her, and by
a means she had least thought of. Madame de Olonne, full of malice at
being forsaken by her lover, and soon informed by whose charms her
misfortune was occasioned, got a person to represent to the baron de
Palfoy the conquest his daughter had made in such terms, as made him
imagine she encouraged his passion. Neither the character, family, or
fortune of de Coigney being equal to what he thought Charlotta might
deserve, made him very uneasy at this report; and as he looked on her
not having acquainted him with his pretensions as an indication of her
having an affection for him; he resolved to put a stop to the progress
of it at once, which could be done no way so effectually as by removing
her from St. Germains.
To this end the careful Father came himself to that court, and waited on
the princess: he told her highness, that being in an ill state of health
and obliged to keep much at home, Charlotta must exchange the honour she
enjoyed in her service, for the observance of her duty to a parent, who
was now incapable of any other pleasures than her society.
The princess, to whom she was extremely dear, could not think of parting
with her without an extreme concern, but after the reasons he had given
for desiring it, would offer nothing for detaining her, on which she was
immediately called in, and made acquainted with this sudden alteration
in her affairs.
CHAP. VIII.
The parting of Horatio and mademoiselle Charlotta, and what happened
after she left St. Germains.
A peal of thunder bursting over her head, could not have been more
alarming to mademoiselle Charlotta than the news she now heard; but her
father commanded, the princess had consented, and there was no remedy to
be hoped: she took leave of her royal mistress with a shower of
unfeigned tears, after which she retired to her apartment to prepare for
quitting it, while the baron went to pay his compliments to some of the
gentlemen at that court.
To be removed in this sudden manner she could impute to no other motive
than that the love of Horatio had by some accident been betrayed to her
father, (for she never so much as thought of monsieur de Coigney;) and
the thoughts of being separated from him was so dreadful, that till this
fatal moment she knew not how dear he was to her: - to add to the
calamity of her condition, he was that morning gone a hunting with the
Chevalier St. George, and she had not even the opportunity of giving him
the consolation of knowing she bore at least an equal part in the grief
this unexpected accident must occasion. Mademoiselle de Coigney came to
take leave of her, as did all the ladies of the queen's train as well as
the princess's, and expressed the utmost concern for losing so agreeable
a companion; but these ceremonies were tedious to her, and as she could
not see Horatio, she dispatched every thing with as much expedition as
her secret discontent would permit her to do, and then sent to let her
father know she was ready to attend him.
When they were in the coach both observed a profound silence for some
time; at last, I hope Charlotta, said the baron, you have no
extraordinary reasons to be troubled at leaving St. Germains? none, my
lord, answered she, of so much moment to me as the fears my sudden
removal is owing to your being dissatisfied with my conduct. I flatter
myself, resumed he, you are conscious of nothing which should authorize
such an apprehension: - you have had an education which ought to inform
you that persons of your sex and age are never to act in any material
point of themselves: - but courts are places where this lesson is seldom
practised; and tho' the virtues of the English queen and princess are a
shining example to all about them, yet I am of opinion that innocence is
safest in retirement.
As she was fully convinced in her mind that it was only owing to some
jealousy of her behaviour that she had been taken from St. Germains, and
also that it was on the score of Horatio, she would not enquire too
deeply for fear of giving her father an opportunity of entering into
examinations, which she thought she could not answer without either
injuring the truth, or avowing what would not only have incensed him to
a very great degree, but also put him upon measures which would destroy
even the most distant hope of ever seeing Horatio more.
