M. de Suffren had requested his nephew to wait his return, and he therefore remained in the group as before.  
The queen, speaking low to Andrée, and glancing towards him, said: “It is he, there is no doubt.”
 
“Mon Dieu! yes, madame, it is he indeed.”
 
At this moment the door opened, and a gentleman dressed in the robes of a cardinal¹, and followed by a long train of officers and prelates, entered the room.
 
The queen immediately recognized M. de Rohan, and turned away her head, without taking the trouble to hide the frown which overspread her face.
 
He crossed the room without stopping to speak to any one, and, coming straight up to her, bowed to her more as a man of the world bows to a lady than as a subject to a queen, and then addressed some rather high-flown compliments to her; but she scarcely looked at him, and, after murmuring a few cold words in reply, began to talk to Madame de Lamballe.
 
The cardinal did not seem to notice this chilling reception, but bowed again, and retired² without appearing in the least disconcerted.
 
He then turned to the king’s aunts, from whom he met with a reception as cordial as the queen’s had been the reverse. The Cardinal Louis de Rohan was a man in the prime of life, and of an imposing³ figure and noble bearing; his eyes shone with intelligence, his mouth was well cut and handsome, and his hands were beautiful. A premature⁴ baldness indicated either a man of pleasure or a studious one—and he was both. He was a man no little sought after by the ladies, and was noted⁵ for his magnificent style of living; indeed, he had found the way to feel himself poor with an income of 1,600,000 francs.
 
The king liked him for his learning, but the queen hated him. The reasons for this hate were twofold: first, when ambassador to Vienna, he had written to Louis XV. letters so full of sarcasm⁶ on Maria Theresa, that her daughter had never forgiven him; and he had also written letters opposing her marriage, which had been read aloud by Louis XV. at a supper at Madame Dubarry’s. The embassy at Vienna had been taken from M. de Breteuil and given to M. de Rohan; the former gentleman, not strong enough to revenge himself alone, had procured⁷ copies of these letters, which he had laid before the dauphiness, thus making her the eternal enemy of M. de Rohan.
 
This hatred⁸ rendered the cardinal’s position at court not a little uncomfortable. Every time he presented himself before the queen, he met with the same discouraging reception. In spite of this, he neglected no occasion of being near her, for which he had frequent opportunities, as he was chaplain to the court; and he never complained of the treatment he received. A circle of friends, among whom the Baron⁹ de Planta was the most intimate, helped to console him for these royal rebuffs; not to speak of the ladies of the court, who by no means imitated the severity of the queen towards him.
 
When he was gone, Marie Antoinette recovered her serenity¹⁰, and said to Madame de Lamballe:
 
“Do you not think that this action of the nephew of M. de Suffren is one of the most remarkable¹¹ of the war? What is his name, by the bye?”
 
“M. de Charny, I believe,” replied the princess. “Was it not?” she said, turning to Andrée.
 
“Yes, your highness.”
 
“M. de Charny shall describe it to us himself,” said the queen. “Is he still here? Let him be sought for.”
 
An officer who stood near hastened to obey her, and immediately returned with M. de Charny, and the circle round the queen made way for him to approach.
 
He was a young man, about eight-and-twenty, tall and well made; his face, animated¹² and yet sweet, took a character of singular energy when he spoke¹³, and dilated¹⁴ his large blue eyes; and he was, strange to say, for one who had been fighting in India, as fair as Philippe was dark.
 
When he had approached the place where the queen sat, with Madlle. de Taverney standing¹⁵ near her, he did not betray his surprise in any way, although it must have been great, in recognizing the ladies of the evening before. He did not look up until she addressed him, saying:
 
“M. de Charny, these ladies experience the natural desire, which I share with them, to hear from yourself all the details of this action of your ship.”
 
“Madame,” replied the young officer, “I beg your majesty¹⁶ to spare me th............