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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Memoirs of Madame de Montespan, Volume
+III., by Madame La Marquise De Montespan
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: The Memoirs of Madame de Montespan, Volume III.
+       Being the Historic Memoirs of the Court of Louis XIV.
+
+Author: Madame La Marquise De Montespan
+
+Release Date: September 29, 2006 [EBook #3849]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MARQUISE DE MONTESPAN ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by David Widger
+
+
+
+
+
+MEMOIRS OF MADAME LA MARQUISE DE MONTESPAN
+
+Written by Herself
+
+
+Being the Historic Memoirs of the Court of Louis XIV.
+
+
+
+
+BOOK 3.
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXV.
+
+M. de Lauzun and Mademoiselle de Montpensier.--Marriage of the One and
+Passion of the Other.--The King Settles a Match.--A Secret Union.--The
+King Sends M. de Lauzun to Pignerol.--The Life He Leads
+There.--Mademoiselle's Liberality.--Strange Way of Acknowledging It.
+
+
+They are forever talking about the coquetry of women; men also have their
+coquetry, but as they show less grace and finesse than we do, they do not
+get half as much attention.
+
+The Marquis de Lauzun, having one day, noticed a certain kindly feeling
+for him in the glances of Mademoiselle, endeavoured to seem to her every
+day more fascinating and agreeable.  The foolish Princess completely fell
+into the snare, and suddenly giving up her air of noble indifference,
+which till then had made her life happy, she fell madly in love with a
+schemer who despised and detested her.
+
+Held back for some months by her pride, as also by the exigencies of
+etiquette, she only disclosed her sentimental passion by glances and a
+mutual exchange of signs of approval; but at last she was tired of
+self-restraint and martyrdom, and, detaining M. de Lauzun one day in a
+recess, she placed her written offer of marriage in his hand.
+
+The cunning Marquis feigned astonishment, pretending humbly to renounce
+such honour, while increasing his wiles and fascinations; he even went so
+far as to shed tears, his most difficult feat of all.
+
+Mademoiselle de Montpensier, older than he by twelve or fourteen years,
+never suspected that such a disparity of years was visible in her face.
+When one has been pretty, one imagines that one is still so, and will
+forever remain so.  Plastered up and powdered, consumed by passion, and
+above all, blinded by vanity, she fancied that Nature had to obey
+princes, and that, to favour her, Time would stay his flight.
+
+Though tired and bored with everything, Lauzun, the better to excite her
+passion, put on timid, languid airs, like those of some lad fresh from
+school.  Quitting the embraces of some other woman, he played the lonely,
+pensive, melancholy bachelor, the man absorbed by this sweet, new mystery
+of love.
+
+Having made mutual avowal of their passion, which was fill of esteem,
+Lauzun inquired, merely from motives of caution, as to the Princess's
+fortune; and she did not fail to tell him everything, even about her
+plate and jewels.  Lauzun's love grew even more ardent now, for she had
+at least forty millions, not counting her palace.
+
+He asked if, by the marriage, he would become a prince, and she replied
+that she, herself, had not sufficient power to do this; that she was most
+anxious to arrange this, if she could; but anyhow, that she could make
+him Duc de Montpensier, with a private uncontrolled income of five
+hundred thousand livres.
+
+He asked if, on the family coat-of-arms, the husband's coronet was to
+figure, or the wife's; but, as she would not change her name, her arms,
+she decided, could remain as heretofore,--the crown, the fleur-de-lis,
+and so forth.
+
+He inquired if the children of the marriage would rank as princes, and
+she said that she saw nothing to prevent this.  He also asked if he would
+be raised higher in the peerage, and might look to being made a prince at
+last, and styled Highness as soon as the contract had been signed.
+
+This caused some doubt and reflection.  "The King, my cousin," said
+Mademoiselle, "is somewhat strict in matters of this sort.  He seems to
+think that the royal family is a new arch-saint, at whom one may look
+only when prostrate in adoration; all contract therewith is absolutely
+forbidden.  I begin to feel uneasy about this; yes, Lauzun, I have fears
+for our love and marriage."
+
+"Are you, then, afraid?"  asked Lauzun, quite crestfallen.
+
+"I knew how to point the Bastille cannon at the troops of the King," she
+replied; "but he was very young then.  No matter, I will go and see him;
+if he is my King, I am his cousin; if he has his crotchets, I have my
+love and my will.  He can't do anything, my dear Lauzun; I love you as
+once he loved La Valliere, as to-day he loves Montespan; I am not afraid
+of him.  As for the permission, I know our history by heart, and I will
+prove to him by a hundred examples that, from the time of Charlemagne up
+to the present time, widows and daughters of kings have married mere
+noblemen.  These nobleman may have been most meritorious,--I only know
+them from history,--but not one of them was as worthy as you."
+
+So saying, she asked for her fan, her gloves, and her horses, and
+attended by her grooms-in-waiting, she went to the King in person.
+
+The King listened to her from beginning to end, and then remarked, "You
+refused the Kings of Denmark, Portugal, Spain, and England, and you wish
+to marry my captain of the guard, the Marquis de Lauzun?"
+
+"Yes, Sire, for I place him above all monarchs,--yourself alone
+excepted."
+
+"Do you love him immensely?"
+
+"More than I can possibly say; a thousand, a hundred thousand times more
+than myself."
+
+"Do you think he is equally devoted to you?"--"That would be impossible,"
+she tranquilly answered; "but his love for me is delicate, tender; and
+such friendship suffices me."
+
+"My cousin, in all that there is self-interest.  I entreat you to
+reflect.  The world, as you know, is a mocking world; you want to excite
+universal derision and injure the respect which is due to the place that
+I fill."
+
+"Ah, Sire, do not wound me!  I fling myself at your feet.  Have
+compassion upon M. de Lauzun, and pity my tears.  Do not exercise your
+power; let him be the consolation of my life; let me marry him."
+
+The King, no longer able to hide his disgust and impatience, said,
+"Cousin, you are now a good forty-four years old; at that age you ought
+to be able to take care of yourself.  Spare me all your grievances, and
+do what pleases you."
+
+On leaving Mademoiselle, he came to my apartment and told me about all
+this nonsense.  I then informed him of what I had heard by letter the day
+before.  Lauzun, while still carrying on with the fastest ladies of the
+Court and the town, had just wheedled the Princess into making him a
+present of twenty millions,--a most extravagant gift.
+
+"This is too much!" exclaimed the King; and he at once caused a letter to
+be despatched to Mademoiselle and her lover, telling them that their
+intimacy must cease, and that things must go no farther.
+
+But the audacious Lauzun found means to suborn a well-meaning simpleton
+of a priest, who married them secretly the very same day.
+
+The King's indignation and resentment may well be imagined.  He had his
+captain of the guard arrested and sent as a prisoner to Pignerol.
+
+On this occasion, M. de Lauzun complained bitterly of me; he invented the
+most absurd tales about me, even saying that he had struck me in my own
+apartments, after taunting me to my face with "our old intimacy."
+
+That is false; he reproached me with nothing, for there was nothing to
+reproach.  Shortly after the Princess's grand scene, he came and begged
+me to intercede on his behalf.  I only made a sort of vague promise, and
+he knew well enough that, in the great world, a vague promise is the same
+as a refusal.
+
+For more than six months I had to stanch the tears and assuage the grief
+of Mademoiselle.  So tiresome to me did this prove, that she alone
+well-nigh sufficed to make me quit the Court.
+
+Such sorrowing and chagrin made her lose the little beauty that still
+remained to her; nothing seemed more incongruous and ridiculous than to
+hear this elderly grand lady talking perpetually about "her dearest
+darling, the prisoner."
+
+At the time I write he is at Pignerol; his bad disposition is forever
+getting him into trouble.  She sends him lots of money unknown to the
+King, who generally knows everything.  All this money he squanders or
+gambles away, and when funds are low, says, "The old lady will send us
+some."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXVI.
+
+Hyde, the Chancellor.--Misfortune Not Always Misfortune.--Prince
+Comnenus.--The King at Petit-Bourg.--His Incognito.--Who M. de Vivonne
+Really Was.
+
+
+The castle of Petit-Bourg, of which the King made me a present, is
+situate on a height overlooking the Seine, whence one may get the
+loveliest of views.  So pleasant did I find this charming abode, that I
+repaired thither as often as possible, and stayed for five or six days.
+One balmy summer night, I sat in my dressing-gown at the central balcony,
+watching the stars, as was my wont, asking myself whether I should not be
+a thousand times happier if I should pass my life in a retreat like this,
+and so have time to contemplate the glorious works of Nature, and to
+prepare myself for that separation which sooner or later awaited me.
+Reason bade me encourage such thoughts, yet my heart offered opposition
+thereto, urging that there was something terrifying in solitude, most of
+all here, amid vast fields and meadows, and that, away from the Court and
+all my friends, I should grow old, and death would take me before my
+time.  While plunged in such thoughts, I suddenly heard the sound of a
+tocsin, and scanning the horizon, I saw flames and smoke rising from some
+hamlet or country-house.  I rang for my servants, and told them instantly
+to despatch horsemen to the scene of the catastrophe, and bring back
+news.
+
+The messengers started off, and soon came back to say that the fire had
+broken out at the residence of my lord Hyde, Chancellor of England, who
+was but lately convalescent.  They had seen him lying upon a rug on the
+grass, some little distance from the burning mansion.  I forthwith
+ordered my carriage to be sent for him, and charged my surgeon and
+secretary to invite him to take shelter at my castle.
+
+My lord gratefully accepted the invitation; he entered my room as the
+clock struck twelve.  As yet he could not tell the cause of the disaster,
+and in a calm, patriarchal manner observed, "I am a man marked out for
+great misfortune.  God forbid, madame, that the mischance which dogs my
+footsteps touch you also!"
+
+"I cannot bear to see a fire," said I, in reply to the English nobleman,
+"for some dreadful accident always results therefrom.  Yet, on the whole,
+they are of good augury, and I am sure, my lord, that your health or your
+affairs will benefit by this accident."
+
+Hearing me talk thus, my lord smiled.  He only took some slight
+refreshment,--a little soup,--and heard me give orders for all my
+available servants to be sent to the scene of disaster, in order to save
+all his furniture, and protect it as well.
+
+After repeated expressions of his gratitude, he desired to withdraw, and
+retired to rest.  Next day we learnt that the fire had been got under
+about one o'clock in the morning; one wing only of the chateau had been
+destroyed, and the library, together with all the linen and plate, was
+well-nigh intact.  Lord Hyde was very glad to hear the news.  They told
+him that all the labourers living near had gladly come to the help of his
+servants and mine.  As his private cashbox had been saved, owing to their
+vigilance and honesty, he promised to distribute its contents among them
+when he returned.
