Beaumarchais’ reprehensible behaviour—D’Eon challenges Morande—Miss Wilkes’ curiosity—Feeling against D’Eon—Fresh difficulties with Beaumarchais—Speculators on D’Eon’s sex seized with panic—Lord Mansfield’s decision on the policies effected—D’Eon appears in public as a female—Leaves for France wearing military uniform—The King’s second order to reassume female attire—Marie Antoinette furnishes Mademoiselle D’Eon’s trousseau—Visits her native town—Rejoicings at her appearance—Presented at Court as a lady—The Queen’s household—Deportment in society—Another trial before Lord Mansfield.
The breach was now complete. Beaumarchais had proved himself to be perfectly indifferent in the matter of his reputation, so far as his relations with the Chevalière were concerned, and it is certain, after the admission made by Morande, that D’Eon would never have entered into further negotiations, even to her own benefit, with the man who was regardless of the injury he was causing, instead of affording his protection by virtue of the powers with which he was invested. D’Eon sent a copy of the declaration to de Vergennes, under cover of a letter, in which, after recapitulating the shameless conduct of Beaumarchais towards herself and Lord Ferrers, conduct by no means adapted to re-establish the good name of a man who had fallen a victim to the passions of the great, much less of a virtuous female, and his little scrupulousness in betraying Court secrets, she informed the minister that she declined to have further intercourse with one whose life in London, in the company of his friend Morande, was licentious and discreditable to the last degree. She entreated the count to be persuaded that, although a female, she had all the qualities and the courage of the most fearless of men, and that notwithstanding her refusal to consent to a verification of her sex, she would be willing to do so as a favour or from necessity. This letter, written throughout in the feminine gender, is signed, ‘Votre dévoué Serviteur, le Chev. D’Eon.’[321]
When de Vergennes had communicated to Beaumarchais its contents, so full of abuse directed against him, the latter replied with resignation: ‘She is a woman, and so horribly influenced, that I forgive her with my whole heart; she is a woman, and this explains everything.’
But Beaumarchais’ words were inconsistent with his actions. In the first place he had betrayed his trust in confiding to Morande the nature of his private dealings with D’Eon, together with many particulars of D’Eon’s past intercourse with the Court of France, details which Morande made it his business to repeat in public, the gossip thus spread only serving to increase the agitation in the public mind on the Chevalier’s sex. Then, Beaumarchais and Morande having become thoroughly persuaded that all hope of amassing riches at the expense of Mademoiselle had vanished, and Beaumarchais being about to return to France, it was arranged that Morande should publish a pamphlet in disparagement of D’Eon, to whom a copy was sent by the writer, with the request for an interview at which terms for permanent reconciliation between them might be agreed upon. The Chevalier sent his brother-in-law O’Gorman, and his friend the Chevalier de Piennes, with a message to the effect that the only place where Mademoiselle D’Eon could meet Morande was in Hyde Park, those gentlemen being at the same time instructed to invite him to appoint an early day and the hour, and make his choice of weapons. Morande’s reply was an outrage on all decency and the foullest insult that could be offered to a woman;[322] and when D’Eon found himself bound over to keep the peace in 200l., and two sureties in 100l. each, he became excited beyond all control, and committed the fatal error of writing to Morande in language very similar to that employed in the pamphlet.
Morande having declined to fight a woman, O’Gorman took her place; but Morande avoided the risk of an encounter by apprising the police of the bellicose designs of the big Irishman, who was also, in his turn, bound over to keep the peace.
The widespread and unenvied notoriety that had rendered D’Eon’s situation in London perfectly intolerable, was increasing in spite of himself, and his yearning to leave the country and return to France became all the greater as fresh dangers threatened the liberty of his person. He was the centre of attraction, the chief object of public curiosity, and having become more familiarly known to the multitude, was more liable to be seized at some unguarded moment, to be maltreated and insulted by those whose interests, heavily staked, demanded an expeditious solution of the problem—Of which sex is the Chevalier? One pretty and innocent little note from Miss Wilkes, daughter of the patriot, who had been brought up in a French convent and knew the language perfectly, puts the question point blank.
