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Jeffrey Chilberto
Sjoukje Zaal
Gaurav Aroraa
Ed Price
Cloud Debugging and Profiling in Microsoft Azure: Application Performance
Management in the Cloud
Jeffrey Chilberto Sjoukje Zaal
Auckland, New Zealand Lisse, The Netherlands
Gaurav Aroraa Ed Price
Ghaziabad, India Redmond, WA, USA
Copyright © 2020 by Jeffrey Chilberto, Sjoukje Zaal, Gaurav Aroraa and Ed Price
This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the
material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation,
broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information
storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now
known or hereafter developed.
Trademarked names, logos, and images may appear in this book. Rather than use a trademark symbol with
every occurrence of a trademarked name, logo, or image, we use the names, logos, and images only in an
editorial fashion and to the benefit of the trademark owner, with no intention of infringement of the
trademark.
The use in this publication of trade names, trademarks, service marks, and similar terms, even if they are not
identified as such, is not to be taken as an expression of opinion as to whether or not they are subject to
proprietary rights.
While the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication,
neither the authors nor the editors nor the publisher can accept any legal responsibility for any errors or
omissions that may be made. The publisher makes no warranty, express or implied, with respect to the
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Printed on acid-free paper
To my family, whose love and support give me strength and purpose.
—Jeffrey Chilberto
Introduction�����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������xvii
v
Table of Contents
vii
Table of Contents
viii
Table of Contents
Index��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 369
x
About the Authors
Jeffrey Chilberto is a software consultant specializing
in the Microsoft technical stack, including Azure,
BizTalk, MVC, WCF, and SQL Server. He has enterprise
development experience in a wide range of industries,
including banking, telecommunications, and health care,
in the United States, Europe, Australia, and
New Zealand.
xi
About the Authors
xii
About the Technical Reviewer
Samuel Rowe is a technologist specializing in application
innovation and problem-solving. An agile advocate with
extensive experience in DevOps and cloud practices, he
is currently employed at Microsoft as a solution architect,
having worked previously for IBM and CodeWeavers.
xiii
Acknowledgments
Life teaches each of us in its own way. Sometimes its lessons are difficult to understand,
and sometimes you don’t find support. I am among the lucky ones who is blessed with
a lovely and supportive family, which always inspires and supports me. My wife, Shuby
Arora, and my little angel daughter, Aarchi Arora, permitted me to steal time for this
book, which I should have spent with them. Thanks to the entire Apress team, especially
Shrikant, whose coordination and communication during the period of writing this
book was tremendous. Special thanks to our technical reviewer, Samuel Rowe, for all
of his valuable suggestions, which improved and polished the contents. Thanks also to
my fellow coauthors, Ed Price, Jeffrey Chilberto, and Sjoukje Zaal, for their support in
completing the book.
—Gaurav Aroraa
xv
Introduction
Cloud Debugging and Profiling in Microsoft Azure is both a primer and handbook for
working in Azure. Every organization’s and individual’s adoption and experience of
cloud-based software development is unique, so this book aims to strike a balance
between providing content relevant to introductory users as well as more experienced
ones. As the many services and features of Azure are constantly evolving, it is not
possible to provide a manual addressing all aspects of Azure, so this book highlights
some of the more common features, including samples of services from the major
categories: Functions as a Service (FaaS), Software as a Service (SaaS), Platform as a
Service (PaaS), Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), and Database as a Service (DaaS).
To aid in the discussion of the many topics, a fictitious company’s journey through
Azure is used to illustrate how cloud adoption can benefit many enterprises. The journey
involves moving many on-premises components to similar Azure services, as well as
highlighting some of the benefits and advanced tooling offered as part of the Azure
ecosystem.
This book is for developers and DevOps engineers looking for insight into the
complexities of distributed systems and the features available, to enable a better
understanding of how to profile and debug cloud-based solutions in Azure.
xvii
CHAPTER 1
1
© Jeffrey Chilberto, Sjoukje Zaal, Gaurav Aroraa and Ed Price 2020
J. Chilberto et al., Cloud Debugging and Profiling in Microsoft Azure,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4842-5437-0_1
Chapter 1 Building Solutions in the Azure Cloud
Services
As of this writing, Microsoft Azure is composed of more than 180 services and products.
Those products are typically and currently broken down into 22 categories: AI + Machine
Learning, Analytics, Blockchain, Compute, Containers, Databases, Developer Tools,
DevOps, Hybrid, Identity, Integration, Internet of Things (IoT), Management and
Governance, Media, Migration, Mixed Reality, Mobile, Networking, Security, Storage,
Web, and Windows Virtual Desktop.
The following provides a summary of the different categories.
2
Chapter 1 Building Solutions in the Azure Cloud
store, machine learning can compare your purchase to all your previous purchases and
all the similar purchases made by other customers, thus determining which coupons to
give you, knowing which ones you’re most likely to use.