+
+Hardly had he got the words out, when they came to tell me that, on the
+highroad, just in front of my gates, a carriage, bound for Paris, had the
+traces broken, and the travellers persons of distinction begged the
+favour of my hospitality for a short while.  I consented with pleasure,
+and they went back to take the travellers my answer.
+
+"You see, madame," said the Chancellor, "my bad luck is contagious; no
+sooner have I set foot in this enchanting abode than its atmosphere
+deteriorates.  A travelling-carriage passes rapidly by in front of the
+gates, when lo! some invisible hand breaks it to pieces, and stops it
+from proceeding any further."
+
+Then I replied, "But how do you know, monsieur, that this mishap may not
+prove a most agreeable adventure for the travellers to whom we are about
+to give shelter?  To begin with, they will have the honour of making your
+acquaintance, and to meet with an illustrious person is no common or
+frivolous event."
+
+The servants announced the Princes Comnenus, who immediately entered the
+salon.  Though dressed in travelling-costume, with embroidered gaiters,
+in the Greek fashion, it was easy to see what they were.  The son, a lad
+of fourteen, was presented to me by his father, and when both were
+seated, I introduced them to the Chancellor.
+
+"The name is well known," observed the Prince, "even in Greece.  My lord
+married his daughter to the heir-presumptive to the English throne, and
+England, being by nature ungrateful, has distressed this worthy parent,
+while robbing him of all his possessions."
+
+At these words Lord Hyde became greatly affected; he could not restrain
+his tears, and fearing at first to compromise himself, he told us that
+his exile was voluntary and self-imposed, or very nearly so.
+
+After complimenting the Chancellor of a great kingdom, Prince Comnenus
+thought that he ought to say something courteous and flattering to
+myself.
+
+"Madame," quoth he, "it is only now, after asking for hospitality and
+generously obtaining it, that I and my son have learnt the name of the
+lady who has so graciously granted us admission to this most lovely
+place.  For a moment we hesitated in awe.  But now our eyes behold her
+whom all Europe admires, whom a great King favours with his friendship
+and confidence.  What strange chances befall one in life!  Could I ever
+have foreseen so fortunate a mishap!"
+
+I briefly replied to this amiable speech, and invited the travellers to
+spend, at least, one day with us.  They gladly accepted, and each retired
+to his apartment until the time came for driving out.  Dinner was laid,
+and on the point of being served, when the King, who was on his way from
+Fontainebleau, suddenly entered my room.  He had heard something about a
+fire, and came to see what had happened.  I at once informed him, telling
+him, moreover, that I had the Duke of York's father-in-law staying with
+me at the moment.
+
+"Lord Hyde, the Chancellor?"  exclaimed the King.  "I have never seen
+him, and have always been desirous to make his acquaintance.  The
+opportunity is an easy and favourable one."
+
+"But that is not all, Sire; I have other guests to meet you," said I.
+
+"And who may they be?"  inquired the King, smiling.  "Just because I have
+come in rough-and-ready plight, your house is full of people."
+
+"But they are in rough-and-ready plight as well," I answered; "so your
+Majesties must mutually excuse each other."
+
+"Are you in fun or in earnest?" asked his Majesty.  "Have you really got
+some king stowed away in one of your rooms?"
+
+"Not a king, Sire, but an emperor,--the Emperor of Constantinople and
+Trebizond, accompanied by the Prince Imperial, his son.  You shall see
+two Greek profiles of the best sort, two finely cut noses, albeit hooked,
+and almond-shaped eyes, like those of Achilles and Agamemnon."
+
+Then the King said, "Send for your groom of the chambers at once, and
+tell him to give orders that my incognito be strictly observed.  You must
+introduce me to these dignitaries as your brother, M. de Vivonne.  Under
+these conditions, I will join your party at table; otherwise, I should be
+obliged to leave the castle immediately."
+
+The King's wishes were promptly complied with; the footmen were let into
+the secret, and I introduced "Monsieur de Vivonne" to my guests.
+
+The talk, without being sparkling, was pleasant enough until dessert.
+When the men-servants left us, it assumed a very different character. The
+King induced the Chancellor to converse, and asked him if his exile were
+owing to the English monarch personally, or to some parliamentary
+intrigue.
+
+"King Charles," replied his lordship, "is a prince to gauge whose
+character requires long study.  Apparently, he is the very soul of
+candour, but no one is more deceitful than he.  He fawns and smiles upon
+you when in his heart of hearts he despises and loathe you.  When the
+Duke of York, unfortunately, became violently enamoured of my daughter,
+he did not conceal his attachment from his brother, the King, and at last
+asked for his approval to join his fortunes to my daughter's, when the
+King, without offering opposition, contented himself by pointing out the
+relative distance between their rank and position; to which the Duke
+replied, 'But at one time you did everything you possibly could to get
+Olympia Mancini, who was merely Mazarin's niece!'  And King Charles, who
+could not deny this, left his brother complete liberty of action.
+
+"As my daughter was far dearer and more precious to me than social
+grandeur, I begged the Duke of York to find for himself a partner of
+exalted rank.  He gave way to despair, and spoke of putting an end to his
+existence; in fact, he behaved as all lovers do whom passion touches to
+madness; so this baleful marriage took place.  God is my witness that I
+opposed it, urged thereto by wisdom, by modesty, and by foresight.  Now,
+as you see, from that cruel moment I have been exiled to alien lands,
+robbed of the sight of my beloved child, who has been raised to the rank
+of a princess, and whom I shall never see again.  Why did my sovereign
+not say to me frankly, I do not like this marriage; you must oppose it,
+Chancellor, to please me?
+
+"How different was his conduct from that of his cousin, the French King!
+Mademoiselle d'Orleans wanted to make an unsuitable match; the King
+opposed it, as he had a right to do, and the marriage did not take
+place."
+
+My "brother," the King, smiled as he told his lordship he was right.
+
+Prince Comnenus was of the same opinion, and, being expressly invited to
+do so, he briefly recounted his adventures, and stated the object of his
+journey to Paris.
+
+"The whole world," said he, "is aware of the great misfortunes of my
+family.  The Emperors Andronicus and Michael Comnenus, driven from the
+throne of Constantinople, left their names within the heart and memory of
+Greece; they had ruled the West with a gentle sceptre, and in a people's
+grateful remembrance they had their reward.  My ancestors, their
+descendants, held sway in Trebizond, a quicksand which gave way beneath
+their tread.  From adversity to adversity, from country to country, we
+were finally driven to seclusion in the Isle of Candia, part of the
+quondam Minos territory.  Venice had allowed Candia to fall before
+Mahomet's bloody sword.  Europe lost her bulwark, the Cross of the
+Saviour was thrown down, and the Candian Christians have been massacred
+or forced to flee.  I have left in the hands of the conqueror my fields
+and forests, my summer palace, my winter palace, and my gardens filled
+with the produce of America, Asia, and Europe.  From this overwhelming
+disaster I managed to save my son; and as my sole fortune I brought away
+with me the large jewels of Andronicus, his ivory and sapphire sceptre,
+his scimitar of Lemnos, and his ancient gold crown, which once encircled
+Theseus's brow.
+
+"These noble relics I shall present to the King of France.  They say that
+he is humane, generous, fond of glory, and zealous in the cause of
+justice.  When before his now immovable throne he sees laid down these
+last relics of an ancient race, perhaps he will be touched by so
+lamentable a downfall, and will not suffer distress to trouble my last
+days, and darken the early years of this my child."
+
+During this speech I kept watching the King's face.  I saw that he was
+interested, then touched, and at last was on the point of forgetting his
+incognito and of appearing in his true character.
+
+"Prince," said he to the Greek traveller, "my duties and my devotion make
+it easy for me to approach the King of France's person very closely. In
+four or five days he will be leaving Fontainebleau for his palace at
+Saint Germain.  I will tell him without modification all that I have just
+heard from you.  Without being either prophet or seer, I can guarantee
+that you will be well received and cordially welcomed, receiving such
+benefits as kings are bound to yield to kings.
+
+"Madame, who respects and is interested in you, is desirous, I feel
+certain, for me to persuade you to stay here until her departure; she
+enjoys royal favour, and it is my sister herself who shall present you at
+Court.  You shall show her, you shall show us all, the golden crown of
+Theseus, the sceptre of Adronicus, and this brow which I gaze upon and
+revere, for it deserves a kingly diamond.
+
+"As for you, my lord," said his Majesty to the English nobleman, "if the
+misfortune of last night prove disastrous in more ways than one, pray
+wait for a while before you go back to the smouldering ashes of a
+half-extinguished fire.  My sister takes pleasure in your company;
+indeed, the Marquise is charmed to be able to entertain three such
+distinguished guests, and begs to place her chateau at your disposal
+until such time as your own shall be restored.  We shall speak of you to
+the King, and he will certainly endeavour to induce King Charles, his
+cousin, to recall you to your native country."
+
+Then, after saying one or two words to me in private, he bowed to the
+gentlemen and withdrew.  We went out on to the balcony to see him get
+into his coach, when, to the surprise and astonishment of my guests, as
+the carriage passed along the avenue, about a hundred peasants, grouped
+near the gateway, threw off their hats and cried, "Long live the King!"
+
+Prince Comnenus and his son were inconsolable; I excused myself by saying
+that it was at the express desire of our royal visitor, and my lord
+admitted that at last he recollected his features, and recognised him by
+his grand and courtly address.
+
+Before I end my tale, do not let me forget to say that the King strongly
+recommended Prince Comnenus to the Republic of Genoa, and obtained for
+him considerable property in Corsica and a handsome residence at Ajaccio.
+He accepted five or six beautiful jewels that had belonged to Andronicus,
+and caused the sum of twelve hundred thousand francs to be paid to the
+young Comnenus from his treasury.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXVII
+
+The Universal Jubilee.--Court Preachers.--King David.--Madame de
+Montespan is Obliged to go to Clagny.--Bossuet's Mission.--Mademoiselle
+de Mauleon.--An Enemy's Good Faith.
+
+
+I do not desire to hold up to ridicule the rites of that religion in
+which I was born and bred.  Neither would I disparage its ancient usages,
+nor its far more modern laws.  All religions, as I know, have their
+peculiarities, all nations their contradictions, but I must be suffered
+to complain of the abuse sometimes made in our country of clerical and
+priestly authority.
