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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Memoirs of Madame de Montespan, Volume
+IV., 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 IV.
+       Being the Historic Memoirs of the Court of Louis XIV.
+
+Author: Madame La Marquise De Montespan
+
+Release Date: September 29, 2006 [EBook #3850]
+
+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 4.
+
+
+CHAPTER XLIX.
+
+President de Nesmond.--Melladoro.--A Complacent Husband and His Love-sick
+Wife.--Tragic Sequel.
+
+
+President de Nesmond--upright, clear-headed magistrate as he was--was of
+very great service to me at the Courts of Justice.  He always managed to
+oblige me and look after my interests and my rights in any legal dispute
+of mine, or when I had reason to fear annoyance on the part of my
+husband.
+
+I will here relate the grief that his young wife caused him, and it will
+be seen that, by the side of this poor President, M. de Montespan might
+count himself lucky.  Having long been a widower, he was in some measure
+accustomed to this state, until love laid a snare for him just at the age
+of sixty-five.
+
+In the garden that lay below his windows--a garden owned by his
+neighbour, a farmer--he saw Clorinde.  She was this yeoman's only
+daughter.  He at once fell passionately in love with her, as David once
+loved Bathsheba.
+
+The President married Clorinde, who was very pleased to have a fine name
+and a title.  But her husband soon saw--if not with surprise, at least
+with pain--that his wife did not love him.  A young and handsome
+Spaniard, belonging to the Spanish Legation, danced one day with
+Clorinde; to her he seemed as radiant as the god of melody and song. She
+lost her heart, and without further delay confessed to him this loss.
+
+On returning home, the President said to his youthful consort, "Madame,
+every one is noticing and censuring your imprudent conduct; even the
+young Spaniard himself finds it compromising."
+
+"Nothing you say can please me more," she replied, "for this proves that
+he is aware of my love.  As he knows this, and finds my looks to his
+liking, I hope that he will wish to see me again."
+
+Soon afterwards there was a grand ball given at the Spanish Embassy.
+Madame de Nesmond managed to secure an invitation, and went with one of
+her cousins.  The young Spaniard did the honours of the evening, and
+showed them every attention.
+
+As the President was obliged to attend an all-night sitting at the
+Tourelle,--[The parliamentary criminal court.]--and as these young ladies
+did not like going home alone,--for their residence was some way
+off,--the young Spaniard had the privilege of conducting them to their
+coach and of driving back with them.  After cards and a little music,
+they had supper about daybreak; and when the President returned, at five
+o'clock, he saw Melladoro, to whom he was formally introduced by madame.
+
+The President's welcome was a blend of surprise, anger, forced
+condescension, and diplomatic politeness.  All these shades of feeling
+were easily perceived by the Spaniard, who showed not a trace of
+astonishment.  This was because Clorinde's absolute sway over her husband
+was as patent as the fact that, in his own house, the President was
+powerless to do as he liked.
+
+Melladoro, who was only twenty years old, thought he had made a charming
+conquest.  He asked to be allowed to present his respects occasionally,
+when Clorinde promptly invited him to do so, in her husband's name as
+well as in her own.
+
+It was now morning, and he took leave of the ladies.  Two days after this
+he reappeared; then he came five or six times a week, until at last it
+was settled that a place should be laid for him every day at the
+President's table.
+
+That year it was M. de Nesmond's turn to preside at the courts during
+vacation-time.  He pleaded urgent motives of health, which made it
+imperative for him to have country air and complete rest.  Another judge
+consented to forego his vacation and take his place on the bench for four
+months; so M. de Nesmond was able to leave Paris.
+
+When the time came to set out by coach, madame went off into violent
+hysterics; but the magistrate, backed up by his father-in-law, showed
+firmness, and they set out for the Chateau de Nesmond, about thirty
+leagues from Paris.
+
+M. de Nesmond found the country far from enjoyable.  His wife, who always
+sat by herself in her dressing-gown and seldom consented to see a soul,
+on more than one occasion left her guests at table in order to sulk and
+mope in her closet.