Another example is predictive maintenance. You can use AI to predict future failures
and then prevent them, to maximize the life and uptime of your product, service, app,
or web site. You can minimize unscheduled equipment downtime and detect anomalies
(such as when devices will fail). You can prevent expensive failures and outages.
Azure Machine Learning Services provides a scalable platform of model management.
Azure Databricks leverages the Apache Spark analytics platform. Cognitive Services
provides a library of API capabilities for contextual interactions (such as image-processing
algorithms to identify, alter, and moderate photos). And Azure Bot Service allows you to
build intelligent bots that interact naturally with users on web sites or in apps. There are 35
services in this category.
Analytics
Now that you have some data options, you must explore solutions that will transform
that data into actionable insights. SQL Data Warehouse, Azure Databricks, and Machine
Learning all provide analytics. There are 15 services in this category.
HDInsight is a managed Hadoop and Spark service. Data Factory is an integration
service that orchestrates and automates your data movement. Stream Analytics provides
real-time data stream processing, which can be from millions of IoT devices. Data Lake
Analytics is on-demand and pay-per-job. Azure Analytics Services is an enterprise grade
analytics engine.
Blockchain
Blockchain solutions provide a trusted means for organizations to collaborate without
requiring a central authority. Azure Blockchain Service, Azure Blockchain Workbench, and
Azure Blockchain Tokens are services to build and manage blockchain-based applications.
Compute
The services offered in Compute range across FaaS, IaaS, and PaaS services. As a
FaaS service, Azure Functions provide serverless application development. Offering
more control over the environment but letting the developer concentrate more on the
application instead of the hardware, cloud services provide a scalable PaaS offering. IaaS
3
Chapter 1 Building Solutions in the Azure Cloud
services offer a wide range of virtual machines across Windows and Linux operating
systems, with an assortment of base images. Later in this chapter, we will explore each
category of cloud-based solutions.
C
ontainers
Using containers is an effective way of bundling and managing applications that use
OS-level virtualization to support efficient application isolation. Azure offers a range of
services for managing and hosting containers, including the Azure Kubernetes Service,
Container Instances, Service Fabric, Azure Container Registry, and Web App for
Containers.
D
atabases
Azure has more than 10 fully managed database services that free you from managing a
database. You can scale quickly and distribute globally, without experiencing downtime.
SQL Database is a fully managed relational database that provisions and scales very
quickly. You can find similar high-availability and security in Azure Database for MySQL,
as well as Azure Database for PostgreSQL.
Cosmos DB is multi-model and supports NoSQL. Or you can use virtual machines to
host enterprise SQL Server apps. SQL Data Warehouse is an elastic data warehouse with
security built into every level of scale. For an exhaustive architectural tour of Azure data
options, see the Azure Data Architecture Guide on the Azure Architecture Center web site
(http://aka.ms/DataArchitecture).
D
eveloper Tools
Azure provides many developer tools for exploring, building, managing, and monitoring
Azure services, including Visual Studio, Azure Lab Services, Azure DevTest Labs,
software development kits (SDKs), and command-line interfaces (CLIs).
D
evOps
Azure DevOps is Microsoft’s suite of tools for managing an application Software
Development Lifecycle (SDLC), including Azure Boards for planning and tracking tasks
across teams, Azure Repos for secure and reliable source control repositories, Azure
Pipelines for managing the build and release process, and Azure Test Plans for managing
and monitoring automated tests, load tests, and test scripts.
4
Chapter 1 Building Solutions in the Azure Cloud
Hybrid
Azure supports many services that allow for solutions to span both on-premises data
centers and cloud data centers. These services vary greatly and include, but are not
limited to, Storage, Identity, DevOps, AI + Machine Learning, Networking, Security, and
Storage. Additionally, Azure provides the ability to host many cloud services in private
data centers by using Azure Stack.
Identity
Azure Active Directory (AD), Azure Active Directory Domain Services, and Azure Active
Directory B2C are examples of services Azure provides for managing user identity and
securing applications and data.
Integration
Azure supports integration in the cloud and on-premises, and some services allow
the integration to span across both. Logic Apps allow complex business processes and
workflows to be developed in an intuitive cloud service. Azure Service Bus and Event Grid
are powerful services that provide reliable cloud messaging and event-based solutions.
Internet of Things
Azure offers many services that support Internet of Things (IoT) devices, and it provides
both a flexible and comprehensive platform for building scalable IoT solutions. Azure
IoT Hub, Azure IoT Central, and Windows 10 IoT Core Services provide support for
connecting and managing billions of IoT assets in a secure and reliable manner. Azure
Sphere and Azure IoT Edge allow you to extend the cloud out to the smallest of devices.
When these IoT services are combined with other Azure services, Azure has excellent
and leading-edge support for building IoT solutions.