+
+A general jubilee was held soon after the birth of my second son, and
+among Christian nations like ours, a jubilee is as if one said, "Now all
+statutes, divine and earthly, are repealed; by means of certain formula
+recited, certain visits paid to the temples, certain acts of abstinence
+practised here and there, all sins, misdemeanours, and crimes are
+forgiven, and their punishment cancelled."  It is generally on the
+occasion of the proclamation of a new pontificate at Rome that such great
+papal absolutions are extended over the whole universe.
+
+The jubilee having been proclaimed in Paris, the Court preachers worked
+miracles.  They denounced all social irregularities and friendships of
+which the Church disapproved.  The opening sermon showed plainly that the
+orator's eloquence was pointed at myself.  The second preacher showed
+even less restraint; he almost mentioned me by name.  The third
+ecclesiastic went beyond all bounds, actually uttering the following
+words:
+
+"Sire, when King David was still but a shepherd, a heifer was stolen from
+his flocks; David made complaint to the patriarch of the land, when his
+heifer was restored to him, and the thief was punished.
+
+"When David came to the throne, he carried off his servant's wife, and as
+an excuse for such an odious deed, he pleaded the young woman's extreme
+beauty.  The wretched servant besought him to obey the voice, not of
+passion, but of justice, and the servant was disgraced and perished
+miserably.  Oh, David, unhappy David!"
+
+The King, who had found it hard to sit quiet and hear such insults, said
+to me that evening:
+
+"Go to Clagny.  Let this stormy weather pass by.  When it is fine again,
+you must come back."
+
+Having never run counter to the wishes of the father of my children, I
+acquiesced, and without further delay gladly departed.
+
+Next day, Madame de Montausier came to see me at my country-house; she
+told me of the general rumour that was afloat at Court.  The news, said
+she, of my retirement had begun to get about; three bishops had gone to
+congratulate the King, and these gentlemen had despatched couriers to
+Paris to inform the heads of the various parishes, inviting them to write
+to the prince sympathising references touching an event which God and all
+Christendom viewed with complete satisfaction.
+
+Madame de Montausier assured me that the King's bearing was fairly calm
+on the whole, and she also added that he had granted an interview of half
+an hour at least to the Abbe Bossuet, who had discoursed to him about me
+in a strain similar to that of the other clerics.
+
+She was my sincere friend; she promised to come to Clagny every evening,
+driving thither incognito.
+
+She had hardly been gone an hour, when my footman announced "Monsieur
+Bossuet, Bishop of Condom."
+
+At the mention of this name, I felt momentarily inclined to refuse to see
+its owner; but I conquered my disgust, and I did well.  The prelate, with
+his semi-clerical, semi-courtly air, made me a low bow.  I calmly waited,
+so as to give him time to deliver his message.  The famous rhetorician
+proceeded as follows:
+
+"You know, madame, with what health-giving sacrifices the Church is now
+engaged.  The merits of our Lord doubtless protect Christians at all
+times, but the Church has appointed times more efficacious, ceremonies
+more useful, springs yet more abounding.  Thus it is that we now
+celebrate the grand nine days of the jubilee.
+
+"To this mystic pool herdsman and monarchs alike receive summons and
+admission.  The most Christian King must, for his own sake, accomplish
+his own sanctification; his sanctification provides for that of his
+subjects.
+
+"Chosen by God to this royal priesthood, he comprehends the duties
+imposed upon him by such noble office.  The passions of the heart are
+maladies from which man may recover, just as he recovers from physical
+disease.  The physicians of the soul have lifted up their voice, have
+taken sage counsel together; and I come to inform you of the monarch's
+miraculous recovery, and at his request, I bring you this important and
+welcome news.
+
+"For convalescents, greater care is required than for others; the King,
+and the whole of France, beseech you, with my voice, to have respect and
+care for the convalescence of our monarch, and I beg you, madame, to
+leave at once for Fontevrault."
+
+"For Fontevrault?" I cried, without betraying my emotion.  "Fontevrault
+is near Poitiers; it is too far away.  No, I would rather go to
+Petit-Bourg, near the forest of Fontainebleau."
+
+"Fontainebleau is but eighteen leagues from the capital," he answered;
+"such proximity would be dangerous.  I must insist upon Fontevrault,
+madame."
+
+"But I cannot take my children to Fontevrault," I retorted; "the nuns,
+and the Abbess herself, would never admit them.  You know better than I
+do that it is a nunnery."
+
+"Your children," said he, "are not necessary to you; Madame de la
+Valliere managed to leave here for good and all."
+
+"Yes; and in forsaking them she committed a crime," I answered; "only
+ferocious-hearted persons could have counselled her or commanded her to
+do so."  And saying this, I rose, and gave him a glance of disdain.
+
+He grew somewhat gentler in manner as he slowly went on, "His Majesty
+will take care of your children; it behoves you to save their mother.
+And, in order to prove to you that I have not come here of my own accord,
+but that, on the contrary, I am executing a formal command, here is a
+letter of farewell addressed to you by the King."
+
+I took the letter, which was couched in the following terms:
+
+It is but right, madame, that on so solemn an occasion I should set an
+example myself.  I must ask you henceforth to consider our intimacy
+entirely at an end.  You must retire to Fontevrault, where Madame de
+Montemart will take care of you and afford you distraction by her
+charming society.  Your children are in good hands; do not be in the
+least uneasy about them.  Farewell.  I wish you all the firmness and
+well-being possible.  LOUISON.
+
+In the first flush of my indignation I was about to trample under foot so
+offensive a communication.  But the final phrase shocked me less than the
+others.
+
+I read it over again, and understood that if the King recommended me to
+be firm, it was because he needed to be firm himself.  I soon mastered my
+emotion, and looked at things in their real light.  It was easy to see
+that sanctimonious fanatics had forced the King to act.  Bossuet was not
+sanctimonious, but, to serve his own ends, proffered himself as spokesman
+and emissary, being anxious to prove to his old colleagues that he was on
+the side of what they styled moral conduct and good example.
+
+For a while I walked up and down my salon; but the least exertion
+fatigues me.  I resumed my armchair or my settee, leaving the man there
+like a sort of messenger, whom it was not necessary to treat with any
+respect.  He was bold, and asked me for a definite answer which he could
+take back to his Majesty.  I stared hard at him for about a minute, and
+then said: "My Lord Bishop of Condom, the clerics who have been advising
+the King are very pleased that he should set an example to his people of
+self-sacrifice.  I am of their opinion; I think as they do, as you do, as
+the Pope does; but feeling convinced that to us, the innocent sheep, the
+shepherds ought first to show an example, I will consent to break off my
+relationship with his Majesty when you, M. de Condom, shall have broken
+off your intimacy with Mademoiselle de Mauleon des Vieux!"
+
+By a retort of this kind I admit that I hoped greatly to embarrass the
+Bishop, and enjoy seeing his face redden with confusion.  But he was
+nowise disconcerted, and I confess to-day that this circumstance proved
+to me that there was but little truth in the rumours that were current
+with regard to this subject.
+
+"Mademoiselle de Mauleon!" said he, smiling half-bitterly,
+half-pityingly.  "Surely, madame, your grief makes you forget what you
+say. Everybody knows that she is an acquaintance of my youth, and that,
+since that time, having confidence in my doctrines and my counsel, she
+wished to have me as spiritual monitor and guide.  How can you institute
+a comparison between such a relationship and your own?"  Then, after
+walking up and down for a moment, as if endeavouring to regain his
+self-possession, he continued:
+
+"However, I shall not insist further; it was signally foolish of me to
+speak in the name of an earthly king, when I should have invoked that of
+the King of Heaven.  I have received an insulting answer.  So be it.
+
+"Farewell, madame.  I leave you to your own conscience, which, seemingly,
+is so tranquil that I blame myself for having sought to disturb it."
+
+With these words he departed, leaving me much amazed at the patience with
+which a man, known to be so arrogant and haughty, had received such an
+onslaught upon his private life and reputation.
+
+I need scarcely say that, next day, the species of pastoral letter which
+my lords the Bishops of Aleth, Orleans, Soissons, and Condom had dictated
+to the King was succeeded by another letter, which he had dictated
+himself, and by which my love for him was solaced and assured.
+
+He begged me to wait patiently for a few days, and this arrangement
+served my purpose very well.  I thought it most amusing that the King
+should have commissioned M. de Bossuet to deliver this second missive,
+and I believe I said as much to certain persons, which perhaps gave rise
+to a rumour that he actually brought me love-letters from the King. But
+the purveyors of such gossip could surely know nothing of Bossuet's
+inflexible principles, and of the subtlety of his policy.  He was well
+aware that by lending himself to such amenities he would lose caste
+morally with the King, and that if by his loyalty he had won royal
+attachment and regard, all this would have been irretrievably lost. Thus
+M. de Bossuet was of those who say, "Hate me, but fear me," rather than
+of those who strive to be loved.  Such people know that friendships are
+generally frail and transient, and that esteem lasts longer and leads
+further.  He never interfered again with my affairs, nor did I with his;
+I got my way, and he is still where he was.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXVIII.
+
+Madame de Montespan Back at Court.--Her Friends.--Her Enemies.--Edifying
+Conversions.--The Archbishop of Paris.
+
+
+Eight days after the conclusion of the jubilee I returned to Versailles.
+The King received me with every mark of sincere friendship; my friends
+came in crowds to my apartments; my enemies left their names with my
+Swiss servant, and in chapel they put back my seat, chairs, and
+footstools in their usual place.
+
+Madame de Maintenon had twice sent my children to Clagny with the under-
+governess; but she did not come herself, which greatly inconvenienced
+me.  I complained to her about this, and she assured me the King had
+dissuaded her from visiting me, "so as to put curious folk off the
+scent;" and when I told her of my interview with M. de Bossuet, she
+neatly avoided being mixed up in the matter by omitting to blame
+anybody.  The most licentious women, so she told me, had distinguished
+themselves by pious exercises during the observance of the jubilee. She
+informed me that the Comtesse de Soissons, the Princesse de Monaco,
+Madame de Soubise, and five or six virtuous dames of this type, had
+given gold, silver, and enamelled lamps to the most notable churches of
+the capital.  The notorious Duchesse de Longueville talked of having her
+own tomb constructed in a Carmelite chapel.  Six leaders of fashion had
+forsworn rouge, and Madame d'Humieres had given up gambling.  As for my
+lord the Archbishop of Paris, he had not changed his way of life a jot,
+either for the better or for the worse.