‘Miss Wilkes presents her compliments to Monsieur the Chevalier D’Eon, and is very anxious to know if he is really a woman as everybody asserts, or a man. It would be very kind of Monsieur the Chevalier D’Eon to communicate the truth to Miss Wilkes, who entreats, with all her heart, to be informed of it. It would be still more kind of him if he would come and dine with her and her papa, to-day or to-morrow, or, in fact, as soon as he is able to do so.’[323]
By some the Chevalier was accused of being a spy in disguise, who should be made to appear in the garments proper to her sex. By others she was suspected of being a natural daughter of Louis XV.; and one night a party of stragglers broke the windows and wrenched off several bars of the railing in front of her house in Brewer Street, violence repeated the second night after, the perpetrators not being discovered, even though D’Eon offered a reward of twenty guineas for their apprehension.[324] His aversion to the assumption of female attire was insurmountable, but he was pledged to it and had been strengthening his mind for the inevitable, the essential point ever present to his imagination being the driving of every bargain to his own special advantage. He sought to resume the negotiations of 1774-1775 for his return from exile, by direct communication with the Count de Vergennes, and claimed that if he were absolutely required to dress as a female, there should at least be inserted, in the written order to that effect, the words as had been required of her in the reign of the late King, after the words, ‘to resume immediately the garments of her sex never again to lay them aside.’ In making this request it was clearly the object of D’Eon, now about to enter upon the world’s stage, openly and permanently, in the character of a female, to shield herself against the imputation of having of her own accord, and at any time disguised her sex to pass the life of a brave and distinguished man, and he shrank from accepting the smallest responsibility in his approaching compulsory transformation. The minister found it impossible to accede, and Beaumarchais was instructed to explain to the Chevalière the impracticability of her request being entertained, which he did, by repeating, textually, the minister’s own words, after saying that he wished the Count de Vergennes had employed some person less odious than he must be to her, to communicate his reply:—
‘... Can the King of France grant to a female a safe-conduct intended for an officer? Who is it that served the King? Is it Mademoiselle or M. D’Eon? If his Majesty in learning, but too late, the offences committed by her parents to the prejudice of good manners and against the laws, is desirous of forgetting the past and unwilling to impute to her the fault of having wilfully persevered in such a course—is it to be expected that the King’s leniency is to extend to laying to the charge of the late King the ridicule that attaches to her indecent disguise, by employing the words she has suggested?... Never has the King’s service required that a female should usurp the title of man, the uniform of an officer, the status of an envoy! It is in thus increasing the number of her rash claims, that this woman has succeeded in trying the King’s and my own patience and the good-will of her partisans. Whether she remains in England or goes elsewhere is, as you well know, a matter of perfect indifference to us. As to her eagerness to return to France, I gave her to understand, through you, it was the King’s desire that she should not do so unless in the character of her sex, and that she should here lead a quiet, virtuous, and circumspect life, such as she should never have departed from.’
Beaumarchais added, that for his own part he did not believe, more than the minister, that any fresh claims she made could be of the least advantage to her, and with many kind words expressed his readiness to serve her as he had hitherto done, provided she did not persist in creating further difficulties.[325]
This refusal of Louis XVI. to accede to the request made by D’Eon, reached him at a moment that Morande had successfully defeated all his plans to punish him. Foiled in his purpose of chastising Morande by resort to arms, the Chevalier sued him for libel, and Lord Mansfield directed rule to be granted; but when it was shown that D’Eon had written equally libellous matter to Morande, the Court discharged the rule, and the Chevalier had the mortification of seeing his enemy reap the advantage of his own imprudence. It was whilst smarting under a sense of these failures that D’Eon wrote to his tormentor:—
‘I have not replied sooner to the letter you gave yourself the trouble to write, because at the time you were writing sweet things to me, you wrote to your protégé Morande in such a way as to shake the phial or rather the pitcher of venom he carries in his breast. This was neither honourable nor fair. You even urged him to write libellous matter against me in the papers.’... Then in his old spirit of derision: ‘You, personally, have never been odious to me as you suppose; it was your conduct, your speech, your actions, your letters to Lord Ferrers and to myself that were odious to me. Good-night, too dear M. de Beaumarchais; it is two o’clock in the morning, I am tired and am going to bed inveighing against all those men who have treated me so badly, and above all, you yourself, who I truly esteemed and loved, and who have exasperated me beyond measure by your own and Morande’s behaviour....’