5
Chapter 1 Building Solutions in the Azure Cloud
Cloud Shell, and Automation. Traffic Manager and Azure Lighthouse provide control
to allow a customer to protect, manage, and scale a cloud network. Cost Management
+ Billing has many views and features to support how costs are managed, including
detailed interactive views, alerts, and integration support to monitor cloud spending.
Media
Azure provides several services for delivering high-quality video content globally. These
include Content Delivery Network and Media Services for delivering content, as well
as services for encoding and streaming. Content Protection, Video Indexer, and the
Encoding service allow for scalable services for handling media content. The Azure Media
Player simplifies playback by providing a single player for a wide range of media formats.
Migration
Migrating solutions to the cloud, disaster recovery, and data transfer are supported by
many services, including Azure Site Recovery, Azure Database Migration Service, Data
Box, and Azure Migration.
Mixed Reality
Immersive interaction is supported in Azure, using cutting-edge technologies, including
Azure Digital Twins and Spatial Anchors, for building mixed-reality experiences. Remote
Rendering allows for rendering high-quality 3D content, and the Kinect Development
Kit provides building solutions with advanced AI sensors.
Mobile
Building and deploying cross-platform and native mobile applications is supported
in Azure. Services for building mobile applications include Xamarin, which supports
cross-platform development, while Mobile Apps simplify building back-end services for
mobile applications. Visual Studio App Center allows you to continuously build, test,
release, and monitor mobile applications.
Networking
Services are provided to support connecting cloud and on-premises infrastructure and
services. Services for managing network security include Azure Firewall Manager and
6
Chapter 1 Building Solutions in the Azure Cloud
Traffic Manager, while Azure Firewall, Azure DDoS Protection, and Web Application
Firewall provide powerful and scalable protection. Azure ExpressRoute, VPN Gateway,
Virtual WAN, and Azure Bastion provide secure connectivity options to data centers,
virtual machines, and cloud services.
Security
Security is a primary concern for Azure, and many services are available to monitor, detect
threats, and keep customer data safe. Security Center and Azure Sentinel are examples of
security management services provided to protect enterprise data. Key Vault provides a
best-practice approach to maintaining secure control of sensitive keys and other secrets.
Storage
Azure Storage has a range of solutions to fit any size enterprise’s requirements.
Supporting both SMB 3.0 and HTTPS, Azure File storage provides an inexpensive and
simple storage solution designed for lifting and shifting migrations of on-premises data
to the cloud. Designed as a cost-effective solution for massive volumes of data, Azure
Blob storage provides a scalable storage solution for unstructured data. Also, part of the
storage suite of services is Azure Table storage, which provides a simple, low-cost service
for schemaless storage of data. Optimized for Apache Spark and Hadoop analytics
engines, Azure Data Lake Storage provides secure data lake storage. These are just
highlights of some of the storage-related services provided by both Microsoft and other
vendors, including massively scalable cloud repositories, archiving services, as well as
storage designed for high-performance computing.
Web
Azure has many services for building scalable web applications. Azure App Service
and Web Apps allow for hosting scalable, global cloud web applications. Azure
SignalR Service, Notification Hubs, and API Apps provide specialized services for web
application development.
F aaS—Function as a Service
Function as a Service (FaaS), also known as Serverless, is an offering of services that
provides a platform for running and managing functionality (i.e., code) in the cloud,
without any of the complexity of the infrastructure required to run the functionality.
This is where the term serverless comes in, as the detail of the servers that run the
functionality have been abstracted away, thus no longer making it the concern of the
application developer.
Serverless has many benefits for cloud-based solutions. In general, serverless
applications are easier and faster to deploy. They tend to support modern architectures,
such as microservice architecture, very well. As their scope is limited to the functionality
required, they tend to be quicker and less costly to develop than traditional applications.
With built-in scalability, serverless applications are a cost-effective way of hosting
reliable and resilient functionality.
Azure FaaS offerings are under Azure Functions. They will be covered in more detail
in Chapter 3.
S
aaS—Software as a Service
Software as a Service (SaaS) consists of products that are consumed directly where the
building and hosting of the service are not handled by the consumer. This includes
services such as Dynamics 365, SharePoint Online, and Office 365. The Azure portal and
Azure DevOps themselves can be viewed as SaaS offerings, as they function to provide
a view of the Azure services customers have access to. The details of hosting the two
portals are completely managed by Microsoft.
The Azure portal is primarily covered in Chapter 2, although it is referenced
throughout the chapters. Azure DevOps is covered in Chapter 8. Application Insights, an
SaaS for recording and viewing application telemetry, is covered in Chapter 4.
8
Chapter 1 Building Solutions in the Azure Cloud
P
aaS—Platform as a Service
Customers can build upon a Platform as a Service (PaaS) without being concerned about
the infrastructure used to support the service. This includes Cloud Services and App
Service, wherein the customer is responsible for building the service but does not have
to be concerned about the infrastructure that hosts the solution.
Azure App Service is covered in Chapter 6.
