Celui-ci, ravi de l’exil de la marquise Raversi qui facilitait toutes ses actions comme ministre, parla pendant une grosse demi-heure en courtisan consommé ; il voulait consoler l’amour-propre du souverain, et ne prit congé que lorsqu’il le vit bien convaincu que l’histoire anecdotique de Louis XIV n’avait pas de page plus belle que celle qu’il venait de fournir à ses historiens futurs.
The latter, delighted at the banishment of the Marchesa Raversi, which simplified all his ministerial activities, talked for a full half-hour like a consummate courtier; he sought to console his Sovereign's injured vanity, and did not take his leave until he saw him fully convinced that the historical anecdotes of Louis XIV included no fairer page than that with which he had just provided his own future historians.