In ever increasing anxiety to make his escape out of the difficulties and threatening dangers by which he was surrounded, the Chevalier applied to the Minister for Foreign Affairs to ask whether he might rely upon the Government for protection, it being his intention to return shortly to France.
‘... Had you not, Mademoiselle,’ replied the unflinching de Vergennes, ‘abandoned yourself to feelings of mistrust, which, I am persuaded, you did not maturely consider, you might have been enjoying for some time past, in your own country, that tranquillity which should now, more than ever, be the object of your desires. If you are seriously thinking of returning, the way is still open to you, and you know the conditions imposed. The most absolute reserve on the past; every precaution to be taken to avoid meeting those persons whom you regard as being the cause of your misfortunes; and, finally, the resumption of the garments of your sex. You can no longer hesitate, seeing the publicity given to this in England. You are doubtlessly aware that our laws do not tolerate such disguises. I have only to add that if, after a trial, you do not feel at home in France, there will be no objection to your proceeding elsewhere to suit your own pleasure. I have written the above in conformity with the King’s orders. Let me add that the safe-conduct with which you have been supplied suffices, so that you may now do as you please. If you decide upon pursuing a wise course, I will congratulate you; otherwise, I shall only be able to pity you for not responding to the good master who offers you a helping hand. Set your mind at rest, because when in France you will be able to communicate with me directly, without the intercession of any person.’[326]
D’Eon was unable to leave England unless he made some arrangement with his creditors, still oppressed as he was by the liabilities he had incurred in the furtherance of the late King’s service, and no sooner had his imminent departure become extensively known, than something like a panic seized upon all who had engaged in the speculations on his sex. Three several actions were commenced in Easter term, against three underwriters in the city, for the recovery of the respective sums underwritten by them. Upwards of 120,000l. had been underwritten at various times on this mysterious question, but rather than ‘risk a heat over the Bacon course in Westminster Hall,’ several eminent merchants forfeited sixty per cent., and even seventy per cent., to have their names cancelled from the policies they had underwritten.
One trial on the legality of these policies took place before Lord Mansfield, on July 1, when it was believed that the sex of the Chevalier was established beyond the possibility of a doubt. The action was brought by Mr. Hayes, a surgeon in Leicester Fields, against Mr. Jacques, broker and underwriter, for the recovery of 700l., the said Jacques having, about six years previously, received a premium of fifteen guineas, on the engagement to return one hundred guineas for every guinea, whenever it should be proved that the Chevalier was actually a female. Mr. Buller, as counsel for Hayes, opened the cause by stating the fairness of the transaction and the justifiable nature of the demand, the plaintiff believing himself to be in possession of sufficient proof to establish the sex of the Chevalier. He called for his first witness a surgeon named Le Goux,[327] who gave evidence to the effect that he had been acquainted with the Chevalier D’Eon from the time that the Duke de Nivernois was ambassador in London; that about five years previously he was called in by the Chevalier to lend professional aid, when she was labouring under a disorder which led to the discovery of her sex, of which he, Le Goux, was able to give satisfactory testimony. Another witness was Morande, with whom we are so intimately acquainted, who deposed that so far back as July 3, 1774, the Chevalier had made to him a free disclosure of her sex, even to displaying her bosom, and exhibiting her female wardrobe, which consisted of sacks, petticoats, and other garments for feminine use. On the part of the defendant, Mr. Mansfield pleaded that this was one of those gambling, indecent, and unnecessary cases that ought never to be permitted to come into a court of justice; that besides the inutility and indecency of the case, the plaintiff had taken advantage of his client, being in possession of intelligence that enabled him to lay with greater certainty, although with such great odds on his side; that the plaintiff, at the time of laying the wager, knew that the Court of France treated with the Chevalier as a woman to grant her a pension, and that the French Court must have some strong circumstances to imbibe that idea; he therefore hoped that the jury would reprobate such wagers.