I aaS—Infrastructure as a Service
Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) provides essential infrastructure to cloud-based
solutions. From networking to storage, IaaS powers many of the other Azure services
and provides secure and reliable communication to on-premises solutions. Many of the
cloud-based infrastructures mirror on-premises components and allow for cloud-based
networks to be defined, linking virtual machines, storage repositories, and other services
running in and external to the Azure data center.
Azure Storage is covered in Chapters 3 and 5.
D
BaaS—Database as a Service
Database as a Service (DBaaS) provides repositories that run in the cloud and include
RDBMS and schemaless databases. Azure SQL provides a managed cloud-based SQL
Server repository that includes many features tailored to running in the cloud, including
encryption, auditing, and automated backup support using Azure Blob storage. Azure
Cosmos DB provides a multi-model database service that has been designed to support
globally distributed applications.
Azure SQL and Azure Cosmos DB are covered in Chapter 5.
B
uilding for the Cloud
Previously, monolithic, single-tiered applications formed one program on a dedicated
platform. This design made it easier to be predictably scalable and consistent. Now, with
a cloud-based architecture, your application can be built as small independent services,
which leverage APIs to send messages and events. This is a new microservices approach
to application development.
9
Chapter 1 Building Solutions in the Azure Cloud
Your application can grow as much as necessary, by adding new instances. Your
application can now scale elastically, as required. Rather than fewer large updates, you
have the agility to regularly make smaller updates. Rather than a manually managed
system, you’re now looking to design automated self-management.
Knowing how to profile and debug cloud-based solutions is essential to gaining the
most value from running solutions in Azure. We will explain these topics in the subsequent
chapters, but the following sections cover another aspect of gaining the benefits of the
cloud: architecture.
Architectural Solutions
A successful cloud-based solution must take into consideration the cost vs. the value
gained, the application’s resiliency, disaster recovery, scalability, and security. In
addition, you want to build a DevOps process to ensure predic table and reliable
automated deployments. In order to achieve this, you’ll need a system of monitoring,
diagnostics, and testing.
In general terms, architecting cloud-based solutions does require a shift in designing
and developing solutions to take advantage of the cloud’s many benefits, including
elastic infrastructure, improved accessibility, more resilient availability, improved
security, and more rapid application development. For some organizations, the initial
move to the cloud will include moving applications from on-premises infrastructure with
little or no modification. This is referred to as lifting and shifting. Though this approach
is cost-effective and reduces the risk of potential regression, in many situations, it will
require additional effort to gain the benefits of running in the cloud.
Solutions architected with the cloud in mind, known as cloud-native solutions,
tend to be made up of smaller, distributed services and applications. There are many
architectural patterns that fit this profile, and we will cover event-driven architecture and
microservice architecture as examples.
Event-Driven Architecture
A solution made up of applications and services that responds to changes in state can
be termed as event-driven architecture (EDA). As an example of EDA, let’s consider
the scenario of a customer’s address changing. In this example, the system will take
three actions: send an acknowledgment e-mail, update the customer’s address in the
10
Chapter 1 Building Solutions in the Azure Cloud
database, and create a log of the address change. In a more monolithic application,
this might be comprised of a single web page that performs these three steps in a single
method, as illustrated in Figure 1-1.
In this diagram, a request is still made to the changeAddress web method, but
instead of handling the functionality in the web application, an event is published to the
service bus. Three subscribers are then triggered by this event. The first sends an e-mail;
the second updates the customer; and the third creates a log entry.
The monolithic version does have some merit over the EDA example, in its
simplicity, but in cloud-based solutions, a more distributed approach is better. First, by
separating the functionality into smaller components, we can handle change better. For
example, if additional functionality is required, this can be added into this architecture
relatively simply, by adding another listener for the event.
M
icroservices
The microservice architecture is a popular architecture for cloud development. You can
build apps that are scalable and resilient and that you can easily automate and deploy. This
is achieved by designing smaller services that are autonomous and independent. Each of
your services is given a singular purpose. Rather than rebuilding and then redeploying your
application, you can update the services individually and independently. And rather than
creating a data layer to persist the data, each service persists its own data.
If we revisit the EDA sample, we can illustrate microservice architecture, as shown in
Figure 1-3.
In the diagram, each service becomes independent, including its persistence layer.
As you will have noticed, the difference between the diagram for EDA and microservices
is not significant. This is intentional, as the two architectures complement each other.
A
rchitecture Summary
EDA and microservice architecture lend themselves to cloud-based solutions in
many ways. As the coupling between areas of the solution is reduced, multiple teams
contributing to the same solution are less likely to run into conflicts as the solution evolves.
Also, as the solution is made up of independent and isolated components, different areas
of the solution can be scaled independently, allowing for both improved reliability as
well as improved cost-effectiveness, as only the areas of the system requiring additional
resources are increased. Another important consideration: in general, multiple smaller
components are less costly in cloud-based solutions than a single larger component.
