I had not long left his presence when I learned a report that made my face burn again.  It was affirmed that when the King remarked upon my arriving a little early, I had replied that I preferred arriving at once to see him, as my sole mistress, than to remain some days in Paris, as did the other young men with their mistresses.  I went at once to the King, who had a numerous company around him; and I openly denied what had been reported, offering a reward for the discovery of the knave who had thus calumniated me, in order that I might give him a sound thrashing.  All day I sought to discover the scoundrel.  My speech to the King and my choler were the topic of the day, and I was blamed for having spoken so loudly and in such terms.  But of two evils I had chosen the least,—­a reprimand from the King, or a few days in the Bastille; and I had avoided the greatest, which was to allow myself to be believed an infamous libeller of our young men, in order to basely and miserably curry favour at the Court.  The course I took succeeded.  The King said nothing of the matter, and I went upon a little journey I wished particularly to take, for reasons I will now relate.

I had, as I have already mentioned, conceived a strong attachment and admiration for M. de La Trappe.  I wished to secure a portrait of him, but such was his modesty and humility that I feared to ask him to allow himself to be painted.  I went therefore to Rigault, then the first portrait-painter in Europe.  In consideration of a sum of a thousand crowns, and all his expenses paid, he agreed to accompany me to La Trappe, and to make a portrait of him from memory.  The whole affair was to be kept a profound secret, and only one copy of the picture was to be made, and that for the artist himself.

My plan being fully arranged, I and Rigault set out.  As soon as we arrived at our journey’s end, I sought M. de La Trappe, and begged to be allowed to introduce to him a friend of mine, an officer, who much wished to see him:  I added, that my friend was a stammerer, and that therefore he would be importuned merely with looks and not words.  M. de La Trappe smiled with goodness, thought the officer curious about little, and consented to see him.  The interview took place.  Rigault excusing himself on the ground of his infirmity, did little during three-quarters of an hour but keep his eyes upon M. de La Trappe, and at the end went into a room where materials were already provided for him, and covered his canvas with the images and the ideas he had filled himself with.  On the morrow the same thing was repeated, although M. de La Trappe, thinking that a man whom he knew not, and who could take no part in conversation, had sufficiently seen him, agreed to the interview only out of complaisance to me.  Another sitting was needed in order to finish the work; but it was with great difficulty M. de La Trappe could be persuaded to consent to it.  When the third and last interview was at an end, M. de La Trappe testified to me his surprise at having been so much and so long looked at by a species of mute.  I made the best excuses I could, and hastened to turn the conversation.