+
+She fell ill.  During her periods of suffering and depression, she
+continually mentioned the Spaniard's name.  Failing his person, she
+desired to have his portrait.  Alarmed at his wife's condition, the
+President agreed to write a letter himself to the author of all this
+trouble, who soon sent the lady a handsome sweetmeat-box ornamented with
+his crest and his portrait.
+
+At the sight of this, Clorinde became like another woman.  She had her
+hair dressed and put on a smart gown, to show the portrait how deeply
+enamoured she was of the original.
+
+"Monsieur," she said to her husband, "I am the only daughter of a wealthy
+man, who, when he gave me to a magistrate older than himself, did not
+intend to sacrifice me.  You have been young, no doubt, and you,
+therefore, ought to know how revolting to youth, all freshness and
+perfume, are the cuddlings and caresses of decrepitude.  As yet I do not
+detest you, but it is absolutely impossible to love you.  On the
+contrary, I am in love with Melladoro; perhaps in your day you were as
+attractive as he is, and knew how to make the most of what you then
+possessed.  Now, will you please me by going back to Paris?  I shall be
+ever so grateful to you if you will.  Or must you spend the autumn in
+this gloomy abode of your ancestors?  To show myself obedient, I will
+consent; only in this case you must send your secretary to the Spanish
+Legation, and your coach-and-six, to bring Melladoro here without delay."
+
+At this speech M. de Nesmond could no longer hide his disgust, but
+frankly refused to entertain such a proposal for one moment.  Whereupon,
+his wife gave way to violent grief.  She could neither eat nor sleep, and
+being already in a weakly state, soon developed symptoms which frightened
+her doctors.
+
+M. de Nesmond was frightened too, and at length sent his rival a polite
+and pressing invitation to come and stay at the chateau.
+
+This state of affairs went on for six whole years, during which time
+Madame de Nesmond lavished upon her comely paramour all the wealth
+amassed by her frugal, orderly spouse.
+
+At last the President could stand it no longer, but went and made a
+bitter complaint to the King.  His Majesty at once asked the Spanish
+Ambassador to have Melladoro recalled.
+
+At this news, Clorinde was seized with violent convulsions; so severe,
+indeed, was this attack, that her wretched husband at once sought to have
+the order rescinded.  But as it transpired, the King's wish had been
+instantly complied with, and the unwelcome news had to be told to
+Clorinde.
+
+"If you love me," quoth she to her husband, "then grant me this last
+favour, after which, I swear it, Clorinde will never make further appeal
+to your kind-heartedness.  However quick they have been, my young friend
+cannot yet have reached the coast.  Let me have sight of him once more;
+let me give him a lock of my hair, a few loving words of advice, and one
+last kiss before he is lost to me forever."
+
+So fervent was her pleading and so profuse her tears, that M. de Nesmond
+consented to do all.  His coach-and-six was got ready there and then. An
+hour before sunset the belfries of Havre came in sight, and as it was
+high tide, they drove right up to the harbour wharf.
+
+The ship had just loosed her moorings, and was gliding out to sea.
+Clorinde could recognise Melladoro standing amid the passengers on deck.
+Half fainting, she stretched out her arms and called him in a piteous
+voice.  Blushing, he sought to hide behind his companions, who all begged
+him to show himself.  By means of a wherry Clorinde soon reached the
+frigate, and the good-natured sailors helped her to climb up the side of
+the vessel.  But in her agitation and bewilderment her foot slipped, and
+she fell into the sea, whence she was soon rescued by several of the
+pluckiest of the crew.
+
+As she was being removed to her carriage, the vessel sailed out of
+harbour.  M. de Nesmond took a large house at Havre, in order to nurse
+her with greater convenience, and had to stop there for a whole month,
+his wife being at length brought back on a litter to Paris.