In charging the jury, Lord Mansfield expressed his abhorrence of the whole transaction, and of its being brought into a Court of Justice when it might have been settled elsewhere, and wished that their verdict could so operate that neither party might be the winner; but, as the law did not expressly prohibit, and the wager was laid, the question before them was, who had won? His lordship observed that the indecency of the proceeding arose more from the unnecessary questions asked than from the case itself. There was every external proof that the defendant was right in his conjecture. D’Eon was dressed as a man, would have fought duels, was captain of dragoons, and had resided here as an ambassador; therefore, to all appearances the defendant had the best of the wager. On the part of the plaintiff there was a considerable difficulty. Suppose him to have been right, yet the proof of the fact was not easy. It was not in the power of any person to compel D’Eon to disclose her sex, and was it known, the proof still rested on the plaintiff. It had been thrown out that he was sure of the fact at the time he laid the wager. The contrary has appeared, for he had no proofs in his power at the time the contract was entered into.... The Court of France considered D’Eon as a man; there were reasons afterwards to believe the contrary.... It might have been difficult to prove the sex, if private quarrels of the parties had not furnished collateral evidence as put the question out of doubt. The witnesses were either perjured, or their testimonies must be credited. As was the case in all wagers, both parties conceived themselves certain of winning. His lordship called upon the jury to consider all the circumstances, and if they thought that the bet was fairly won to decide in favour of the plaintiff, for whom a verdict was given, without any hesitation on the part of the jury—for 700l. and forty shillings—a verdict awaited with intense interest, as numerous sums on policies were depending on this suit. When, however, this policy business came to be solemnly signed before Lord Mansfield, in the Court of King’s Bench, the defendant pleaded a late Act of Parliament for the non-payment of the policy he had underwritten, a statute which provided that ‘no insurance shall be valid, where the person insuring cannot prove an antecedent interest in the person or thing insured.’ The Chief Justice having admitted the statute to be binding in the present instance, the decision at once and for ever deprived all insurers in the ‘D’Eon policies’ of the golden harvest they so long and patiently expected.[328]
D’Eon received the intimation that he was declared by the law to be a female with perfect equanimity. ‘What does it matter to me that the King’s Bench has proclaimed me to be a female! I am none the better or the worse. I am in the same condition as before the war—in eodem statu ante bellum.’ He had failed in his application for a postponement of the trial until he should return from France, and having abstained from taking any part in the proceedings, it was bruited about that such discretion was to be rewarded with a bonus of twenty thousand pounds!
D’Eon appeared in London in ‘her real character as a female, for the first time on August 6, being dressed in an elegant sack, her head-dress adorned with diamonds, and bedecked in all the other elegant paraphernalia of her sex;’ but with the laudable desire of completely disconnecting herself from the smallest suspicion of wishing to countenance either of the contending parties in the gambling policies, when the day fixed upon for her departure from London had arrived, she drove off from her house in Brewer Street, in a neat post-chaise and four, wearing her uniform with the cross of Saint Louis, and suitably attended.[329] The whole of her effects remained in England, her stock of wine, which was large and valuable, being left with her landlord to be sold for the benefit of her creditors.
Henry Angelo tells us that the first time he saw D’Eon dressed as a woman was in Brewer Street.
