as to write a letter pleading for forgiveness and vowing to be a faithful servant of the French court and the Countess would deliver it to her good friend the Queen. Rohan did as he was told and a few days later he received a reply which was supposable written by Maria Antoinette, but really it was forged by a man named Villette. The letter said, I have read your letter; I am charmed to find you no longer culpable. I cannot yet grant you the audience you desire. When circumstances permit, I shall let you know. Be discreet (88)! His eminence, overjoyed with the letter was only satisfied with its content for a few weeks. It was time he decided, that the Queen give him a verbal pardon (88).The Countess tried avoiding the issue, but soon she was forced to tell Rohan that the Queen would meet with him late at night in a secluded part of the gardens at Versailles (Komroff 88). On the chosen evening, the excited Cardinal followed the Countess into an isolated corner of the gardens, where they met a woman dressed completely in white. The mysterious woman trembled as she handed him a rose and whispered, you know what this means (88).The woman impersonating the Queen was a prostitute from Paris named Olivia. She was hired by the Countess and was unaware that she was impersonating the Queen (Zweig 176). The proceedings were cut short when the group heard a noise. Instinctively, the lady in white disappeared behind a bush and the Cardinal was rushed away by the Countess. He was completely satisfied with his pardon from the Queen of France (88).In the following months, the Cardinal received many letters from the Queen asking to borrow large sums of money. Rohan, wanting to keep the friendship of the Queen quickly turned over the funds to the Countess (Komroff 89). She, of course, used the money for her own benefit. Suddenly, she had enough money to buy a house and move a lot of fine, new furniture into it with the help of many serv...