+
+[The splendid Chateau de Clagny (since demolished) was situated on the
+beautiful country surrounding Versailles, near the wood of Millers
+d'Avrai.--EDITOR's NOTE.]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXIX.
+
+Attempted Abduction.--The Marquise Procures a Bodyguard.--Her Reasons for
+So Doing.--Geography and Morals.
+
+
+The youthful Marquis d'Antin--my son--was growing up; the King showed him
+the most flattering signs of his attachment, and as the child had lived
+only with me, he dreaded his father's violent temper, of which he had
+often heard me speak.  In order to have the custody of his son, the
+Marquis de Montespan had appealed to Parliament; but partisans of the
+King had shelved the matter, which, though ever in abeyance, was still
+pending.  I had my son educated under my care, being sure of the tender
+attachment that would spring up between himself and the princes, his
+brothers.  At the Montespan chateau, I admit, he would have learned to
+ride an unbroken horse, as well as to shoot hares, partridges, and big
+game; he would also have learned to talk loud, to use bad language, to
+babble about his pedigree, while ignorant of its history or its crest; in
+fine, he would have learned to despise his mother, and probably to hate
+her.  Educated under my eyes, almost on the King's lap, he soon learned
+the customs of the Court and all that a well-born gentleman should know.
+He will be made Duc d'Antin, I have the King's word for it,--and his mien
+and address, which fortunately sort well with that which Fate holds in
+store for him, entitle him to rank with all that is most exalted at
+Court.
+
+The Procureur-General caused a man from Barn to be arrested, who had come
+to abduct my son.  This individual, half-Spanish and half-French, was
+detained in the Paris prisons, and I was left in ignorance of the matter.
+It was imprudent not to tell me, and almost occasioned a serious mishap.
+
+One day I was returning from the neighbourhood of Etampes with only my
+son, his tutor, and my physician in the carriage.  On reaching a steep
+incline, where the brake should be put on, my servants imprudently
+neglected to do this, and I felt that we were burning the roadway in our
+descent.  Such recklessness made me uneasy, when suddenly twelve horsemen
+rode headlong at us, and sought to stop the postilions.  My six horses
+were new ones and very fresh; they galloped along at breakneck speed. Our
+pursuers fired at the coachman, but missed him, and the report of a
+pistol terrified the horses yet further.  They redoubled their speed.  We
+gave ourselves up for lost, as an accident of some sort seemed bound to
+ensue, when suddenly my carriage reached the courtyard of an inn, where
+we obtained help.
+
+Baulked of their prey, the horsemen turned about and rode away.  They had
+been noticed the day before, hanging about and asking for Madame de
+Montespan.
+
+We stayed that night at the inn, and next day, provided with a stout
+escort, we reached Saint Germain.
+
+The King regretted not having provided against similar attempts.  He
+rewarded my postilions for their neglect to use the brake (a neglect
+which, at first, I was going to punish), saying to me, "If they had put
+the brake on, you would have been captured and whisked off to the
+Pyrenees.  Your husband is never going to give in!"
+
+"Such a disagreeable surprise," added he, "shall not occur again.
+Henceforth you shall not travel without an adequate escort.  In future,
+you shall have a guard of honour, like the Queen and myself."  I had long
+wished for this privilege, and I warmly thanked his Majesty.
+
+Nevertheless, people chose to put a completely false construction upon so
+simple an innovation, and my sentiments in the matter were wholly
+misunderstood.  It was thought that vanity had prompted me to endeavour
+to put myself on a level with the Queen, and this worthy princess was
+herself somewhat nettled thereat.  God is my witness that, from mere
+motives of prudence, this unusual arrangement had to be made, and I
+entirely agreed to it.  After all, if the Infanta of Spain gave birth to
+the Dauphin, Athenais de Mortemart is the mother of several princes.
+
+In France, a Catholic realm, for the King to have a second wife is
+considered superfluous by the timorous and shrivelled-brained.  In
+Constantinople, Alexandria, and Ispahan, I should have met with only
+homage, veneration, respect.  Errors of a purely geographical nature are
+not those which cause me alarm; to have brought into the world so perfect
+a being as the Duc du Maine will never, as I take it, incur blame at the
+tribunal of Almighty God.
+
+Mademoiselle de Nantes, his charming sister, has from her cradle been
+destined to belong to one of the royal branches.  Mademoiselle de Blois
+will also become the mother of several Bourbon princes; I have good
+grounds for cherishing such flattering hopes.
+
+The little Comte de Toulouse already bids fair to be a worthy successor
+to M. du Maine.  He has the same grace of manner, and frank,
+distinguished mien.
+
+When all these princes possess their several escorts, it will seem
+passing strange that their mother alone should not have any.  That is my
+opinion, and it is shared by all people of sense.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XL.
+
+Osmin, the Little Moor.--He Sets the Fashion.--The Queen Has a Black
+Baby.--Osmin is Dismissed.
+
+
+I have already told how the envoys of the King of Arda, an African
+prince, gave to the Queen a nice little blackamoor, as a toy and pet.
+This Moor, aged about ten or twelve years, was only twenty-seven inches
+in height, and the King of Arda declared that, being quite unique, the
+boy would never grow to be taller than three feet.
+
+The Queen instantly took a great fancy to this black creature.  Sometimes
+he gambolled about and turned somersaults on her carpet like a kitten, or
+frolicked about on the bureau, the sofa, and even on the Queen's lap.
+
+As she passed from one room to another, he used to hold up her train, and
+delighted to catch hold of it and so make the Queen stop short suddenly,
+or else to cover his head and face with it, for mischief, to make the
+courtiers laugh.
+
+He was arrayed in regular African costume, wearing handsome bracelets,
+armlets, a necklace ablaze with jewels, and a splendid turban.  Wishing
+to show myself agreeable, I gave him a superb aigrette of rubies and
+diamonds; I was always sorry afterwards that I did so.
+
+The King could never put up with this little dwarf, albeit his features
+were comely enough.  To begin with, he thought him too familiar, and
+never even answered him when the dwarf dared to address him.
+
+Following the fashion set by her Majesty, all the Court ladies wanted to
+have little blackamoors to follow them about, set off their white
+complexions, and hold up their cloaks or their trains.  Thus it came that
+Mignard, Le Bourdon, and other painters of the aristocracy, used to
+introduce negro boys into all their large portraits.  It was a mode, a
+mania; but so absurd a fashion soon had to disappear after the mishap of
+which I am about to tell.
+
+The Queen being pregnant, public prayers were offered up for her
+according to custom, and her Majesty was forever saying: "My pregnancy
+this time is different from preceding ones.  I am a prey to nausea and
+strange whims; I have never felt like this before.  If, for propriety's
+sake, I did not restrain myself, I should now dearly like to be turning
+somersaults on the carpet, like little Osmin.  He eats green fruit and
+raw game; that is what I should like to do, too.  I should like to--"
+
+"Oh, madame, you frighten us!"  exclaimed the King.  "Don't let all those
+whimsies trouble you further, or you will give birth to some monstrosity,
+some freak of nature."  His Majesty was a true prophet.  The Queen was
+delivered of a fine little girl, black as ink from head to foot.  They
+did not tell her this at once, fearing a catastrophe, but persuaded her
+to go to sleep, saying that the child had been taken away to be
+christened.
+
+The physicians met in one room, the bishops and chaplains in another. One
+prelate was opposed to baptising the infant; another only agreed to this
+upon certain conditions.  The majority decided that it should be baptised
+without the name of father or mother, and such suppression was
+unanimously advocated.
+
+The little thing, despite its swarthy hue, was most beautifully made; its
+features bore none of those marks peculiar to people of colour.
+
+It was sent away to the Gisors district to be suckled as a negro's
+daughter, and the Gazette de France contained an announcement to the
+effect that the royal infant had died, after having been baptised by the
+chaplains.
+
+[This daughter of the Queen lived, and was obliged to enter a Benedictine
+nunnery at Moret.  Her portrait is to be seen in the Sainte Genevieve
+Library of Henri IV.'s College, where it hangs in the winter
+saloon.--EDITOR'S NOTE.]
+
+The little African was sent away, as may well be imagined; and the Queen
+admitted that, one day soon after she was pregnant, he had hidden himself
+behind a piece of furniture and suddenly jumped out upon her to give her
+a fright.  In this he was but too successful.
+
+The Court ladies no longer dared come near the Queen attended by their
+little blackamoors.  These, however, they kept for a while longer, as if
+they were mere nick-hacks or ornaments; in Paris they were still to be
+seen in public.  But the ladies' husbands at last got wind of the tale,
+when all the little negroes disappeared.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XLI.
+
+Monsieur's Second Marriage.--Princess Palatine.--The Court Turnspit.--A
+Woman's Hatred.--The King's Mistress on a Par with the First Prince of
+the Blood.--She Gives His Wife a Lesson.
+
+
+In order to keep up appearances at his Palais Royal, Monsieur besought
+the King to consent to his remarriage after the usual term of mourning
+was at an end.
+
+"Whom have you in view?"  asked his brother.  He replied that he proposed
+to wed Mademoiselle--the grande Mademoiselle de Montpensier--on account
+of her enormous wealth!
+
+Just then Mademoiselle was head over ears in love with Lauzun.  She sent
+the Prince about his business, as I believe I have already stated.
+Moreover, she remarked: "You had the loveliest wife in all
+Europe,--young, charming, a veritable picture.  You might have seen to it
+that she was not poisoned; in that case you would not now be a widower.
+As it is not likely that I should ever come to terms with your
+favourites, I shall never be anything else to you but a cousin, and I
+shall endeavour not to die until the proper time; that is, when it shall
+please God to take me. You can repeat this speech, word for word, to your
+precious Marquis d'Effiat and Messieurs de Remecourt and de Lorraine.
+They have no access to my kitchens; I am not afraid of them."
+
+This answer amused the King not a little, and he said to me: "I was told
+that the Palatine of Bavaria's daughter is extremely ugly and ill-bred;
+consequently, she is capable of keeping Monsieur in check.  Through one
+of my Rhenish allies, I will make proposals to her father for her hand.
+As soon as a reply comes, I will show my brother a portrait of some sort;
+it will be all the same to him; he will accept her."