‘To my surprise I beheld a lusty dame dressed in black silk, the head-dress in rosed toupet and laced cap. He had not the least beard—a diamond necklace, long stays, and an old-fashioned stomacher. My father leading me to the assumed lady, I received, à la Française, a kiss on each cheek. Ever afterwards, when he dined at our house, though dressed as a woman, when the ladies retired he remained to enjoy the glass and conversation. He always dressed in black silk, and when I last saw him, looked like a woman worn out with age and care.’
Angelo was entertained to ‘an excellent dinner’ one day after D’Eon had donned the petticoat, there being amongst the guests Bach, Abel, and Cramer.
The Chevalier left London on August 13, and in the ‘Morning Post and Public Advertiser,’ &c., of the 15th, appeared her protest against the malicious charge of being interested in the issue of the late trial.
‘I requested with the greatest earnestness the people of England, who have always shown me the greatest respect, not to renew any policies respecting my sex; I declared that I would not agree to a judicial manifestation of it; requested there should be no fresh policies entered into, and that the old ones should be annulled, and that if this was not agreed to, I should be obliged to quit a place which I regard as my second country. The auri sacra fames which possesses my enemies has unhappily prevailed. They have not only renewed the ancient policies, but have obtained a judgment in the Court of King’s Bench, July 1, to determine my sex. In consequence, I with regret keep my promise. I quit with grief my dear England, where I thought to have found repose and liberty, to return to my native country.... If those interested in the policies would take my advice, it should be to pay nothing; because the judgment in the King’s Bench was made without my participation, and against my consent, which I opposed at the time of the sitting of the Court, desiring it to be delayed till my master should permit me again to return to England.... I would rather perish than rise triumphant by the weakness of that sex which I am accused to be of.... I here absolutely declare, and probably for the last time, that if any person, whether in France or England, can prove before any tribunal that I have been interested to the value of one shilling, in any policies, I will agree to distribute all I am possessed of to any public charity the said tribunal shall name.
The Chevalier D’Eon.’
‘London, August 10, 1777.’
D’Eon’s residence in England had extended over fifteen years, and it was with no inconsiderable feelings of emotion that he again touched his native soil. Hurrying to Versailles, he presented himself, equipped as a dragoon, before the Count de Vergennes, who received him affably and with distinction, but at once enjoined him to execute the terms of his Covenant, and not appear unless in female attire. D’Eon demurred, pleading, first one thing, then another, but the minister was obdurate, and soon the Chevalière was favoured with the following order:—
In the King’s Name.
‘Charles-Geneviève-Louise-Auguste-André-Timothée D’Eon de Beaumont is hereby commanded to lay aside the uniform of a dragoon, which he has been in the habit of wearing, and resume the garments of her sex, and is forbidden to appear in any part of the kingdom in any other garments than those suitable to females.
‘Louis.
‘Gravier de Vergennes.’
‘Done at Versailles, August 19, 1777.’
The Count de Vergennes had asked M. Genest, chief clerk at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, to receive his old friend the Chevalier in his own house, and manage him as best he could. Upon hearing of his arrival, the Queen sent word to Genest that he was to bring the Chevalier to her. Genest, having informed the minister of her Majesty’s commands, received instructions to accompany the Chevalier; but the count having previously had a few minutes’ audience of the Queen, she left the room with him, and finding Genest in the adjoining apartment, her Majesty told him, smiling, that she was sorry to have given him any trouble, the few words the count had just said to her having for ever cured her of her curiosity.[330] And yet she did not remain unmindful of him. When D’Eon sought to put off the evil hour of his transformation by pitiably pleading that she had no suitable clothes in which to appear, even the Queen’s eagerness for novelty and amusement seemed to conspire against her. Her Majesty seized upon so exceptional an opportunity ‘for exercising the nobility of her soul and the generosity of her heart, in causing Mademoiselle Bertin, one of her ladies-in-waiting, to complete an outfit which would have sufficed for any four girls of the royal house of St. Cyr.’[331]
D’Eon was delighted at the respite afforded by the time required for preparing a trousseau in accordance with the Queen’s commands, and he made the most of it by paying a visit to his mother, whom he had not seen for many years. In acknowledging the receipt of the King’s order of August 19, the Chevalier informed the minister that the few articles of female attire he had by him were quite unsuitable for making his appearance at Versailles. Mademoiselle Bertin had consequently undertaken to procure the clothing necessary for his new condition of life, and to turn him into a fairly modest and obedient woman; and to her, after Heaven, the King, and his ministers, would belong the greatest merit in connection with his miraculous conversion. His earnest desire to appear irreproachable in the eyes of the King and of the Counts de Vergennes and de Maurepas, sufficed to endue him with the strength required to overcome himself, and adopt a sweetness of disposition in conformity with the new existence into which he was forced.[332] This letter was signed, ‘The Chevalier D’Eon for a little while longer.’
