The special councils were dissolved, the council of regency diminished; Dubois became premier minister in name—­he had long been so in fact.

He had just concluded an important matter, one which the Regent had much at heart—­the marriage of the king with the Infanta of Spain, and that of Mdlle. de Montpensier, daughter of the Duke of Orleans, with the Prince of the Asturias.  The Duke of St. Simon was intrusted with the official demand.  Philip V. was rejoiced to see his daughter’s elevation to that throne which he still regarded as the first in the world; he purchased it by the concession made to the Regent.

The age of the Infanta was a serious obstacle; she was but three years old, the king was twelve.  When the Duke of Orleans went in state to announce to Louis XV. the negotiation which tarried for nothing further but his consent, the young prince, taken by surprise, was tongue-tied, seemed to have his heart quite full, and his eyes grew moist.  His preceptor, Fleury, Bishop of Frejus, who had just refused the Archbishopric of Rheims, seeing that he must make up his mind to please the Regent or estrange him, supported what had just been said.  “Marshal Villeroy, decided by the bishop’s example, said to the king, ’Come, my dear master; the thing must be done with a good grace.’  The Regent, very much embarrassed, the duke, mighty taciturn, and Dubois, with an air of composure, waited for the king to break a silence which lasted a quarter of an hour, whilst the bishop never ceased whispering to the king.  As the silence continued, and the assembly of all the council, at which the king was about to appear, could not but augment his timidity, the bishop turned to the Regent, and said to him, ’His Majesty will go to the council, but he wants a little time to prepare himself for it.’  Thereupon the Regent replied, that he was created to await the convenience of the king, saluted him with an air of respect and affection, went out and made signs to the rest to follow him.  A quarter of an hour later the king entered the council, with his eyes still red, and replied, with a very short and rather low yes, to the Regent’s question, whether he thought proper that the news of his marriage should be imparted to the council.”  “It was the assurance of peace with Spain, and the confirmation of the recent treaties; the Regent’s enemies saw in it the climax of the policy, by the choice of an infant, which retarded the king’s marriage.” [Memoires secrets de Dubois, t. ii. p. 163.]

Accusations of greater gravity had been recently renewed against the Duke of Orleans.  The king had been ill; for just a moment the danger had appeared serious; the emotion in France was general, the cabal opposed to the Regent went beyond mere anxiety.  “The consternation everywhere was great,” says St. Simon; “I had the privileges of entry, and so I went into the king’s chamber.  I found it very empty; the Duke of Orleans seated at the chimney-corner,