+
+Soon afterwards this marriage took place.  Charlotte Elizabeth of
+Bavaria, though aware of the sort of death that her predecessor died,
+agreed to marry Monsieur.  Had she not been lucky enough to make this
+grand match, her extreme ugliness would assuredly have doomed her to
+celibacy, even in Bavaria and in Germany.  It is surely not allowable to
+come into the world with such a face and form, such a voice, such eyes,
+such hands, and such feet, as this singular princess displayed.  The
+Court, still mindful of the sweetness, grace, and charm of Henrietta of
+England, could not contemplate without horror and disgust the fearful
+caricature I have just described.  Young pregnant women--after the
+Queen's unfortunate experience--were afraid to look at the Princess
+Palatine, and wished to be confined before they reappeared at Court.
+
+As for herself, armed with robust, philosophical notions, and a complete
+set of Northern nerves, she was in no way disconcerted at the effect her
+presence produced.  She even had the good sense to appear indifferent to
+all the raillery she provoked, and said to the King:
+
+"Sire, to my mind you are one of the handsomest men in the world, and
+with few exceptions, your Court appears to me perfectly fitted for you. I
+have come but scantily equipped to such an assemblage.  Fortunately, I am
+neither jealous nor a coquette, and I shall win pardon for my plainness,
+I myself being the first to make merry at it."
+
+"You put us completely at our ease," replied the King, who had not even
+the courage to be gallant.  "I must thank you on behalf of these ladies
+for your candour and wit."  Ten or twelve of us began to titter at this
+speech of hers.  The Robust Lady never forgave those who laughed.
+
+Directly she arrived, she singled me out as the object of her ponderous
+Palatine sarcasms.  She exaggerated my style of dress, my ways and
+habits.  She thought to make fun of my little spaniels by causing herself
+to be followed, even into the King's presence-chamber, by a large
+turnspit, which in mockery she called by the name of my favourite dog.
+
+When I had had my hair dressed, ornamented with quantities of little
+curls, diamonds, and jewelled pins, she had the impertinence to appear at
+Court wearing a huge wig, a grotesque travesty of my coiffure.  I was
+told of it.  I entered the King's apartment without deigning to salute
+Madame, or even to look at her.
+
+I had also been told that, in society, she referred to me as "the
+Montespan woman."  I met her one day in company with a good many other
+people, and said to her:
+
+"Madame, you managed to give up your religion in order to marry a French
+prince; you might just as well have left behind your gross Palatine
+vulgarity also.  I have the honour to inform you that, in the exalted
+society to which you have been admitted, one can no more say 'the
+Montespan woman,' than one can say 'the Orleans woman.'  I have never
+offended you in the slightest degree, and I fail to see why I should have
+been chosen as the favoured object of your vulgar insults."
+
+She blushed, and ventured to inform me that this way of expressing
+herself was a turn of speech taken from her own native language, and that
+by saying "the," as a matter of course "Marquise" was understood.
+
+"No, madame," I said, without appearing irritated; "in Paris, such an
+excuse as that is quite inadmissible, and since you associate with
+turnspits, pray ask your cooks, and they will tell you."
+
+Fearing to quarrel with the King, she was obliged to be more careful, but
+to change one's disposition is impossible, and she has loathed and
+insulted me ever since.  Her husband, who himself probably taught her to
+do so, one day tried to make apologies for what he ruefully termed her
+reprehensible conduct.  "There, there, it doesn't matter," I said to him;
+"it is easier to offend me than to deceive me.  Allow me to quote to you
+the speech of Mademoiselle de Montpensier, 'You had a charming and
+accomplished wife, you ought to have prevented her from being poisoned,
+and then we should not have had this hag at Court.'"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XLII.
+
+Madame de Montespan's Father-confessor.--He Alters His Opinion.--Madame
+de Maintenon Is Consulted.--A General on Theology.--A Country
+Priest.--The Marquise Postpones Her Repentance and Her Absolution.
+
+
+My father-confessor, who since my arrival at Court had never vexed or
+thwarted me, suddenly altered his whole manner towards me, from which I
+readily concluded that the Queen had got hold of him.  This priest, of
+gentle, easy-going, kindly nature, never spoke to me except in a tone of
+discontent and reproach.  He sought to induce me to leave the King there
+and then, and retire to some remote chateau.  Seeing that he was
+intriguing, and had, so to speak, taken up his position, like a woman of
+experience I took up mine as well, and politely dismissed him, at which
+he was somewhat surprised.  In matters of religion, Madame de Maintenon,
+who understands such things, was my usual mentor.  I told her that I was
+disheartened, and should not go to confession again for ever so long. She
+was shocked at my resolve, and strove all she could to make me change my
+mind and endeavour to lead me back into the right way.
+
+She forever kept repeating her favourite argument, saying, "Good
+gracious! suppose you should die in that state!"
+
+I replied that it was not my fault, as I had never ceased to obey the
+precepts of the Holy Church.  "It was my old father-confessor," said I,
+"the Canon of Saint Thomas du Louvre, who had harshly refused to confess
+me."
+
+"What he does," replied she, "is solely for your own good."
+
+"But if he has only my well-being in view," I quickly retorted, "why did
+not he think of this at first?  It would have been far better to have
+stopped me at the outset, instead of letting me calmly proceed upon my
+career.  He is obeying the Queen's orders, or else those of that Abbe
+Bossuet de Mauleon, who no longer dares attack me to my face."
+
+As we thus talked, the Duc de Vivonne came into my room.  Learning the
+topic of our discussion, he spoke as follows: "I should not be general of
+the King's Galleys and a soldier at heart and by profession if my opinion
+in this matter were other than it is.  I have attentively read
+controversies on this point, and have seen it conclusively proved that
+our kings never kept a confessor at Court.  Among these kings, too, there
+were most holy, most saintly people, and--"
+
+"Then, what do you conclude from that, Duke?"  asked Madame de Maintenon.
+
+"Why, that Madame will do well to respect his Majesty the King as her
+father-confessor."
+
+"Oh, Duke, you shock me!  What dreadful advice, to be sure!"  cried the
+governess.
+
+"I have not the least wish to shock you, madame; but my veneration for
+D'Aubigne--your illustrious grandfather--is too great to let me think that he is
+among the damned, and he never attended confession at all."
+
+[Theodore Agrippa, Baron d'Aubigne, lieutenant-general in the army of
+Henri IV.  He persevered in Calvinism after the recantation of the
+King.--EDITOR'S NOTE.]
+
+"Eternity hides that secret from us," replied Madame de Maintenon. "Each
+day I pray to God to have mercy upon my poor grandfather; if I thought he
+were among the saved, I should never be at pains to do this."
+
+"Bah, madame! let's talk like sensible, straightforward people," quoth
+the General.  "The reverend Pere de la Chaise--one of the Jesuit
+oracles--gives the King absolution every year, and authorises him to
+receive the Holy Sacrament at Easter.  If the King's confessor--thorough
+priest as he is--pardons his intimacy with madame, here, how comes it
+that the other cleric won't tolerate madame's intimacy with the King?  On
+a point of such importance as this, the two confessors ought really to
+come to some agreement, or else, as the Jesuits have such a tremendous
+reputation, the Marquise is entitled to side with them."
+
+Hemmed in thus, Madame de Maintenon remarked "that the morals of Jesuits
+and lax casuists had never been hers," and she advised me to choose a
+confessor far removed from the Court and its intrigues.
+
+The next day she mentioned a certain village priest to me, uninfluenced
+by anybody, and whose primitive simplicity caused him to be looked upon
+as a saint.
+
+I submitted, and ingenuously went to confess myself to this wonderful
+man; his great goodness did not prevent him from rallying me about the
+elegance of my costume, and the perfume of my gloves, and my hair.  He
+insisted upon knowing my name, and on learning it, flew into a passion. I
+suppress the details of his disagreeable propositions.  Seated sideways
+in his confessional, he stamped on the floor, abused me, and spoke
+disrespectfully of the King.  I could not stand such scandalous behaviour
+for long; and, wearing my veil down, I got into my coach, being
+thoroughly determined that I would take a good long holiday.  M. de
+Vivonne soundly rated me for such cowardice, as he called it, while
+Madame de Maintenon offered me her curate-in-chief, or else the Abbe
+Gobelin.
+
+But, for the time being, I determined to keep to my plan of not going to
+confession, strengthened in such resolve by my brother Vivonne's good
+sense, and the attitude of the King's Jesuit confessor, who had a great
+reputation and knew what he was about.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XLIII.
+
+The Comte de Guiche.--His Violent Passion for Madame.--His Despair.--He
+Flees to La Trappe.--And Comes Out Again.--A Man's Heart.--Cured of His
+Passion, He Takes a Wife.
+
+
+The Comte de Guiche, son of the Marechal de Grammont, was undoubtedly one
+of the handsomest men in France.
+
+The grandeur and wealth of his family had, at an early age, inspired him
+with courage and self-conceit, so that in his blind, frivolous
+presumption, the only person, as he thought, who exceeded his own
+fascination was possibly the King, but nobody else.
+
+Perceiving the wonderful charm of Monsieur's first wife, he conceived so
+violent a passion for her that no counsel nor restraint could prevent him
+from going to the most extravagant lengths in obedience to this rash,
+this boundless passion.
+
+Henrietta of England, much neglected by her husband, and naturally of a
+romantic disposition, allowed the young Count to declare his love for
+her, either by singing pretty romances under her balcony, or by wearing
+ribbons, bunched together in the form of a hieroglyphic, next his heart.
+Elegantly dressed, he never failed to attend all the assemblies to which
+she lent lustre by her presence.  He followed her to Saint Germain, to
+Versailles, to Chambord, to Saint Cloud; he only lived and had his being
+in the enjoyment of contemplating her charms.
+
+One day, being desirous of walking alongside her sedan-chair, without
+being recognised, he had a complete suit made for him of the La Valliere
+livery, and thus, seeming to be one of the Duchess's pages, he was able
+to converse with Madame for a short time.  Another time he disguised
+himself as a pretty gipsy, and came to tell the Princess her fortune. At
+first she did not recognise him, but when the secret was out, and all the
+ladies were in fits of laughter, a page came running in to announce the
+arrival of Monsieur.  Young De Guiche slipped out by a back staircase,
+and in order to facilitate his exit, one of the footmen, worthy of
+Moliere, caught hold of the Prince as if he were one of his comrades, and
+holding a handkerchief over his face, nearly poked his eye out.
+
+The Count's indiscretions were retailed in due course to Monsieur by his
+favourites, and he was incensed beyond measure.  He complained to
+Marechal de Grammont; he complained to the King.
+
+Hereupon, M. de Guiche received orders to travel for two or three years.
+
+War with the Turks had just been declared, and together with other
+officers, his friends, he set out for Candia and took part in the siege.