D’Eon likens his reception at his home to that given to the prodigal son. In transports of joy his mother calls all her friends together to rejoice with her over the sheep that was lost, and was found again—her daughter—who had been her son for a time only, but now was, and should for ever be, a daughter to her! She holds three days’ feasting, to which all the authorities of the town and neighbourhood are invited. The mayor and aldermen, the ecclesiastical, monastical, military, and civil bodies, and a deputation formed of the married and maiden ladies of Tonnerre, call upon Madame D’Eon and overwhelm her with their congratulations. Each evening, two casks of wine are placed at the gate of the house, and bread and meat is distributed to the people, who give vent to their enthusiasm by firing guns and crackers, and nearly causing a conflagration in the stable-yard and granaries. It was only after these memorable incidents at the place of her birth, that the Chevalier’s heart felt less heavy; but he was very shortly ordered back by the ministers, and having returned to Versailles, he bound himself, in a written declaration, never to transgress the orders of the King, to whom he swore, in the presence of the Counts de Maurepas and de Vergennes, that he should die, as in duty bound, a female.[333]
The choice of the day upon which, from Chevalier, D’Eon was to be formally and effectively transformed into Chevalière, was made by his relative, Christopher de Beaumont,[334] Archbishop of Paris, Madame Louise[335] having greatly interested herself in his behalf. On the morning of October 21, 1777, the Feast of St. Ursula, Mademoiselle D’Eon having been deprived, by order of the King, of all her male attire, was clothed by Mademoiselle Bertin in her new female habiliments, with the injunction never to lay them aside, but to wear them to the end of her days. She was anointed with fragrant perfumes, her hair was curled, and a magnificent head-dress put on her; her gown, petticoats, and stockings were of the richest materials, and she was adorned with bracelets, a necklace, earrings, and rings. At the moment of her transformation, apparelled like a bride for her bridegroom, she excelled the Queen of Sheba herself, in all her glory. In this quality she was presented at Court, and there compelled to remain two years, that she might become moulded into her new condition.
‘I cannot express my repugnance, my grief, my pain, my troubled state, my vexation, and my shame, at having to appear thus publicly at Court in the dress and position of a female; but the King’s council considered such a change indispensable.... What appeared to some as extraordinary and degrading in an old chevalier of Saint Louis, appeared to others as most natural, reasonable, and noble, and the refrain of the ladies at Court to the chevaliers of Saint Louis was to this effect: “Since your Chevalier D’Eon is a female, it is but right she should dress as one, and we wish it for our glory.”
