“Memoirs of Madame du Barri” by Baron de Etienne-Léon Lamothe-Langon – Ch. 2
Commonplace Book – Pages 113-114
“Memoirs of Madame du Barri” – Chapter 2: A Gay Life
- In Paris, she goes to the house/salon of the Demoiselles Verriere
- Chevalier de la Morliere: “a wretch dishonoured by a thousand villainous transactions, and who was received because he was a desperate fencer”; tyrant of the pit of the Comedie Francaise; pocketed money won but didn’t hand over money lost; became an enemy
- Prince de Soubise: immense fortune; witty; mildness of temper; intimate confidence of the King; not esteemed in city or court; “always to be found where there was estimation to be lost and contempt gained”; he supported notorious places
- M. Radix de Sainte-Foix: small financier; great filch; gallant; witty; agreeable; his company disgusts her
- Jean du Barri: known as the Comte de Serre; about 40 or 45 yrs; bad health; bad humor; not wealthy – incurred debts in Paris; he had a bad temper; gambled; fond of women; very generous; fine tastes for arts
- She lodged with Comte Jean in the Rue des Petits-Champs, opposite the Rue des Moulins
- Winter, 1767: She is approached by an unknown individual who proclaims her fir to be ‘Queen of France’
- M. Morand: “tall, thin man, nearly six feet, with a broad flat face, neck like a crane, legs of an ostrich, grey eyes fringed with red, a mouth which opens from ear to ear to show five or six teeth, and a vile nose crammed with snuff. Wears a coat of mulberry velvet, breeches of the same; a waistcoat covered with silver, a sword as long as Charlemagne’s, and shoes laden with large silver buckles, ornamented with paste.”
- M. the Prince de Salm, M. de la Harpe the author, the vicar of the Archbishop of Toulouse, Mademoiselle Guimard of the Opera, M. Morand, and Comte Jean all eat with Madame du Barri.
- M. Lebel: gallant; gay; fervent adorer of the fair sex; intimate friend of M. Morand
- Comte Jean credited it that Madame du Barri was married to one of his several brothers in Languedoc – she was titled Comtesse in December of 1767
- M. Lebel: “man of no particular mark”; “certain air of easy living”; “nothing distinguishing in his manners”; “highest nobility sought his friendship”; “the valet de chambre”