+
+Her convalescence was but an illusion after all.  Hardly had she reached
+home when fatal symptoms appeared; she felt that she must die, but showed
+little concern thereat.  The portrait of the handsome Spaniard lay close
+beside her on her couch.  She smiled at it, besought it to have pity on
+her loneliness, or scolded it bitterly for indifference, and for going
+away.
+
+A short time before her death, she sent for her husband and her father,
+to whom she entrusted the care of her three children.
+
+"Monsieur," said she to the President de Nesmond, "be kind to my son; he
+has a right to your name and arms, and though he is my living image,
+dearest Theodore is your son."  Then turning to her father, who was
+weeping, she said briefly, "All that to-day remains to you of Clorinde
+are her two daughters.
+
+"Pray love them as you loved me, and be more strict with them than you
+were with me.  M. de Nesmond owes these orphans nothing.  All that
+Melladoro owes them is affection.  Tell him, I pray you, of my constancy
+and of my death."
+
+Such was the sad end of a young wife who committed no greater crime than
+to love a man who was agreeable and after her own heart.  M. de Nesmond
+was just enough to admit that, in ill-assorted unions, good sense or good
+nature must intervene, to ensure that the one most to be pitied receive
+indulgent treatment at the hands of the most culpable, if the latter be
+also the stronger of the two.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER L.
+
+Madame de Montespan's Children and Those of La Valliere.--Monsieur le
+Dauphin.
+
+
+I had successively lost the first and second Comte de Vegin; God also
+chose to take Mademoiselle de Tours from me, who (in what way I know not)
+was in features the very image of the Queen.  Her Majesty was told so,
+and desired to see my child, and when she perceived how striking was the
+resemblance, she took a fancy to the charming little girl, and requested
+that she might frequently be brought to see her.  Such friendliness
+proved unlucky, for the Infanta, as is well known, has never been able to
+rear one of her children,--a great pity, certainly, for she has had five,
+all handsome, well-made, and of gracious, noble mien, like the King.
+
+In the case of Mademoiselle de Tours, the Queen managed to conquer her
+dislike, and also sent for the Duc du Maine.  Despite her affection for
+M. le Dauphin, she herself admitted that if Monseigneur had the airs of a
+gentleman, M. le Duc du Maine looked the very type of a king's son.
+
+The Duc du Maine, Madame de Maintenon's special pupil, was so well
+trained to all the exigencies of his position and his rank, that such
+premature perfection caused him to pass for a prodigy.  Than his, no
+smile could be more winning and sweet; no one could carry himself with
+greater dignity and ease.  He limps slightly, which is a great pity,
+especially as he has such good looks, and so graceful a figure; his
+lameness, indeed, was entirely the result of an accident,--a sad
+accident, due to teething.  To please the King, his governess took him
+once to Auvez, and twice to the Pyrenees, but neither the waters nor the
+Auvez quack doctors could effect a cure.  At any rate, I was fortunate
+enough to bring up this handsome prince, who, if he treat me with
+ceremony, yet loves me none the less.
+
+Brought up by the Duc de Montausier, a sort of monkish soldier, and by
+Bossuet, a sort of military monk, Monsieur le Dauphin had no good
+examples from which to profit.  Crammed as he is with Latin, Greek,
+German, Spanish, and Church history, he knows all that they teach in
+colleges, being totally ignorant of all that can only be learnt at the
+Court of a king.  He has no distinction of manner, no polish or
+refinement of address; he laughs in loud guffaws, and even raises his
+voice in the presence of his father.  Having been born at Court, his way
+of bowing is not altogether awkward; but what a difference between his
+salute and that of the King!  "Monseigneur looks just like a German
+prince."  That speech exactly hits him off,--a portrait sketched by no
+other brush than that of his royal father.
