The salary of first equerry, the trifling emoluments derived from M.de Polignac's regiment, added to their slender patrimony, and perhaps some small pension, at that time formed the whole fortune of the favourite.

I never saw the Queen make her a present of value; I was even astonished one day at hearing her Majesty mention, with pleasure, that the Countess had gained ten thousand francs in the lottery.

"She was in great want of it," added the Queen.
Thus the Polignacs were not settled at Court in any degree of splendour which could justify complaints from others, and the substantial favours bestowed upon that family were less envied than the intimacy between them and their proteges and the Queen.

Those who had no hope of entering the circle of the Comtesse Jules were made jealous by the opportunities of advancement it afforded.
However, at the time I speak of, the society around the Comtesse Jules was fully engaged in gratifying the young Queen.

Of this the Marquis de Vaudreuil was a conspicuous member; he was a brilliant man, the friend and protector of men of letters and celebrated artists.
The Baron de Besenval added to the bluntness of the Swiss all the adroitness of a French courtier.