+All did him the justice to affirm that while there he behaved like a
+hero.  When the fortress had to capitulate, and Candia was lost to the
+Christians forever, our officers returned to France.  Madame was still
+alive when the young Count rejoined his family.  He met the Princess once
+or twice in society, without being able to approach her person, or say a
+single word to her.
+
+Soon afterwards, she gave birth to a daughter.  A few days later, certain
+monsters took her life by giving her poison.  This dreadful event made
+such an impression upon the poor Comte de Guiche, that for a long while
+he lost his gaiety, youth, good looks, and to a certain extent, his
+reason.  After yielding to violent despair, he was possessed with rash
+ideas of vengeance.  The Marechal de Grammont had to send him away to one
+of his estates, for the Count talked of attacking and of killing, without
+further ado, the Marquis d'Effiat, M. de Remecourt, the Prince's
+intendant, named Morel, and even the Duc d'Orleans himself.
+
+[Morel subsequently admitted his guilt in the matter of Madame's death,
+as well as the commission of other corresponding crimes.  See the Letters
+of Charlotte, the Princess Palatine.--EDITOR'S NOTE.]
+
+His intense agitation was succeeded by profound melancholy, stupor
+closely allied to insanity or death.
+
+One evening, the Comte de Guiche went to the Abbey Church of Saint Denis.
+He hid himself here, to avoid being watched, and when the huge nave was
+closed, and all the attendants had left, he rushed forward and flung
+himself at full length upon the tombstone which covers the vast royal
+vault.  By the flickering light of the lamps, he mourned the passing
+hence of so accomplished a woman, murdered in the flower of her youth. He
+called her by name, telling her once more of his deep and fervent love.
+Next day, he wandered about in great pain, gloomy and inconsolable.
+
+One day he came to see me at Clagny, and talked in a hopeless, desolate
+way about our dear one.  He told me that neither glory nor ambition nor
+voluptuous pleasures could ever allure him or prove soothing to his soul.
+He assured me that life was a burden to him,--a burden that religion
+alone prevented him from relinquishing, and that he was determined to
+shut himself up in La Trappe or in some such wild, deserted place.
+
+I sought to dissuade him from such a project, which could only be the
+cause of grief and consternation to his relatives.  He pretended to yield
+to my entreaties, but the next night he left home and disappeared.
+
+At length he came back.  Luckily, the Trappist Abbe de Ranch wished to
+take away from him the portrait on enamel of Henrietta of England, so as
+to break it in pieces before his eyes.  So indignant was the Count that
+he was upon the point of giving the hermit a thrashing.  He fled in
+disgust from the monastery, and this fresh annoyance served, in some
+degree, to assuage his grief.  Life's daily occupations, the excitements
+of society, the continual care shown towards him by his relatives, youth,
+above all, and Time, the irresistible healer, at last served to soothe a
+sorrow which, had it lasted longer, would have been more disastrous in
+its results.
+
+The Comte de Guiche consented to marry a wife to whom he was but slightly
+attached, and who is quite content with him, praising his good qualities
+and all his actions.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XLIV.
+
+Mexica.--Philippa.--Molina.--The Queen's Jester.
+
+
+In marrying Maria Theresa, Infanta of Spain, the King had made an
+advantageous match from a political point of view.  For through the
+Infanta he had rights with regard to Flanders; she also provided him with
+eventual claims upon Spain itself, together with Mexico and Peru. But
+from a personal and social point of view, the King could not have
+contracted a more miserable alliance.  The Infanta, almost wholly
+uneducated, had not even such intellectual resources as a position such
+as hers certainly required, where personal risk was perpetual, where
+authority had to be maintained by charming manners, and respect for power
+ensured by elevation of tone and sentiment, which checks the indiscreet,
+and imbues everybody with the spirit of consideration and reverence.
+
+Maria Theresa, though a king's daughter, made no more effect at Court
+than if she had been a mere middle-class person.  The King, in fact, by
+his considerateness, splendour, and glory, served to support her dignity.
+He hoped and even desired that she should be held in honour, partly for
+her own sake, in a great measure for his.  But as soon as she started
+upon some argument or narration where force of intellect was needed, she
+always seemed bewildered, and he soon interrupted her either by finishing
+the tale himself, or by changing the conversation.  This he did
+good-naturedly and with much tact, so that the Queen, instead of taking
+offence, was pleased to be under such an obligation to him.  From such a
+wife this prince could not look to have sons of remarkable talent or
+intellect, for that would have been nothing short of a miracle.  And thus
+the little Dauphin showed none of those signs of intelligence which the
+most ordinary commonplace children usually display.  When the Queen heard
+courtiers repeat some of the droll, witty sayings of the Comte de Vegin,
+or the Duc du Maine, she reddened with jealousy, and remarked, "Everybody
+goes into ecstasies about those children, while Monsieur le Dauphin is
+never even mentioned."
+
+She had brought with her from Spain that Donna Silvia Molina, of whom I
+have already spoken, and who had got complete control over her character.
+Instead of tranquillising her, and so making her happy, Donna Silvia
+thought to become more entertaining, and above all, more necessary to
+her, by gossiping to her about the King's amours.  She ferreted out all
+the secret details, all the petty circumstances, and with such dangerous
+material troubled the mind and destroyed the repose of her mistress, who
+wept unceasingly, and became visibly changed.
+
+La Molina, enriched and almost wealthy, was sent back to Spain, much to
+the grief of Maria Theresa, who for several days after her departure
+could neither eat nor sleep.
+
+At the same time, the King got rid of that little she-dwarf, named
+Mexica, in whose insufferable talk and insufferable presence the Queen
+took delight.  But the sly little wretch escaped during the journey, and
+managed to get back to the princess again, hidden in some box or basket.
+The Queen was highly delighted to see her again; she pampered her
+secretly in her private cabinet with the utmost mystery, giving up every
+moment that she could spare.
+
+One day, by way of a short cut, the King was passing through the Queen's
+closet, when he heard the sound of coughing in one of the cupboards.
+Turning back, he flung it open, where, huddled up in great confusion, he
+found Mexica.
+
+"What!" cried his Majesty; "so you are back again?  When and how did you
+come?"
+
+In a feeble voice Mexica answered, "Sire, please don't send me away from
+the Queen any more, and she will never complain again about Madame de
+Montespan."
+
+The King laughed at this speech, and then came and repeated it to me.  I
+laughed heartily, too, and such a treaty of peace seemed to contain queer
+compensation clauses: Madame de Montespan and Mexica were mutually bound
+over to support each other; the spectacle was vastly droll, I vow.
+
+Besides her little dwarf, the Queen had a fool named Tricominy.  This
+quaint person was permitted to utter everywhere and to everybody in
+incoherent fashion the pseudo home-truths that passed through his head.
+One day he went up to the grande Mademoiselle de Montpensier, and said to
+her before everybody, "Since you are so anxious to get married, marry me;
+then that will be a man-fool and a woman-fool."  The Princess tried to
+hit him, and he took refuge behind the Queen's chair.
+
+Another time, to M. Letellier, Louvois's brother and Archbishop of
+Rheims, he said, "Monseigneur, do let me ascend the pulpit in your
+Cathedral, and I will preach modesty and humanity to you."  When the
+little Duc d'Anjou, that pretty, charming child, died of suppressed
+measles, the Queen was inconsolable, and the King, good father that he
+is, was weeping for the little fellow, for he promised much.  Says
+Tricominy, "They're weeping just as if princes had not got to die like
+anybody else.  M. d'Anjou was no better made than I am, nor of better
+stuff."
+
+Tricominy was dismissed, because it was plain that his madness took a
+somewhat eccentric turn; that, in fact, he was not fool enough for his
+place.
+
+The Queen had still a Spanish girl named Philippa, to whom she was much
+attached, and who deserved such flattering attachment.  Born in the
+Escurial Palace, Philippa had been found one night in a pretty cradle at
+the base of one of the pillars.  The palace guards informed King Philip,
+who adopted the child and brought it up, since it had been foisted upon
+him as his daughter.  He grew fond of the girl, and on coming to Saint
+Jean de Luz to marry the Infanta to his nephew the King, he made them a
+present of Philippa, and begged them both to be very good to her.  In
+this amiable Spanish girl, the Infanta recognised a sister.  She knew she
+was an illegitimate daughter of King Philip and one of the palace ladies.
+
+When Molina left the Court, she did everything on earth to induce
+Philippa to return with her to Spain, but the girl was sincerely attached
+to the Queen, who, holding her in a long embrace, promised to find her a
+wealthy husband if she would stay.  However, the Queen only gave her as
+husband the Chevalier de Huze, her cloak-bearer, so as to keep the girl
+about her person and to be intimate with her daily.  Philippa played the
+mandolin and the guitar to perfection; she, also sang and danced with
+consummate grace.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XLV.
+
+Le Bouthilier de Ranch, Abbe de la Trappe.
+
+
+The Abbe le Bouthilier de Rance,--son of the secretary of state, Le
+Bouthilier de Chavigny,--after having scandalised Court and town by his
+public gallantries, lost his mistress, a lady possessed of a very great
+name and of no less great beauty.  His grief bordered upon despair; he
+forsook the world, gave away or sold his belongings, and went and shut
+himself up in his Abbey of La Trappe, the only benefice which he had
+retained.  This most ancient monastery was of the Saint Bernard Order,
+with white clothing.  The edifice spacious, yet somewhat dilapidated was
+situated on the borders of Normandy, in a wild, gloomy valley exposed to
+fog and frost.
+
+The Abbe found in this a place exactly suitable to his plan, which was to
+effect reforms of austere character and contrary to nature.  He convened
+his monks, who were amazed at his arrival and residence; he soundly rated
+them for the scandalous laxity of their conduct, and having reminded them
+of all the obligations of their office, he informed them of his new
+regulations, the nature of which made them tremble.  He proposed nothing
+less than to condemn them to daily manual labour, the tillage of the
+soil, the performance of menial household duties; and to this he added
+the practices of immoderate fasting, perpetual silence, downcast glances,
+veiled countenances, the renouncement of all social ties, and all
+instructive or entertaining literature.  In short, he advocated sleeping
+all together on the bare floor of an ice-cold dormitory, the continual
+contemplation of death, the dreadful obligation of digging, while alive,
+one's own grave every day with one's own hands, and thus, in imagination,
+burying oneself therein before being at rest there for ever.