+
+Monseigneur, who does not like me, pays me court the same as any one
+else.  Being very jealous of the pretty Comte de Vermandois and his
+brother, the Duc du Maine, he tries to imitate their elegant manner, but
+is too stiff to succeed.  The Duc du Maine shows him the respect inspired
+by his governess, but the Comte de Vermandois, long separated from his
+mother, has been less coached in this respect, and being thoroughly
+candid and sincere, shows little restraint.  Often, instead of styling
+him "Monseigneur," he calls him merely "Monsieur le Dauphin," while the
+latter, as if such a title were common or of no account, looks at his
+brother and makes no reply.
+
+When I told the King about such petty fraternal tiffs, he said, "With
+age, all that will disappear; as a man grows taller, he gets a better,
+broader view of his belongings."
+
+M. le Dauphin shows a singular preference for Mademoiselle de Nantes, but
+my daughter, brimful of wit and fun, often makes merry at the expense of
+her exalted admirer.
+
+Mademoiselle de Blois, the eldest daughter of Madame de la Valliere, is
+the handsomest, most charming person it is possible to imagine.  Her
+slim, graceful figure reminds one of the beautiful goddesses, with whom
+poets entertain us; she abounds in accomplishments and every sort of
+charm.  Her tender solicitude for her mother, and their constant close
+companionship, have doubtless served to quicken her intelligence and
+penetration.
+
+Like the King, she is somewhat grave; she has the same large brown eyes,
+and just his Austrian lip, his shapely hand and well-turned leg, almost
+his selfsame voice.  Madame de la Valliere, who, in the intervals of
+pregnancy, had no bosom to speak of, has shown marked development in this
+respect since living at the convent.  The Princess, ever since she
+attained the age of puberty, has always seemed adequately furnished with
+physical charms.  The King provided her with a husband in the person of
+the Prince de Conti, a nephew of the Prince de Conde.  They are devotedly
+attached to each other, being both as handsome as can be.  The Princesse
+de Conti enjoys the entire affection of the Queen, who becomes quite
+uneasy if she does not see her for five or six days.
+
+Certain foreign princes proposed for her hand, when the King replied that
+the presence of his daughter was as needful to him as daylight or the air
+he breathed.
+
+I have here surely drawn a most attractive portrait of this princess, and
+I ought certainly to be believed, for Madame de Conti is not fond of me
+at all.  Possibly she looks upon me as the author of her mother's
+disgrace; I shall never be at pains to undeceive her.  Until the moment
+of her departure, Madame de la Valliere used always to visit me.  The
+evening before her going she took supper with me, and I certainly had no
+cause to read in her looks either annoyance or reproach.  Mademoiselle de
+Montpensier, who happened to call, saw us at table, and stayed to have
+some dessert with us.  She has often told me afterwards how calm and
+serene the Duchess looked.  One would never have thought she was about to
+quit a brilliant Court for the hair shirt of the ascetic, and all the
+death-in-life of a convent.  I grieved for her, I wept for her, and I got
+her a grand gentleman as a husband.
+
+[This statement is scarcely reconcilable with the fact that Madame de la
+Valliere remained in a convent until her death.  This may refer to
+Mademoiselle de Blois, La Valliere's daughter, who was given in marriage
+to the Prince de Conti.--EDITOR'S NOTE.]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER LI.
+
+Madame de Maintenon's Character.--The Queen Likes Her.--She Revisits Her
+Family.--Her Grandfather's Papers Restored to Her.
+
+
+As Madame de Maintenon's character happened to please the King, as I have
+already stated, he allotted her handsome apartments at Court while
+waiting until he could keep her there as a fixture, by conferring upon
+her some important appointment.  She had the honour of being presented to
+the Queen, who paid her a thousand compliments respecting the Duc du
+Maine's perfections, being so candid and so good natured as to say:
+
+"You would have been just the person to educate Monseigneur."
+
+Unwilling to appear as if she slighted the Dauphin's actual tutors,
+Madame de Maintenon adroitly replied that, as it seemed to her, M. le
+Dauphin had been brought up like an angel.
+
+It is said that I have special talent for sustaining and enlivening a
+conversation; there is something in that, I admit, but to do her justice,
+I must say that in this respect Madame de Maintenon is without a rival.
