her, and who sedulously cultivated her favourable sentiments towards him.
From the time he was Minister, she saw only with his eyes; he had the
talent of amusing her, and his manners to women, generally, were
extremely agreeable.

Two persons--the Lieutenant of Police and the Postmaster-General--were
very much in Madame de Pompadour's confidence; the latter, however,
became less necessary to her from the time that the King communicated to
M. de Choiseul the secret of the post-office, that is to say, the system
of opening letters and extracting matter from them: this had never been
imparted to M. d'Argenson, in spite of the high favour he enjoyed. I have
heard that M. de Choiseul abused the confidence reposed in him, and
related to his friends the ludicrous stories, and the love affairs,
contained in the letters which were broken open. The plan they pursued,
as I have heard, was very simple. Six or seven clerks of the post-office
picked out the letters they were ordered to break open, and took the
impression of the seals with a ball of quicksilver. Then they put each
letter, with the seal downwards, over a glass of hot water, which melted
the wax without injuring the paper. It was then opened, the desired
matter extracted, and it was sealed again, by means of the impression.
This is the account of the matter I have heard. The Postmaster-General
carried the extracts to the King on Sundays. He was seen coming and
going on this noble errand as openly as the Ministers. Doctor Quesnay
often, in my presence, flew in such a rage about that infamous Minister,
as he called him, that he foamed at the mouth. "I would as soon dine
with the hangman as with the Postmaster-General," said the Doctor. It
must be acknowledged that this was astonishing language to be uttered in
the apartments of the King's mistress; yet it went on for twenty years
without being talked of. "It was probity speaking with earnestness,"
said M. de Marigny, "and not a mere burst of spite or malignity."