‘My first duty on resuming female attire was to communicate in the chapel of the Virgin behind the choir of the cathedral at Paris; then at that of St. Sulpitius, where I had been confirmed and had taken the name of Mary, and where I had also communicated for the first time. I afterwards communicated in the chapel of St. Geneviève in Paris, in the beautiful chapel of the Virgin at St. Roch, and again in the church of the sisterhood of St. Mary at Chaillot. In being stripped of man’s estate and of my uniform, I am divested of every vice and of every danger incidental to such a condition; and being invested with the character of a female, am forced, in spite of myself, to adopt the vocations and virtues incumbent thereon.’[336]
Household of Marie Antoinette at the time of the Chevalière’s introduction:—
| Madame Misery | First Lady-in-Waiting. |
| Madame Campan[337] | Second Lady-in-Waiting. |
| Mdlle. Adelaïde Genest[337] | Third Lady-in-Waiting. |
| Guimard | Groom-in-Waiting to the late Louis XV. |
| Lasone | Physician. |
The Chevalière, we are told by those who saw her at this period, was slow enough in adapting herself to the requirements of her sex; it would be long, she used to say, before she became accustomed to them, and would have continued to dress as a man had it been possible. At first she laughed at her petticoats and cap, saying it was very hard to be degraded from captain to a cornet! (cornette), and was altogether careless in her demeanour. She was of a fair complexion, with fair hair slightly grey, and having a handsome neck and bosom appeared to advantage as a female; she had formerly made herself a beard, and her chin being provided with some hairs, she employed herself in nipping them. Wearing low, though somewhat large heels, her stature did not exceed five feet four inches, and those who had not seen her in uniform, could not conceive how she could have looked well in it.[338] Her accent was peculiar, but not unbecoming as her voice was agreeable,[339] and in making a courtesy she would bend her knees forward quickly without otherwise moving her limbs. Being recommended to put on some rouge, she replied that she had tried it, but it would not stick to her face; she despised her body, she said, which she considered as the case or shell only of her soul.
Being one day in a room where several gentlemen, strangers to her, were present, a lady having remarked, ‘Chevalière, to the best of my recollection when you were dressed as a man you had a very handsome leg!’ ‘Parbleu!’ replied D’Eon with vivacity, pulling up her petticoats, ‘if you are curious to see it, here it is!’ Upon another occasion a lady observed to her, ‘If you wished to demand satisfaction, would you not regret your former condition and your arms?’ ‘I have already considered this matter,’ she replied; ‘when I quitted my hat and sword, I own it gave me some concern, but I said to myself, what does it signify? I may do as much, perhaps, with my slipper?’ And to another lady who gave some advice with regard to her behaviour, she said: ‘Madam, I shall always be sage, no doubt, but I can never be modest.’ Upon the whole, however, the Chevalière seldom appeared in public, limiting herself to dining with her old friends. If she chanced, upon such occasions, to be in the same room with some other knight who happened to be addressed as ‘Monsieur le Chevalier,’ she would instantly turn round thinking she was meant, and would equally forget herself in her assiduity towards the fair sex, never failing to assist a lady to wine, when sitting at table, or rising with alacrity to relieve her of her empty coffee cup.[340] She was a great eater, and usually partook of every dish, even if she sent her plate away directly after.
Since D’Eon was not visible to the world at large in Paris, it became the fashion to personate her at masquerades, and even at ordinary evening parties, when Beaumarchais would also be brought into ridicule by the pretended Chevalière relating, for the amusement of the company, the incidents of her courtship with that individual. The tales told, however, were not always harmless, and one report spread, was to the effect that a portion of the money destined by the King for the Chevalière’s use in England, and confided to Beaumarchais, had been appropriated by the latter, who accordingly complained to de Vergennes of the base accusation, charging D’Eon with being the author of it. He was at once reassured by that minister, who wrote word that his Majesty’s satisfaction at the correctness of the accounts he had rendered should suffice to vindicate his character from any such attacks; and having obtained permission to publish the minister’s letter, he sent a copy to D’Eon under cover of some offensive and very angry lines. Calmer judgments had certainly not as yet prevailed in the unsettled mind that was ever craving after excitement; and in malicious enjoyment of Beaumarchais’ participation in his own unenviable notoriety, D’Eon seized the opportunity for indulging in his favourite recreation, by treating the Minister for Foreign Affairs to one of the most tedious effusions of which he had ever been guilty, but humorous and satirical withal.