+She has quite a wealth of invention; the most arid subject in her hands
+becomes attractive; while for transitions, her skill is unequalled.  Far
+simpler than myself, she gauges her whole audience with a single glance.
+And as, since her misfortunes, her rule has been never to make an enemy,
+since these easily crop up along one's path, she is careful never to
+utter anything which could irritate the feelings or wound the pride of
+the most sensitive.  Her descriptions are so varied, so vivacious, that
+they fascinate a whole crowd.  If now and again some little touch of
+irony escapes her, she knows how to temper and even instantly to
+neutralise this by terms of praise at once natural and simple.
+
+Under the guise of an extremely pretty woman, she conceals the knowledge
+and tact of a statesman.  I have, moreover, noticed that latterly the
+King likes to talk about matters of State when she is present.  He rarely
+did this with me.
+
+I think she is at the outset of a successful career.  The King made
+persistent inquiries with regard to her whole family.  He has already
+conferred a petty governorship upon the Comte d'Aubigne, her brother, and
+the Marquis de la Gallerie, their cousin, has just received the command
+of a regiment, and a pension.
+
+Madame de Maintenon readily admits that she owes her actual good fortune
+to myself.  I also saw one of her letters to Madame de Saint-Geran, in
+which she refers to me in terms of gratitude.  Sometimes, indeed, she
+goes too far, even siding with my husband, and condemning what she dares
+to term my conduct; however, this is only to my face.  I have always
+liked her, and in spite of her affronts, I like her still; but there are
+times when I am less tolerant, and then we are like two persons just
+about to fall out.
+
+The Comte de Toulouse and Mademoiselle de Blois were not entrusted to her
+at their birth as the others were.  The King thought that the additional
+responsibility of their education would prove too great for the Marquise.
+He preferred to enjoy her society and conversation, so my two youngest
+children were placed in the care of Madame d'Arbon, a friend or
+stewardess of M. de Colbert.  Not a great compliment, as I take it.
+
+When, for the second time, Madame de Maintenon took the Duc du Maine to
+Barege, she returned by way of the Landes, Guienne, and Poitou.  She
+wished to revisit her native place, and show her pupil to all her
+relations.  Perceiving that she was a marquise, the instructress of
+princes, and a personage in high favour, they were lavish of their
+compliments and their praise, yet forebore to give her back her property.
+
+Knowing that she was a trifle vain about her noble birth, they made over
+to her the great family pedigree, as well as a most precious manuscript.
+These papers, found to be quite correct, included a most spirited history
+of the War of the League, written by Baron Agrippa d'Aubigne, who might
+rank as an authority upon the subject, having fought against the Leaguers
+for over fifteen years.  Among these documents the King found certain
+details that hitherto had been forgotten, or had never yet come to light.
+And as the Baron was Henri IV.'s favourite aide-decamp, every reference
+that he makes to that good king is of importance and interest.
+
+This manuscript, in the simplest manner possible, set forth the
+governess's ancestors.  I am sure she was more concerned about this
+document than about her property.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER LII.
+
+The Young Flemish Lady.--The Sainte-Aldegonde Family.--The Sage of the
+Sepulchres.
+
+
+Just at the time of the conquest of Tournai, a most amusing thing
+occurred, which deserves to be chronicled.  Another episode may be
+recorded also, of a gloomier nature.
+
+Directly Tournai had surrendered, and the new outposts were occupied, the
+King wished to make his entry into this important town, which he had long
+desired to see.  The people and the burghers, although mute and silent,
+willingly watched the French army and its King march past, but the
+aristocracy scarcely showed themselves at any of the windows, and the few
+folk who appeared here and there on the balconies abstained from
+applauding the King.
+
+Splendidly apparelled, and riding the loveliest of milk-white steeds, his
+Majesty proceeded upon his triumphant way, surrounded by the flower of
+French nobility, and scattering money as he went.
