Free The Man with the Lead Stomach by Jean-François Parot Page B

well-ordered life. He is a supporter of the pious party, introduced to it by his wife, who is in attendance to the King’s daughters. He has obtained a position in Madame Adélaïde’s household. What better cover could there be? Thanks to that he has had access to the Dauphin who, going on appearances, has taken him into his confidence and allowed him into his inner circle.’
    ‘What does he expect from him?’
    ‘A good question. All those who harbour a grievance against the Court support the heir to the throne. Thus, unwillingly and even unwittingly, the Dauphin now finds himself at the head of a group of malcontents. The King, seeing his son surrounded by religious devotees, sincere or otherwise, who constantly criticise the sovereign’s conduct and condemn his favourite, has gradually become estranged from his son and treats him coldly. Madame de Pompadour considers him her enemy. You have met His Majesty, Nicolas. He is entering old age a tired man. No one can predict the future but everyone is already planning for it. As for Madame Adélaïde, she is good-natured but light-headed. It is hard to tell whether she prefers the lure of piety or the pleasure of hunting deer with her hounds. Nothing is denied to someone who is an expert huntsman. This is also one of the Comte de Ruissec’s assets. As for his sons …’
    ‘His sons?’
    ‘What, didn’t you know that the suicide victim had a younger brother? This is news to you, then. The Vidame 1 de Ruissec was always intended for the Church without his father ever consulting him as to his own wishes or his religious vocation. After finishing his studies he was relentlessly harassed and soon had no choice than to enter the nearest seminary to escape his father’s obsessions. Nothing is decided. He is still only a candidate for the ministry and has not yet been fully ordained. He is charming and beguiling, and in all he has said and done he has always made clear his aversion for the priesthood, which is being forced upon him. And, dammit, I can quite understand him! He’s said to have very loose morals but he probably overdoes it deliberately. They say he is dissolute, thoughtless and unprincipled, and indulges in acts of violence and behaviour that are as inimical to his family honour as to the mere decency of a man of the cloth.’
    ‘Is there any proof of this?’
    ‘Nothing definite. There is a lot of talk in the salons about this young coxcomb who is an ideal subject for rumour and tittle-tattle . People claim to have seen him in many an alleyway … But the question is: is he just a hothead or truly depraved? His brother, compared to him, seemed dull. He was said to gamble a great deal but sub rosa . He was supposed to be engaged but I don’t know to whom. That’s a mystery even to the salons. As for their mother, she is, so they say, a discreet and retiring person, overshadowed by her husband and deeply pious. That, my dear Nicolas, is the modest contribution that a gout-ridden man confined to his armchair can make to the early stages of your investigation.’
    He wrapped himself in his floral-patterned chintz dressinggown and took a melancholy look out of the window at Rue Montmartre, hearing the roar of the city below.
    ‘Men of my age are not particularly fond of autumn, and sage tea is not a very great remedy.’
    ‘Come, come, if your condition improves you will be entitled to a splendid glass of Irancy. In any case, you are like Persephone: you reappear even more radiant in the springtime.’
    Monsieur de Noblecourt smiled. ‘Probably, but before that I must cross the kingdom of Hades, the god of the dead. “I shall see the Styx and greet the Eumenides.”’
    ‘But I know another version, in which Persephone, beloved of Zeus, gives birth to Dionysus, the god of wine and pleasure. I can just imagine you crowned with vine leaves and surrounded by cupids playing the pipes!’
    ‘Oh, you devil! You’re a clever fellow who wants to cure a