There are other architectures that are relevant, and the following are provided as
additional resources to explore:
13
Chapter 1 Building Solutions in the Azure Cloud
C
offeeFix
Throughout the chapters we will use a fictitious company, CoffeeFix, to illustrate
different profiling and debugging aspects of Azure. CoffeeFix is a manufacturer of
high-quality coffeemakers (machines and pots that brew coffee), used in the most
prestigious coffeehouses in the world. Its signature feature is a sensor-controlled brewing
process that is designed to produce consistently full-flavored coffee. Because of the
competitiveness of the coffeemaker market, CoffeeFix coffeemakers send information
back to a central system, to be analyzed, in case the coffeemakers are showing signs of
requiring maintenance.
For our purposes, the company has been very successful and now has coffeemakers
installed across the globe. Unfortunately, the current solution has not been able to scale as
smoothly as the business, and CoffeeFix is looking to invest in scaling their current solution.
C
urrent Solution
The current CoffeeFix solution consists of an application that runs on the coffeemakers,
a central web site, and a database. Both the web site and the database are currently
hosted in a server at CoffeeFix headquarters. Figure 1-4 illustrates the current solution.
14
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since threadbare in the salons, Mme. d'Etioles, bourgeoise though she was,
seemed to stand a fair chance for the post. Thereafter, periodically, she had
been rumored as being separated from her husband, of living now at Paris,
now at Sénart, again at Versailles—perhaps in the palace itself. Nothing
definite was known in the Œil or the Queen's circle. D'Argenson looked
wise, and Bachelier blinked occasionally, but the matter got no further, and
nothing was proclaimed. All this, however, was later, through the last of
March and the beginning of April. Some time since, during the first week in
March, indeed, the Cabinet du Conseil learned something of royal intentions
in another quarter. On a certain Friday some orders were given, a paper
made out at Majesty's command by de Berryer, and from Maurepas certain
others demanded, the subject of which made even that imperturbable person
start with surprise. Such papers were expected to be in readiness by Saturday
afternoon.
"Oh, you are wrong. The matter is nearly arranged. We shall see, my dear
Count—we shall see—"
"When?"
"Yes, probably. Monseigneur the Dauphin will be asked to take his place
after the fourth minuet. And you, Marc—do you know what part in the affair
is to fall to you?"
"Alas, yes—I can conjecture it. I had not feared that it would come so
soon. The husband—Claude—will be my task."
"I am, indeed, sorry for it. Once before, you remember, he fell to me.
Mon Dieu! He took it manfully enough then; but this is worse. Unhappily, he
is fond of his wife."
"Never, Monsieur of the Interior. In heaven there may be such. But then,
in heaven, I am told, there are no kings."
"Yes, and there will soon be thrushes in the bosquet of the Queen!"
The other smiled and shifted his position. "It is more apropos than you
think. Observe—there is de Coigny returned."
"We shall not be seconds after all, then. Let us go and speak with Jules."
Thus the evening wore on in customary fashion, and, as the hour for
supper approached, a little quiver of expectation fell upon the hearts of
certain people in the great room, who, so far as an outsider could have
determined, were in no way connected with each other. D'Argenson had
been missing during the early part of the evening, but made his appearance
at eleven o'clock. De Berryer and Maurepas, during the ensuing quarter of an
hour, each approached and casually addressed him. De Gêvres did not go
near him, but received a nod from across the room that seemed to be
satisfactory to both. The King himself, during a promenade, paused for an
instant on his way to whisper something that his partner herself could not
hear, into the ear of Marc Antoine. The answer was simply, "Yes, Sire," but
the King moved on with new gayety after hearing it.
The Marquis gave a slight, cynical smile. "On the contrary, dear Claude,
I have now lost my last excuse for worry, care, or melancholy. What more
could the gods devise for me?"
"Ah! I know!" returned the other, very gently, as he laid one hand upon
Henri's shoulder. "You must think—only—that she is happier now."
Henri quivered suddenly and shook the hand away. "Stop, Claude. I—I
—no, not even from you," he ejaculated, harshly.
"Forgive me."
"Good-evening, gentlemen."
Henri faced quickly about as Claude bowed to the man who had
approached them. It was d'Argenson.
"You look very serious, Monsieur le Comte. What is the matter? Do the
powers of Europe threaten the last treaty, or is one of the King's lapdogs
dead?" inquired Claude, with his most catching smile, and anxious to give
Henri a moment to change his thought.
He stopped. Maurepas had told him that this man would behave well. It
was not so. Claude had turned deathly white. Both hands had flown to his
head, and he reeled where he stood. Henri sprang forward and caught him
about the body.
"No. I will have nothing." For a moment the three stood motionless and
silent. Then Claude opened his eyes and looked upon the King's minister.
"The letter—invites me—to travel?"
D'Argenson bowed.