‘Now that I have obeyed the King’s commands in resuming female attire on the feast day of St. Ursula, patroness of the eleven thousand virgins and martyrs in England; now that I am living in tranquillity and peace in the uniform of a vestal, and that I had completely forgotten Caron and his boat, judge of my surprise in receiving an epistle from the said Caron, enclosing copies, duly certified, of a letter he addressed to you and of your reply.... What has he done for me?... He has made me blush for my country by paying a sum of money in the name of the State, in bills at six, twelve, eighteen, and twenty-four months date, charging seven per cent. discount, and finally swindling an English peer out of two hundred and thirty-three louis.... Was it not M. Beaumarchais who, unable to persuade me to be dishonest in supporting him in his speculations on my sex, spread the report everywhere in Paris that he was to marry me after I should have spent seven months at the abbey of the Ladies of St. Anthony, when, as a fact, he was within an inch of being espoused to my cane, whilst in London?... Let me tell you that fictitious Demoiselles D’Eon, wearing the cross of Saint Louis, have made their appearance in more than one fashionable house in Paris. They were jesters who said the most absurd things of the real Chevalière, and chiefly with reference to the agreeable and honourable Caron de Beaumarchais, who proposed marriage to the Demoiselle D’Eon when on his late embassage in England; and whose coming embassage to Congress in America is for the purpose of importing snuff of a quality that will make the entire audience sneeze each time his plagiary, the “Barber of Seville,” is performed. The scene of the false Demoiselle D’Eon was repeated, I am informed, last week, in a house where Madame de F—— was hoaxed by Musson, the well-known painter, who personated the Demoiselle at the time that I, lonely and peaceful, was at work and asleep in my hermitage at Petit Montreuil.... Does M. de Beaumarchais, so fond of hoaxing others, desire to enjoy the exclusive privilege?... Let me tell you, sir, that all the integrity of the four ministers put together, adding to it that of their chief clerks, would fail to make an honest man of Caron, so far as I am concerned. People in England are convinced of this, for they have nicknamed him bon marché....
‘La Chevalière D’Eon.’
Passing over the reply sent to Beaumarchais, we find ‘The Appeal of Mademoiselle D’Eon to her Contemporaries,’ which also went through the press:—
‘Where is the woman who, having read the famous letters of M. Carillon[341] or Caron de Beaumarchais, of January 3 and 13, addressed to the minister and to me, has not said, She will reply!... He has sought, by base artifice, to deprive me of that consideration so conducive to my peaceful existence. I put him to confusion by ridiculing his impotent rage. He is a Thersites who should be whipped, for having dared to be insolent to his betters whom he ought to respect. I denounce and abandon him to all womankind of my day, as one who would fain have exalted himself at the expense of a woman, enriched himself by sacrificing a woman’s honour, and avenged his frustrated hopes by crushing a woman, who, of all others, has at heart the triumph of her sex.
‘N.B.—Caron has certified to and signed the copies of the two letters he has published; I cause copies of my two letters to be certified and signed by Barth. Pille, surnamed La Grenade, my valet, whose signature has always been respected.’
‘I certify that these two letters are true copies of the originals in my hands, this 2nd day of February, 1778.
‘Pille, surnamed La Grenade.’
Amongst the later causes tried in London for the recovery of sums forfeited by the wagers on D’Eon’s sex, was that of Jones and Dacosta, in which a verdict was given in favour of the plaintiff; but a motion having been made in the Court of King’s Bench for an arrest in judgment, Lord Mansfield delivered his opinion in its favour, in which all the other judges concurred. The decision, he said, tended to indecency, and to make the courts of justice subservient to the purposes of gamblers and swindlers—a conclusion that was heartily approved by all right-minded persons throughout the country.
No sooner had the news reached D’Eon than he issued a ‘Second Letter to Women,’ dated Paris, February 10, 1778, opening with these words:—
‘Victory! my contemporaries, victory! My honour, your honour, triumphs. The Lord Chief Justice of England has himself, in the presence of the twelve judges of England, rescinded and annulled his own decisions on the validity of the policies raised on my sex....’[342]