“In consequence of what happened on the first accouchement, measures were taken to prevent similar disasters on the second.  The number admitted into the apartment was circumscribed.  The silence observed left the Queen in uncertainty of the sex to which she had given birth, till, with tears of joy, the King said to her:  ’Madame, the hopes of the nation, and mine, are fulfilled.  You are the mother of a Dauphin.’

“The Princesse Elizabeth and myself were so overjoyed that we embraced every one in the room.

“At this time Their Majesties were adored.  Marie Antoinette, with all her beauty and amiableness, was a mere cipher in the eyes of France previous to her becoming the mother of an heir to the Crown; but her popularity now arose to a pitch of unequalled enthusiasm.

“I have heard of but one expression to Her Majesty upon this occasion in any way savouring of discontent.  This came from the royal aunts.  On Marie Antoinette’s expressing to them her joy in having brought a Dauphin to the nation, they replied, ’We will only repeat our father’s observation on a similar subject.  When one of our sisters complained to his late Majesty that, as her Italian husband had copied the Dauphin’s whim, she could not, though long a bride, boast of being a wife, or hope to become a mother—­“a prudent Princess,” replied Louis XV., “never wants heirs!"’ But the feeling of the royal aunts was an exception to the general sentiment, which really seemed like madness.

“I remember a proof of this which happened at the time.  Chancing to cross the King’s path as he was going to Marly and I coming from Rambouillet, my two postillions jumped from their horses, threw themselves on the high road upon their knees, though it was very dirty, and remained there, offering up their benedictions, till he was out of sight.

“The felicity of the Queen was too great not to be soon overcast.  The unbounded influence of the De Polignacs was now at its zenith.  It could not fail of being attacked.  Every engine of malice, envy, and detraction was let loose; and, in the vilest calumnies against the character of the Duchess, her royal mistress was included.

“It was, in truth, a most singular fatality, in the life of Marie Antoinette that she could do nothing, however beneficial or disinterested, for which she was not either criticised or censured.  She had a tenacity, of character which made her cling more closely to attachments from which she saw others desirous of estranging her; and this firmness, however excellent in principle, was, in her case, fatal in its effects.  The Abbe Vermond, Her Majesty’s confessor and tutor, and, unfortunately, in many respects, her ambitious guide, was really alarmed at the rising favour of the Duchess; and, though he knew the very obstacles thrown in her way only strengthened her resolution as to any favourite object, yet he ventured to head an intrigue to destroy the great influence of the De Polignacs, which, as he might have foreseen, only served to hasten their aggrandisement.