Claude slowly drew a handkerchief from his pocket and wiped his lips
with it. "May God damn to hell the King of France! All the armies in his
kingdom shall not drive me from it till I've got back my wife!"
After he had spoken these words d'Argenson was not sure that Claude
had heard them. The young man stood for a minute or two staring at him
stupidly, with a look of heavy indifference. Then his body began to
straighten, he breathed sharply two or three times, and d'Argenson's muscles
stiffened as he prepared to avoid an attack. Claude's hand opened and shut
convulsively, but he made no move forward. After a long time, when the
tension had grown almost past bearing to his cousin and the minister, de
Mailly, with a dignity that Louis himself could not have equalled, said,
measuredly: "Well, messieurs, I go home to await my wife. If her choice is
free, if she is not forced, she will return to me. This is inevitable. Henri, let
us go."
"Monsieur, if Mme. de Mailly does remain, all the bolts, all the bars and
walls of the Bastille will not be enough to save Louis of France from death
at my hands. Tell him so."
In the mean time Deborah had not reached the supper-room. De Gêvres
was her escort from the Hall of Mirrors, supposedly to the Salle du Grand
Couvert; but, when they stood upon the threshold of the first corridor, he
bent over her, saying, in a low voice: "Madame, the public room will be
crowded and disagreeable. In the Salle des Pendules there is to be a little
supper, to which I am instructed to invite you. Will you do me the honor to
accompany me?"
"It must be a small party, or are we the first?" asked Deborah, as they
entered the room and paused before a closed door.
De Gêvres did not answer. Instead, he knocked twice upon the panel.
The Duke pulled open the door, and Deborah passed before him. The
door closed again, softly, behind her. She was alone with the King.
Louis, who stood at the end of the room, his back to the fire, smiled at
her. "Oh, there are no terms of etiquette to-night. We are only very good
friends, you and I, my dear little Countess. Do you see? Now let us sit down
together at this little table, where Mouthier has prepared a most delicate
repast; and as we eat and quaff together some of the golden wine of
Champagne, we will talk. Will you not thus honor me, madame?"
Deborah, who had grown very white during the King's speech, looked
anxiously about her.
"We are utterly alone. None can hear us," observed his Majesty again,
with the idea of being reassuring. He did his companion unguessed injustice.
She had been thrown into a sudden panic of fear.
"Pardon, your Majesty, I—I do not desire to eat. I am not hungry. When
M. de Gêvres conducted me here, I did not understand what he meant. If you
will grant me permission, I will go."
This speech pleased the King incredibly. Here at last was a woman who
would not fall at his feet, whom it were worth his while to win. Her fear was
certainly genuine. She was actually moving towards the door. He did not stir
from his place, wishing not to alarm her further.
"My dear Mme. de Mailly, how cruel to leave me quite alone! As your
sovereign, I might command. As a man, however, I only entreat. Try, for me,
one of these rissoles, which I myself assisted in making. Ah! That is better."
Deborah, something reassured by the quiet tone and the apparent liberty
which was hers, looked doubtfully over to the little table whose glass and
gold shone brightly under the great chandelier. The King was holding a chair
for her. Flight now, were there really nothing intended by this gallantry,
might be a little awkward to explain next day. After a moment's thought,
Deborah went slowly over and sat down at the table. Louis, with a sigh of
comfort and relief, placed himself beside her; and, taking her plate, filled it
with portions from a number of dishes. The girl looked down at them with a
troubled expression. She was thinking of Choisy.
"Lady of the palace of the Queen," repeated Deborah, slowly, her large
eyes fixed upon the King's face.
"Yes, I have said it. Your appointment is here," he replied, tapping the
breast of his coat. "Now tell me what else there is in the world that you wish
for. Ah—there is something, I know. Estates—money—servants—what will
you have, my little one?"
Deborah shivered with cold. She realized the situation now, and the
nerves beneath her flesh were quivering. Pulling herself together with a
strong mental effort, she sat up, rigid and stiff, before her untouched food.
Her mind was quite clear, her path well defined.
"What is it that you want? I read desire in your eyes," repeated the King,
thinking to win his suit more easily than he had at first believed.
"No, no. There is nothing. I—thank your Majesty for your kindness.
There is nothing that I want. Indeed, indeed, there is nothing."
He was put out, and yet there was a little twinkle in her eyes that became
her wonderfully, and seemed, too, to give him hope. After an instant he felt
that anger was unnecessary, and thus recovered his ardent dignity as best he
could. "I beg of you—be serious. Since you will name for me nothing that
you wish, I will at least tell you in what you are lacking. When you hear
these things—desire will be born. Madame—read this."
From his coat Louis took a broad paper, folded and royally sealed.