+
+As laws so foolish and so tyrannical were read out to them, the worthy
+monks--all of them of different character and age openly expressed their
+discontent.  The Abbe de Rance allowed them to go and get pleasure in
+other monasteries, and contrived to collect around him youths whom it was
+easy to delude, and a few elderly misanthropes; with these he formed his
+doleful wailing flock.
+
+As he loved notoriety in everything, he had various views of his
+monastery engraved, and pictures representing the daily pursuits of his
+laborious community.  Such pictures, hawked about everywhere by itinerant
+vendors of relics and rosaries, served to create for this barbarous
+reformer a reputation saintly and angelic.  In towns, villages, even in
+royal palaces, he formed the one topic of conversation.  Several
+gentlemen, disgusted either with vice or with society, retired of their
+own accord to his monastery, where they remained in order that they might
+the sooner die.
+
+Desirous of enjoying his ridiculous celebrity, the Abbe de Rance came to
+Paris, under what pretext I do not remember, firmly resolved to show
+himself off in all the churches, and solicit abundant alms for his
+phantoms who never touched food.  From all sides oblations were
+forthcoming; soon he had got money enough to build a palace, if he had
+liked.
+
+It being impossible for him to take the august Mademoiselle de
+Montpensier to his colony of monks, he desired at any rate to induce her
+to withdraw from the world, and counselled her to enter a Carmelite
+convent.  Mademoiselle's ardent passion for M. de Lauzun seemed to the
+Trappist Abbe a scandal; in fact, his sour spirit could brook no scandal
+of any sort.  "I attended her father as he lay dying," said he, "and to
+me belongs the task of training, enlightening, and sanctifying his
+daughter.  I would have her keep silence; she has spoken too much."
+
+The moment was ill chosen; just then Mademoiselle de Montpensier was
+striving to break the fetters of her dear De Lauzun; she certainly did
+not wish to get him out of one prison, and then put herself into another.
+Every one blamed this reformer's foolish presumption, and Mademoiselle,
+thoroughly exasperated, forbade her servants to admit him.  It was said
+that he had worked two or three miracles, and brought certain dead people
+back to life.
+
+"I will rebuild his monastery for him in marble if he will give us back
+poor little Vegin, and the Duc d'Anjou," said the King to me.
+
+The remark almost brought tears to my eyes, just as I was about to joke
+with his Majesty about the fellow and his miracles.
+
+Well satisfied with his Parisian harvest, the Abbe le Bouthilier de Rance
+went straight to his convent, where the inmates were persevering enough
+to be silent, fast, dig, catch their death of cold, and beat themselves
+for him.
+
+Madame Cormeil, wishing to have a good look at the man, sent to inform
+him of her illness.  Would-be saints are much afraid of words with a
+double meaning.  In no whit disconcerted, he replied that he had devoted
+his entire zeal to the poor in spirit, and that Madame Cormeil was not of
+their number.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XLVI.
+
+The Court Goes to Flanders.--Nancy.--Ravon.--Sainte Marie aux
+Mines.--Dancing and Death.--A German Sovereign's Respectful Visit.--The
+Young Strasburg Priests.--The Good Bailiff of Chatenoi.--The Bridge at
+Brisach.--The Capucin Monk Presented to the Queen.
+
+
+Before relating that which I have to say about the Queen and her
+precautions against myself, I would not omit certain curious incidents
+during the journey that the King caused us to take in Alsatia and
+Flanders, when he captured Maestricht and Courtrai.
+
+The King having left us behind at Nancy, a splendid town where a large
+proportion of the nobility grieved for the loss of Messieurs de Lorraine,
+their legitimate sovereigns, the Queen soon saw that here she was more
+honoured than beloved.  It was this position which suggested to her the
+idea of going to Spa, close by, and of taking the waters for some days.
+
+If the Infanta was anxious to escape from the frigid courtesies of the
+Lorraine aristocracy, I also longed to have a short holiday, and to keep
+away from the Queen, as well for the sake of her peace of mind as for my
+own.  My doctor forbade me to take the Spa waters, as they were too
+sulphurous; he ordered me those of Pont-a-Mousson.  Hardly had I moved
+there, when orders came for us all to meet at Luneville, and thence we
+set out to rejoin the King.
+
+Horrible was the first night of our journey spent at Ravon, in the Vosges
+Mountains.  The house in which Mademoiselle de Montpensier and I lodged
+was a dilapidated cottage, full of holes, and propped up in several
+places.  Lying in bed, we heard the creaking of the beams and rafters.
+Two days afterwards the house, so they told us, collapsed.
+
+From that place we went on to Sainte Marie aux Mines, a mean sort of
+town, placed like a long corridor between two lofty, well-wooded
+mountains, which even at noonday deprive it of sun.  Close by there is a
+shallow, rock-bound streamlet which divides Lorraine from Alsace.  Sainte
+Marie aux Mines belonged to the Prince Palatine of Birkenfeld.  This
+Prince offered us his castle of Reif Auvilliers, an uncommonly beautiful
+residence, which he had inherited from the Comtesse de Ribaupierre, his
+wife.
+
+This lady's father was just dead, and as, in accordance with German
+etiquette, the Count's funeral obsequies could not take place for a
+month, in the presence of all his relatives and friends, who came from a
+great distance, the corpse, embalmed and placed in a leaden coffin, lay
+in state under a canopy in the mortuary chapel.
+
+Our equerries, seeing that the King's chamber looked on to the mortuary
+chapel, took upon themselves to blow out all the candles, and for the
+time being stowed away the corpse in a cupboard.
+
+We knew nothing about this; and as the castle contained splendid rooms,
+the ladies amused themselves by dancing and music to make them forget the
+boredom of their journey.
+
+The King looked in upon us every now and then, saying, in a low voice,
+"Ah! if you only knew what I know!"
+
+And then he would go off, laughing in his sleeve.  We did not get to know
+about this corpse until five or six days afterwards, when we were a long
+way off, and the discovery greatly shocked us.
+
+The day we left Sainte Marie aux Mines, a little German sovereign came to
+present his homage to the King.  It was the Prince de Mont-Beliard, of
+Wurtemberg, whom I had previously met in Paris, on the occasion of his
+marriage with Marechal de Chatillon's charming daughter.  The luxurious
+splendour of Saint Germain and Versailles had certainly not yet succeeded
+in turning the heads of these German sovereigns.  This particular one
+wore a large buff doublet with big copper-gilt buttons.  His cravat was
+without either ribbons or lace.  His rather short hair was roughly combed
+over his forehead; he carried no sword, and instead of gold buckles or
+clasps, he had little bows of red leather on his black velvet shoes. His
+coach, entirely black, was still of old-fashioned make; that is to say,
+studded with quantities of gilt nails.  Wearing mourning for the Empress,
+his six horses were richly, caparisoned, his four lackeys wearing yellow
+liveries faced with red.  An escort of twenty guardsmen, dressed
+similarly, was in attendance; they seemed to be well mounted, and were
+handsome fellows.
+
+A second carriage of prodigious size followed the ducal conveyance; in
+this were twelve ladies and gentlemen, who got out and made their
+obeisance to the King and Queen.
+
+The Prince de Mont-Beliard did not get into his coach again until ours
+were in motion.  He spoke French fairly well, and the little he said was
+said with much grace.  He looked very hard at me, which shocked the Queen
+greatly, but not the King.
+
+A little further on, their Majesties were greeted by the delegates of the
+noble chapter of Strasburg.  These comprised the Count of Manderhall and
+two canons.  What canons, too!  And how astonished we were!
+
+The old Count was dressed in a black cassock, and his hair looked
+somewhat like a cleric's, but his cravat was tied with a large
+flame-coloured bow, and he wore ill-fitting hose of the same hue.  As for
+the two canons, they were pleasant young men, good-looking and well-made.
+Their light gray dress was edged with black and gold; they wore their
+hair long in wavy curls, and in their little black velvet caps they had
+yellow and black feathers, and their silver-mounted swords were like
+those worn by our young courtiers.  Their equipment was far superior to
+that of the deputation of the Prince de Mont-Beliard.  It is true, they
+were churchmen, and churchmen have only themselves and their personal
+satisfaction to consider.
+
+These gentlemen accompanied us as far as Chatenoi, a little town in their
+neighbourhood, and here they introduced the bailiff of the town to the
+King, who was to remain constantly in attendance and act as interpreter.
+
+The bailiff spoke French with surprising ease.  He had been formerly
+tutor at President Tambonneaux's, an extremely wealthy man, who
+entertained the Court, the town, and all the cleverest men of the day.
+The King soon became friends with the bailiff, and kept him the whole
+time close to his carriage.
+
+When travelling, the King is quite another man.  He puts off his gravity
+of demeanour, and likes to amuse his companions, or else make his
+companions amuse him.  Believing him to be like Henri IV. in temper, the
+bailiff was for asking a thousand questions.  Some of these the King
+answered; to others he gave no reply.
+
+"Sire," said he to his Majesty, "your town of Paris has a greater
+reputation than it actually deserves.  They say you are fond of building;
+then Paris ought to have occasion to remember your reign.  Allow me to
+express a hope that her principal streets will be widened, that her
+temples, most of them of real beauty, may be isolated.  You should add to
+the number of her bridges, quays, public baths, almshouses and
+infirmaries."
+
+The King smiled.  "Come and see us in four or five years," he rejoined,
+"or before that, if you like, and if your affairs permit you to do so.
+You will be pleased to see what I have already done."
+
+Then the bailiff, approaching my carriage window, addressed a few
+complimentary remarks to myself.
+
+"I have often met your father, M. de Mortemart," said he, "at President
+Tambonneaux's.  One day the little De Bouillons were there, quarrelling
+about his sword, and to the younger he said, 'You, sir, shall go into the
+Church, because you squint.  Let my sword alone; here's my rosary.'"
+
+"Well," quoth the King, "M. de Mortemart was a true prophet, for that
+little Bouillon fellow is to-day Cardinal de Bouillon."
+
+"Sire," continued the worthy German, "I am rejoiced to hear such news.
+And little Peguilain de Lauzun, of whom you used to be so fond when you
+were both boys,--where is he?  What rank does he now hold?"
+
+Hereupon the King looked at Mademoiselle, who, greatly confused, shed
+tears.
+
+"Well, M. Bailiff," said his Majesty, "did you easily recognise me at
+first sight?"
+
+"Sire," replied the German, "your physiognomy is precisely the same; when
+a boy, you looked more serious.  The day you entered Parliament in
+hunting-dress I saw you get into your coach; and that evening the
+President said to his wife, 'Madame, we are going to have a King.  I wish
+you could have been there, in one of the domes, just to hear the little
+he said to us.'"
