The King heard of him, and would
have played with him, but the sudden death of Madame de Beaufort,
which occurred soon afterwards, threw the Court into mourning;
and for a while, in pursuing the negotiations for the King's
divorce, and in conducting a correspondence of the most delicate
character with the Queen, I lost sight of my player--insomuch,
that I scarcely knew whether he still formed part of my suite or
not.
My attention was presently recalled to him, however, in a rather
remarkable manner. One morning Don Antonio d'Evora, Secretary to
the Spanish Embassy, and a brother of that d'Evora who commanded
the Spanish Foot at Paris in '94, called on me at the Arsenal, to
which I had just removed, and desired to see me. I bade them
admit him; but as my secretaries were at the time at work with
me, I left them and received him in the garden--supposing that
he wished to speak to me, about the affair of Saluces, and
preferring, like the King my master, to talk of matters of State
in the open air.
However, I was mistaken.
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