Deborah, her face troubled and her hands shaking slightly, rose to receive it,
and, after a moment of hesitation, at a most impatient nod from the King,
broke the seals, and found the inside of the document covered with the neat,
legible writing of Maurepas. She glanced quickly over its lines:
"The right to confer titles of honor being one of the most sublime
attributes of supreme power, the Kings, our predecessors, have left us divers
monuments of the use they have made of it in favor of persons whose virtues
and merits they desired to extol and make illustrious. Considering that our
very dear and well-beloved cousin, Deborah Travis, wife of the Comte de
Mailly, issues from one of the greatest families of a nation closely allied to
us, whom we delight to honor; that she is attached as lady of the palace to
the Queen, our very dear companion; that she is united by marriage to one of
the most ancient and illustrious families in our realm, whose ancestors have,
for several centuries, rendered important services to our crown; and that she
joins to all these advantages those virtues and qualities of heart and mind
which have gained for her a just and universal consideration, we take the
highest satisfaction in proclaiming her succession to the title and estate of
that esteemed and honored lady, her cousin, Marie Anne de Mailly, and we
hereby invest her with the Duchy of Châteauroux, together with all its
appurtenances and dependencies, situated in Berry,"*
* This form is taken from the letters-patent used in the case of Marie
Anne de Mailly.
Deborah, having finished the perusal of this document, let it float from
her fingers to the floor, while she stood perfectly still, staring at the face of
the man seated before her. Her expression, first of amazement, then of
horror, was changing now to something puzzled and undecided, which the
King beheld with relief.
"Madame," he observed, "you should thank me. I make you first lady of
the Court. I give you title, wealth, power. I place a Queen below you in my
own esteem. I give you ministers to command, no one to obey. I make your
antechamber a room more frequented than my own cabinet. I leave it for
you, if you wish it, to rule France. And what is it that I ask in return?
Nothing! Nothing that your own generosity will not grant without the asking.
Think of what you are, and of what you will become. Have you, then, no
word in which to thank me?"
He also had risen now, and was looking at her, as she stood, with a
mixture of curiosity, admiration, and impatience.
Deborah was still—so still that she might have been taken for a man-
made thing. And by the expression of her face Louis knew that he must not
speak more now. She was fighting her battle; his forces must win or lose as
they stood, augmented no further. Before her had risen the picture of two
lives, the one that was opening to her and the one that she had thought to
live. As she thought, the real life, for a little, grew dim, distant, unimportant.
The other, with its scarce imaginable power, glory, position, became clearer
and still more clear till she could see into its inmost depths. Adulation,
pleasure, riches, ease, universal sway, a court at her feet, a King to bar
malice from her door, an existence of beauty, culture, laughter, light,
founded on—what? ending—how? Yes, these questions came, inevitably. To
answer the first, she looked slowly over the man before her, as he stood in all
the beauty of his young manhood and majesty. Nevertheless, through that
beauty his true nature was readable, showing plainly through his eyes, in the
expression of his heavy lower lip, in his too weak chin—that sullen, morose,
pettish, carnal, warped nature, best fitted for the peasant's hut, destined by
Fate, lover of grim comedy, for the greatest palace of earth. This man, who
had no place in her soul-life, must build her pedestal, must place her thereon.
And the end of all—when end should come—ah! Now Deborah saw again
the bed of Marie Anne de Châteauroux, with the Duchess upon it, as she had
lain there for the last time. And Marie Anne de Mailly had been Claude's
cousin—Claude's—
Then she turned upon him with that which for the moment she had let lie
dormant in her heart, now all awake and quivering with life—her love for
Claude. It was, perhaps, God, who was helping as she asked.
"I am saying that I refuse to listen any more to your insults. I am saying
that I am ashamed—utterly ashamed—that you should so have thought of
me that you dare offer them. I am not Duchess of Châteauroux!" She placed
her foot on the fallen paper, and stammered over the French words as she
spoke, for she was thinking in English now. "God save me from it! I am no
lady of the palace of the Queen—I am not of Versailles, nor of France. I owe
allegiance to no French King. I come from a country that is true and sweet
and pure, where they hate and despise your French ways, your unholy
customs, your laws, your manners, your dishonoring of honest things, your
treatment of women. I am honest. I hate myself for having lived among you
for months as I have done. I am going away, I will leave here, this place, to-
night. If my—my husband will not take me—I shall go back alone, by the
way I came, to my country, where the men, if they are awkward, are upright,
if the women have not etiquette, they are pure.—Let me go!—Let me go!"
"'I AM NOT THE DUCHESS OF CHATEAUROUX'"
Louis, in a sudden access of fury, had sprung forward and seized her by
the wrists. Deborah's temper was fully roused at last; her blood poured hotly
through her veins. Her life had become a little thing in comparison to the
laws for which she was speaking, the sense of right which seemed to hold no
part in this French order of things. Bracing herself as she might in her high-
heeled slippers, she suddenly threw all her weight forward against the man,
taking him off his guard, and so forcing him back that he was obliged to
loosen his hold of her in order to regain equilibrium. The instant that she was
free Deborah turned and fled to the door. She flung herself bodily against it.
