Читать книгу John Law of Lauriston. Financier and Statesman, Founder of the Bank of France, Originator of the Mississippi Scheme, Etc онлайн

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Having arrived in safety upon French territory, Law made his way to that haven of refuge for all needy Scotsmen of birth and influence, the Court of St. Germains. Here he hoped to recover his lost position and fortunes by placing the services of his naturally great abilities at the disposal of a Court to whom they could not but be of some advantage if properly directed. His efforts to secure a place were unsuccessful, but it was probably at this time that he met the lady who was afterwards to be his wife, although for a time she lived with him as such while yet she was the wife of another. Lady Catherine Knollys, sister of the fourth Earl of Banbury, was the wife of a gentleman called Senor or Seignieur. Law’s attractions were probably too captivating to be resisted, with the result that she “liked him so well as to pack up her alls, leave her husband, and run away with him to Italy.”

The moral obliquity of the incident lends colour to the unsparing attacks of his enemies, and certainly cannot be extenuated even according to the loose standards of his day. The gravity of the offence he could not be ignorant of, notwithstanding his youth. His finer susceptibilities, however, had been impaired by the contagion of vice, which led him to embark upon risks, especially of gallantry, from mere impulsiveness, and regardless of consequence. What little credit can be extended to Law in connection with this affair, he derives from having remained faithful to her to the last, while the death of her husband, shortly after, relieved him of possible embarrassment during his subsequent visits and residence in Paris.