Amunwhowasfulnmls
orat7't’¢'climberwas
guidingrmmwrzein
climbing
atallmu’.Hemvlermlthemomtoour(ht!
mpbrrmdiex,and.
duringthis
time,
whenI/rermmseemedtobyin
greatdimgct;the
expertmidnothing.Onlywhenthemm:was
contirig
tlownandhadreachedthelurighloftheeuvm(fillthe
expert
ml!out,“liemrefld!
Watch
yourstepmutingdown!"Iasked
him.“
VVI1y
dérlyoumytiml?At
thatheiglil
he
t"(}‘ulclf'li!1Z[)theram‘
affine
wayifiwrkrise."
"Tlmtir(lie
point,"
suit!the
éviparl.“As
longasthemanwas
upat.2dizzyheight
andthelwrarzcherwerethrew’-eningto
break,
heizimself
wasso
afraid
Isazrl
notlxirzg.Misktkcsare
zzlwiiysmadewhwzpeopleget
sothecm'
p[a(7$!.$'.
"
Thisman
heltmgrdtoth(lower!
class,
bu!hiswordswerein
pvrfiztl¢l(.'L'(Ir(lwiththe[ireccgm
ofllzc
sages.
Inluutball
low,
theysaythat
uflvryou
haveirirkcdout
ofa
zlijficizllplum
and
you
thinktin‘Hex!onewillbyca.v:'z~r
you
aresureto
mi.x‘.\‘thehall.HSSAV5INl|)Ll-FOI?k'l'El:N'|'HKENI'llKY414 LAW-17
crownherglory,
theking
madeheraduchess.Her
swaywasfelteveninpolitics:
Indeedshebecametheuntitledministerofforeign
affairs.In
1751,whenMadamedePompadour
wasattheheight
ofher
power,sheexperienced
herworstcrisis.Physically
weakenedby
the
responsibili—tiesofher
position,shefounditincreasingly
difficulttomeettheking’s
de~
mands
inbed.This
wasusually
the
pointatwhichthemistresswouldmeetherend,
struggling
tomaintain her
positionasherbeauty
faded. ButMadamedePompadour
hada
strategy:Sheencouraged
theking
toset
upakindof
brothel,PareauxCerfs,
onthegrounds
of
Versailles.Therethemiddle-agedking
couldhave
liaisonswiththemostbeautifulyounggirls
intherealm.MadamedePompadour
knewthathercharmandherpolitical
acu—menhadmadeherindispensable
totheking.
Whatdidshehavetofearfromasixteen-year-old
whohadnoneofher
powerandpresence?
Vv'hatdiditmatterifshelosther
positioninthe
bedroom,
aslong
asshere-mained
the
mostpowerful
woman
in
France?
To
securethat
positionshebecamestill
closerfriendswiththe
queen,withwhomshestartedattending
church.Although
herenemiesatthecourtconspired
tohavehertoppled
fromherofficial
positionas
l<ing’s
mistress,thekingkept
her
on,forheneededhercalming
elfect.Itwasonly
whenher
partin
the
disastrousSevenYears’Wardrewmuch
criticism
onherthat
sheslowly
withdrewfrompublic
affairs.MadamedePompadour’s
healthhadalways
beendelicate,
andshediedatthe
ageofforty~three,
in1764.Her
reignasmistresshadlastedanunprecedentedtwentyyears.
“Shewasregrettedby
all,”wrote
theDuedeCroy,
“forshewas
kindlyandhelpful
to
everyonewhoapproached
her.”InterpretationAwareofthetemporariness
ofher
power,thekings
mistresswouldoftengointoakindoffrenzy
after
capturingtheking:
Shewould
tryto
accumu-lateasmuch
moneyaspossible
to
protectheraflerherinevitablefall.Andtoextend
her
reignaslong
aspossible,
shewouldberuthlesswithherene-miesinthecourt.Her
situation,
inother
words,seemedtodemandfromheragreed
andvindictiveness
thatwouldoftenbe
herundoing.
MadamedePompadour
succeeded
whereall
othershadfailedbecause
she
neverpressed
hergood
fortune.Insteadofbullying
thecourtiersfrom
her
power»ful
positionastheking’s
mistress,
shetriedtowintheir
support.Sheneverrevealedtheslightest
hint ofgreed
or
arrogance.Whenshecouldnolongerperform
herphysical
duties as
mistress,she didnotfretatthethought
ofsomeonereplacing
herinbed.Shesimplyapplied
somestrat-egy--sheencouraged
theking
totake
young
lovers,knowing
thattheyoungerandprettierthey
were,
thelessofathreatthey
posed,
sincethey
couldnot
comparetoherincharrnandsophistication
andwouldsoonborethemonarch.Successplaysstrange
tricks
onthe
mind.
It
makes
youfeelinvulnera~ble,
whilealsomakingyou
morehostileandemotionalwhenpeople
chal-