+
+Whereupon the King laughingly inquired what reply the President's wife
+made.  But the bailiff, smiling in his turn, seemed afraid to repeat it,
+and so his Majesty said:
+
+"I was told of her answer at the time, so I can let you know what it was.
+'Your young King will turn out a despot.' That is what Madame la
+Presidente said to her husband."
+
+The bailiff, somewhat confused, admitted that this was exactly the case.
+
+The huge bridge at Brisach, across the Rhine, had no railing; the planks
+were in a rickety condition, and through fissures one caught sight of the
+impetuous rush of waters below.  We all got out of our coaches and
+crossed over with our eyes half shut, so dangerous did it seem; while the
+King rode across this wretched bridge,--one of the narrowest and loftiest
+that there is, and which is always in motion.
+
+Next day the Bishop of Bale came to pay his respects to the Queen, and
+was accompanied by delegates from the Swiss cantons, and other
+notabilities.  After this I heard the "General of the Capucins"
+announced, who had just been to pay a visit of greeting to the German
+Court.  He was said to be by birth a Roman.  Strange to say, for that
+Capucin the same ceremony and fuss was made as for a sovereign prince,
+and I heard that this was a time-honoured privilege enjoyed by his Order.
+The monk himself was a fine man, wearing several decorations; his
+carriage, livery, and train seemed splendid, nor did he lack ease of
+manner nor readiness of conversation.  He told us that, at the imperial
+palace in Vienna, he had seen the Princesse d'Inspruck,--a relative of
+the French Queen, and that the Emperor was bringing her up as if destined
+one day to be his seventh bride, according to a prediction.  He also
+stated that the Emperor had made the young Princess sing to him,--a
+Capucin monk; and added genially that she was comely and graceful, and
+that he had been very pleased to see her.
+
+The King was very merry at this priest's expense.  Not so the Queen, who
+was Spanish, and particularly devoted to Capucin friars of all
+nationalities.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XLVII.
+
+Moliere.--Racine.--Their Mutual Esteem.--Racine in Mourning.
+
+
+The King had not much leisure, yet occasionally he gave up half an hour
+or an hour to the society of a chosen few,--men famous for their wit and
+brilliant talents.  One day he was so kind as to bring to my room the
+celebrated Moliere, to whom he was particularly attached and showed
+special favour.  "Madame," said the King, "here you see the one man in
+all France who has most wit, most talent, and most modesty and good sense
+combined.  I thank God for letting him be born during my reign, and I
+pray that He may preserve him to us for a long while yet."
+
+As I hastened to add my own complimentary remarks to those of the King, I
+certainly perceived that about this illustrious person there was an air
+of modesty and simplicity such as one does not commonly find in Apollo's
+favourites who aspire to fame.  Moreover, he was most comely.
+
+Moliere told the King that he had just sketched out the plot of his
+"Malade Imaginaire," and assured us that hypochondriacs themselves would
+find something to laugh at when it was played.  He spoke very little
+about himself, but at great length, and with evident admiration, about
+the young poet Racine.
+
+The King asked if he thought that Racine had strength sufficient to make
+him the equal of Corneille.  "Sire," said the comic poet, "Racine has
+already surpassed Corneille by the harmonious elegance of his
+versification, and by the natural, true sensibility of his dialogue; his
+situations are never fictitious; all his words, his phrases, come from
+the heart.  Racine alone is a true poet, for he alone is inspired."
+
+The King, continuing, said: "I cannot witness his tragedy of 'Berenice'
+without shedding tears.  How comes it that Madame Deshoulieres and Madame
+de Sevigne, who have so much mind, refuse to recognise beauties which
+strike a genius such as yours?"
+
+"Sire," replied Moliere, "my opinion is nothing compared to that which
+your Majesty has just expressed, such is your sureness of judgment and
+your tact.  I know by experience that those scenes of my comedies which,
+at a first reading, are applauded by your Majesty, always win most
+applause from the public afterwards."
+
+"Is Racine in easy circumstances?" asked the King.
+
+"He is not well off," replied Moliere, "but the tragedies which he has in
+his portfolio will make a rich man of him some day; of that I have not
+the least doubt."
+
+"Meanwhile," said the King, "take him this draft of six thousand livres
+from me, nor shall this be the limit of my esteem and affection."
+
+Five or six months after this interview, poor Moliere broke a
+blood-vessel in his chest, while playing with too great fervour the title
+part in his "Malade Imaginaire."  When they brought the news to the King,
+he turned pale, and clasping his hands together, well-nigh burst into
+tears. "France has lost her greatest genius," he said before all the
+nobles present.  "We shall never have any one like him again; our loss is
+irreparable!"
+
+When they came to tell us that the Paris clergy had refused burial to
+"the author of 'Tartuffe,'" his Majesty graciously sent special orders to
+the Archbishop, and with a royal wish of that sort they were obliged to
+comply, or else give good reasons for not doing so.
+
+Racine went into mourning for Moliere.  The King heard this, and publicly
+commended such an act of good feeling and grateful sympathy.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XLVIII.
+
+Madame de Montausier and the Phantom.--What She Exacts from the
+Marquise.--Her Reproaches to the Duke.--Bossuet's Complacency.
+
+
+Those spiteful persons who told the Queen how obliging the Duchesse de
+Montausier had shown herself towards me were also so extremely kind as to
+write an account of the whole affair to the Marquis de Montespan.
+
+At that time he was still in Paris, and one day he went to the Duchess
+just as she was getting out of bed.  In a loud voice he proceeded to
+scold her, daring to threaten her as if she were some common woman; in
+fact, he caught hold of her and endeavoured to strike her.
+
+The King would not allow M. de Montausier to obtain redress from the
+Marquis for such an insult as this.  He granted a large pension to the
+Duchess, and appointed her husband preceptor to the Dauphin.
+
+Such honours and emoluments partly recompensed the Duchess, yet they
+scarcely consoled her.  She considered that her good name was all but
+lost, and what afflicted her still more was that she never recovered her
+health.  She used to visit me, as our duties brought us together, but it
+was easy to see that confidence and friendship no longer existed.
+
+One day, when passing along one of the castle corridors, which, being so
+gloomy, need lamplight at all hours, she perceived a tall white phantom,
+which glared hideously at her, and then approaching, vanished.  She was
+utterly prostrated, and on returning to her apartments was seized with
+fever and shivering.  The doctors perceived that her brain was affected;
+they ordered palliatives, but we soon saw that there was no counting upon
+their remedies.  She was gradually sinking.
+
+Half an hour before she died the Duchess sent for me, having given
+instructions that we should be left alone, and that there should be no
+witnesses.  Her intense emaciation was pitiful, and yet her face kept
+something of its pleasant expression.
+
+"It is because of you, and through you," she exclaimed in a feeble,
+broken voice, "that I quit this world while yet in the prime of life. God
+calls me; I must die.
+
+"Kings are so horribly exacting.  Everything that ministers to their
+passions seems feasible to them, and righteous folk must consent to do
+their pleasure, or suffer the penalty of being disgraced and neglected,
+and of seeing their long years of service lost and forgotten.
+
+"During that unlucky journey in Brabant, you sought by redoubling your
+coquetry and fascinations to allure La Valliere's lover.  You managed to
+succeed; he became fond of you.  Knowing my husband's ambitious nature,
+he easily got him to make me favour this intrigue, and lend my apartments
+as a meeting-place.
+
+"At Court nothing long remains a secret.  The Queen was warned, and for a
+while would not believe her informants.  But your husband, with brutal
+impetuousness, burst in upon me.  He insulted me in outrageous fashion.
+He tried to drag me out of bed and throw me out of the window.  Hearing
+me scream, my servants rushed in and rescued me, in a fainting state,
+from his clutches.  And you it is who have brought upon me such
+scandalous insults.
+
+"Ready to appear before my God, who has already summoned me by a spectre,
+I have a boon to ask of you, Madame la Marquise.  I beg it of you, as I
+clasp these strengthless, trembling hands.  Do not deny me this favour,
+or I will cherish implacable resentment, and implore my Master and my
+Judge to visit you with grievous punishment.
+
+"Leave the King," she continued, after drying her tears.  "Leave so
+sensual a being; the slave of his passions, the ravisher of others' good.
+The pomp and grandeur which surround you and intoxicate you would seem
+but a little thing did you but look at them as now I do, upon my bed of
+death.
+
+"The Queen hates me; she is right.  She despises me, and justly, too. I
+shall elude her hatred and disdain, which weigh thus heavily upon my
+heart.  Perhaps she may deign to pardon me when my lawyer shall have
+delivered to her a document, signed by myself, containing my confession
+and excuses."
+
+As she uttered these words, Madame de Montausier began to vomit blood,
+and I had to summon her attendants.  With a last movement of the head she
+bade me farewell, and I heard that she called for her husband.
+
+Next day she was dead.  Her waiting-maid came to tell me that the
+Duchess, conscious to the last, had made her husband promise to resign
+his appointment as governor to the Dauphin, and withdraw to his estates,
+where he was to do penance.  M. de Meaux, a friend of the family, read
+the prayers for the dying, to which the Duchess made response, and three
+minutes before the final death-throe, she consented to let him preach a
+funeral sermon in eulogy of herself and her husband.
+
+When printed and published, this discourse was thought to be a fine piece
+of eloquence.
+
+Over certain things the Bishop passed lightly, while exaggerating others.
+Some things, again, were entirely of his own invention; and if from the
+depths of her tomb the Duchess could have heard all that M. de Meaux said
+about her, she never would have borne me such malice, nor would her grief
+at leaving life and fortune have troubled her so keenly.
+
+The King thought this funeral oration excellently well composed.  Of one
+expression and of one whole passage, however, he disapproved, though
+which these were he did not do me the honour to say.
+
+
+
+
+ETEXT EDITOR'S BOOKMARKS:
+
+And then he would go off, laughing in his sleeve
+Hate me, but fear me
+He was not fool enough for his place
+I myself being the first to make merry at it (my plainness)
+In the great world, a vague promise is the same as a refusal
+It is easier to offend me than to deceive me
+Knew how to point the Bastille cannon at the troops of the King
+Madame de Sevigne
+Time, the irresistible healer
+Weeping just as if princes had not got to die like anybody else
+Went so far as to shed tears, his most difficult feat of all
+When one has been pretty, one imagines that one is still so
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Memoirs of Madame de Montespan,
+Volume III., by Madame La Marquise De Montespan
+
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