E. Cobham Brewer 1810–1897. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 1898.
After us, the Deluge.
“I care not what happens when I am dead and gone.” So said Mdme. de Pompadour, the mistress of Louis XV. (1722–1764). Metternich, the Austrian statesman (1773–1859), is credited with the same: but probably he simply quoted the words of the French marchioness.