+
+Before the Town Hall the procession stopped, when the magistrates
+delivered an address, and gave up to his Majesty the keys of the city in
+a large enamelled bowl.
+
+When the King, looking calmly contented, was about to reply, he observed
+a woman who had pushed her way through the French guardsmen, and staring
+hard at him, appeared anxious to get close up to him.  In fact, she
+advanced a step or two, and the epithet that crossed her lips struck the
+conqueror as being coarsely offensive.
+
+"Arrest that woman," cried the King.  She was instantly seized and
+brought before him.
+
+"Why do you insult me thus?"  he asked quickly, but with dignity.
+
+"I have not insulted you," replied the Flemish lady.  "The word that
+escaped me was rather a term of flattery and of praise, at least if it
+has the meaning which it conveys to us here, in these semi-French parts."
+
+"Say that word again," added the King; "for I want everybody to bear
+witness that I am just in punishing you for such an insult."
+
+"Sire," answered this young woman, "your soldiers have destroyed my
+pasture-lands, my woods, and my crops.  Heart-broken, I came here to
+curse you, but your appearance at once made me change my mind.  On
+looking closer at you, in spite of my grief, I could not help exclaiming,
+'So that's the handsome b-----, is it!'"
+
+The grenadiers, being called as witnesses, declared that such was in fact
+her remark.  Then the King smiled, and said to the young Flemish lady:
+
+"Who are you?  What is your name?"
+
+With readiness and dignity she replied, "Sire, you see before you the
+Comtesse de Sainte-Aldegonde."
+
+"Pray, madame," quoth the King, "be so good as to finish your toilet; I
+invite you to dine with me to-day."
+
+Madame de Sainte-Aldegonde accepted the honour, and did in fact dine with
+his Majesty that day.  She was clever, and made herself most agreeable,
+so that the King, whose policy it was to win hearts by all concessions
+possible, indemnified her for all losses sustained during the war,
+besides granting favours to all her relatives and friends.
+
+The Sainte-Aldegonde family appeared at Court, being linked thereto by
+good services.  It is already a training-ground for excellent officers
+and persons of merit.
+
+But for that somewhat neat remark of the Countess's, all those gentlemen
+would have remained in poverty and obscurity within the walls or in the
+suburbs of Tournai.
+
+Some days after this, the King was informed of the arrest of a most
+dangerous individual, who had been caught digging below certain ancient
+aqueducts "with a view to preparing a mine of some sort."  This person
+was brought in, tied and bound like a criminal; they hustled him and
+maltreated him.  I noticed how he trembled and shed tears.
+
+He was a learned man--an antiquary.  A few days before our invasion he
+had commenced certain excavations, which he had been forced to
+discontinue, and now so great was his impatience that he had been obliged
+to go on in spite of the surrounding troops.  By means of an old
+manuscript, long kept by the Druids, as also by monks, this man had been
+able to discover traces of an old Roman highroad, and as in the days of
+the Romans the tombs of the rich and the great were always placed
+alongside these broad roads, our good antiquary had been making certain
+researches there, which for him had proved to be a veritable gold-mine.
+
+Having made confession of all this to the King, his Majesty set him free,
+granting him, moreover, complete liberty as regarded the execution of his
+enterprise.
+
+A few days afterwards he begged to have the honour of presenting to his
+Majesty some of the objects which he had collected during his researches.
+I was present, and the following are the funereal curiosities which he
+showed us:
+
+Having broken open a tomb, he had extracted therefrom a large alabaster
+vase, which still contained the ashes of the deceased.  Next this urn,
+carefully sealed up, there was another vase, containing three gold rings
+adorned with precious stones, two gold spurs, the bit of a battle-horse,
+very slightly rusted, and chased with silver and gold, a sort of seal
+with rough coat-of-arms, a necklace of large and very choice pearls, a
+stylet or pencil for calligraphy, and a hundred gold and silver coins
+bearing the effigy of Domitian, a very wicked emperor, who reigned over
+Rome and over Gaul in those days.