It was locked from the outside.
Deborah looked into the uplifted face of the King. Certainly it was
marvellously handsome—beautiful enough to have turned the heads of many
women. Perhaps, after all, there was excuse for those poor creatures, the
three sisters, who had yielded to him. Perhaps, after all, pity was their only
just measure. But she—Deborah Travis—had known handsome faces before.
Indeed, she had come near to life-long unhappiness through that which she
had known best. Suddenly, as in a picture, she beheld there, beside the King,
the head of Charles Fairfield. Yes, Louis was the finer-featured of the two.
Nevertheless, all temptation was gone.
"Monsieur le Roi," she said, clearly, and with a kind of cynicism even
through her nervousness, "you are too late. I have been courted before, and
I've plighted my troth and given my heart into some one's keeping. You are
too late."
"Leaves to-night!" A dark flush spread over Deborah's face. "Leaves to-
night! Mon Dieu! When—where—how? Oh, I will go now! You shall let me
go to him, do you hear? At once! Why, I shall be left here alone! I—I—shall
be like Mme. de Coigny. Your Majesty—" suddenly she grew calm, and her
voice gently sweet—"Your Majesty, let me go."
"Open it, then, or—there is another!" she pointed across the room to the
door in the opposite wall which led into the royal suite.
The King moved about quickly, placing himself in front of it. The act
was sufficient. It showed Deborah that she had neither pity nor mercy to
hope for, nothing but her own determination on which to depend. And, as the
knowledge of helplessness became more certain, so did her will become
stronger, her brain more alert. She looked about the room. Was there a
weapon of defence or of attack anywhere within reach? On the supper-table
were knives and forks of gold—dull, useless things. On one side of the room
was a great clock; on the mantel stood another. There were also stiff chairs,
tabourets, an escritoire, and the table—these were all. What to do? She must
get home, get to Claude, as rapidly as possible. Would he be there? Would he
have trusted and waited for her? If not—what? She would not think of that
now. She must first escape through that unlocked door guarded by the King.
How to do it? Strategy, perhaps.
Deborah gave a slight, pretty smile. "I have only decided that I should
like to finish Mouthier's comfits. We have not even touched the cream," she
said, coquettishly.
"Louis," she said, suddenly, looking at him with a significant smile and
eyes half closed, "pick up for me the paper that I dropped upon the floor. I—
have not finished reading it."
The King was enchanted. She was surrendering at last. If she chose to
make it easier for her vanity by treating him like a servant—why, he was
willing. He rose at once and went back to the spot where Maurepas'
document had fallen and been spurned by Deborah's heel. He stooped to pick
it up. There was a crisp rustle of stiff, silk petticoats. He looked up just in
time to behold his prize fling open the north door and hurry through it into
the room beyond. This was the King's bedroom, and in it, at this hour, were
only Bachelier, Levet, and two under-footmen. These four, in open-mouthed
amazement, beheld the flying figure of a lady burst in from the Salle des
Pendules, run across the royal room, and escape into the council-chamber,
just as the King, purple with anger, shouted from the doorway: "Beasts!
Fools! Idiots! Could you not hold her?"
"No, imbecile! Should the King's valet be seen chasing a woman through
the corridors of Versailles at midnight? Ah! It is abominable!"
"Henri, two hundred thousand is too much for the estate. The château is
impossible—you are giving me money. I'll not have it—"
"Ah! She has not come—she does not come—she does not come! I shall
go mad. I shall shoot myself if she does not return! Mon Dieu!—Mon Dieu!"
"Claude, be calm. There is time. She could not yet have got away. Be
calm. She will come, of course."
Henri spoke soothingly, but, as the minutes passed, and still Deborah
delayed, his heart sank. What to do with his cousin? Claude would, in a little
time, be actually unbalanced, he feared.
Claude made a quick dash for the table, on which, amid a pile of varied
articles, were his duelling pistols. He picked one of them up. Henri sprang
from his place and seized his cousin round the shoulders.
"Idiot!—Put it down!—Stop!"
Claude was struggling to free himself from the grasp. The strength of a
madman seemed to be in his arms. Henri felt his hold weakening. He was
being repulsed.
"Mordi! you shall not!" growled Claude, furiously. "I tell you she is not
coming! I will kill myself! Let me—let me go!"
The weapon clattered to the floor. Claude held out both arms, and
Deborah, dazed, weary, utterly happy, went into them and was clasped close
to his heart.
"Claude—we must go away," she whispered, her lips close to his ear.
"Where—where—Claude?"
"I have no longer a country, my wife. But I know that which is there for
us over the sea—that wherein I found you first."
Deborah gave a little sob of relief; and, as her lips met those of her
husband, Henri de Mailly, who had kept him for her, sharply turned away.
EPILOGUE
THE END
*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE HOUSE
OF DE MAILLY ***
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