+
+When the King had amused himself with examining these trinkets, he turned
+to the antiquary and said, "Is that all, sir?  Why, where is Charon's
+flask of wine?"
+
+"Here, your Majesty," replied the old man, producing a small flask. "See,
+the wine has become quite clear."
+
+With great difficulty the flask was opened; the wine it contained was
+pale and odourless, but by those bold enough to taste it, was pronounced
+delicious.
+
+When overturning the urn in order to empty out the ashes and bury them,
+they noticed an inscription, which the King instantly translated.  It ran
+thus:
+
+"May the gods who guard tombs punish him who breaks open this mausoleum.
+The troubles and misfortunes of Aurelius Silvius have been cruel enough
+during his lifetime; in this tomb at least let him have peace."
+
+The worthy antiquary offered me his pearl necklace and one of the antique
+rings, but I refused these with a look of horror.  He sold the coins to
+the King, and informed us that his various excavations and researches had
+brought him in about one hundred thousand livres up to the present time.
+
+The King said to him playfully, "Mind what you are about, monsieur; that
+sentence which I translated for you is not of a very, reassuring nature."
+
+"Yet it will not serve to hinder me in my scientific researches," replied
+the savant.  "Charon, who by now must be quite a rich man, evidently
+disdains all such petty hidden treasures as these.  To me they are most
+useful."
+
+Next time we passed through Tournai, I made inquiries as to this miser,
+and afterwards informed the King.  It appears that he was surprised by
+robbers when despoiling one of these tombs.  After robbing him of all
+that he possessed, they buried him alive in the very, grave where he was
+digging, so as to save expense.  What a dismal sort of science!  What a
+life, and what a death!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER LIII.
+
+The Monks of Sainte Amandine.--The Prince of Orange Entrapped.--The
+Drugged Wine.--The Admirable Judith.
+
+
+After the furious siege of Conde, which lasted only four days, the King,
+who had been present, left for Sebourg, whence he sent orders for the
+destruction of the principal forts of Liege, and for the ravaging of the
+Juliers district.  He treated the Neubourg estates in the same ruthless
+fashion, as the Duke had abandoned his attitude of neutrality, and had
+joined the Empire, Holland and Spain.  All the Cleves district, and those
+between the Meuse and the Vahal, were subjected to heavy taxation.
+Everywhere one saw families in flight, castles sacked, homesteads and
+convents in flames.
+
+The Duc de Villa-Hermosa, Governor-General in Flanders for the King of
+Spain, and William of Orange, the Dutch leader, went hither and thither
+all over the country, endeavouring to rouse the people, and spur them on
+to offer all possible resistance to the King of France.
+
+These two noble generalissimi even found their way into monasteries and
+nunneries, and carried off their silver plate, actually, seizing the
+consecrated vessels used for the sacrament, saying that all such things
+would help the good cause.
+
+One day they entered a wealthy Bernardine monastery, where the miraculous
+tomb of Sainte Amandine was on view.  The great veneration shown for this
+saint in all the country thereabouts had served greatly to enrich the
+community and bring them in numerous costly offerings.  The chapel
+wherein the saint's heart was said to repose was lighted by a huge gold
+lamp, and on the walls and in niches right up to the ceiling were
+thousands of votive offerings in enamel, silver, and gold.  The Duc de
+Villa-Hermosa (a good Catholic) dared not give orders for the pillage of
+this holy chapel, but left that to the Prince of Orange (a good
+Huguenot).
+
+One evening they came to ask the prior for shelter, who, seeing that he
+was at the mercy of both armies, had to show himself pleasant to each.
+
+During supper, when the two generals informed him of the object of their
+secret visit, he clearly perceived that the monastery was about to be
+sacked, and like a man of resource, at once made up his mind.  When
+dessert came, he gave his guests wine that had been drugged.  The
+generals, growing drowsy, soon fell asleep, and the prior at once caused
+them to be carried off to a cell and placed upon a comfortable bed.
+
+This done, he celebrated midnight mass as usual, and at its close he
+summoned the whole community, telling them of their peril and inviting
+counsel and advice.
+
+"My brethren," asked he, "ought we not to look upon our prisoners as
+profaners of holy places, and serve them in secret and before God as once
+the admirable Judith served Holofernes?"
+
+At this proposal there was a general murmur.  The assembly grew agitated,
+but seeing how perilous was the situation, order was soon restored.
+
+The old monks were of opinion that the two generals ought not yet to be
+sacrificed, but should be shut up in a subterranean dungeon, a messenger
+being sent forthwith to the French King announcing their capture.
+
+The young monks protested loudly against such an act, declaring it to be
+treacherous, disgraceful, felonious.  The prior endeavoured to make them
+listen to reason and be silent, but the young monks, though in a
+minority, got the upper hand.  They deposed the prior, abused and
+assaulted him, and finally flung him into prison.  One of them was
+appointed prior without ballot, and this new leader, followed by his
+adherents, roused the generals and officiously sent them away.
+
+The prior's nephew, a young Bernardine, accompanied by a lay brother and
+two or three servants, set out across country that night, and brought
+information to the King of all this disorder, begging his Majesty to save
+his worthy uncle's life.
+
+At the head of six hundred dragoons, the King hastened to the convent and
+at once rescued the prior, sending the good old monks of Sainte Amandine
+to Citeaux, and dispersing the rebellious young ones among the Carthusian
+and Trappist monasteries.  All the treasures contained in the chapel he
+had transferred to his camp, until a calmer, more propitious season.
+
+That priceless capture, the Prince of Orange, escaped him, however, and
+he was inconsolable thereat, adding, as he narrated the incident, "Were
+it not that I feared to bring dishonour upon my name, and sully the
+history of my reign and my life, I would have massacred those young
+Saint-Bernard monks."
+
+"What a vile breed they all are!" I cried, losing all patience.
+
+"No, no, madame," he quickly rejoined, "you are apt to jump from one
+extreme to the other.  It does not do to generalise thus.  The young
+monks at Sainte Amandine showed themselves to be my enemies, I admit, and
+for this I shall punish them as they deserve, but the poor old monks
+merely desired my success and advantage.  When peace is declared, I shall
+take care of them and of their monastery; the prior shall be made an
+abbot.  I like the poor fellow; so will you, when you see him."
+
+I really cannot see why the King should have taken such a fancy to this
+old monk, who was minded to murder a couple of generals in his convent
+because, forsooth, Judith once slew Holofernes!  Judith might have been
+tempted to do that sort of thing; she was a Jewess.  But a Christian
+monk!  I cannot get over it!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER LIV.
+
+The Chevalier de Rohan.--He is Born Too Late.--His Debts.--Messina Ceded
+to the French.--The King of Spain Meditates Revenge.--The Comte de
+Monterey.--Madame de Villars as Conspirator.--The Picpus
+Schoolmaster.--The Plot Fails.--Discovery and Retribution.--Madame de
+Soubise's Indifference to the Chevalier's Fate.
+
+
+Had he been born fifty or sixty years earlier, the Chevalier de Rohan
+might have played a great part.  He was one of those men, devoid of
+restraint and of principle, who love pleasure above all things, and who
+would sacrifice their honour, their peace of mind, aye, even the State
+itself, if such a sacrifice were really needed, in order to attain their
+own personal enjoyment and satisfaction.
+
+The year before, he once invited himself to dinner at my private
+residence at Saint Germain, and he then gave me the impression of being a
+madman, or a would-be conspirator.  My sister De Thianges noticed the
+same thing, too.
+
+The Chevalier had squandered his fortune five or six years previously;
+his bills were innumerable.
+
+Each day he sank deeper into debt, and the King remarked, "The Chevalier
+de Rohan will come to a bad end; it will never do to go on as he does."
+
+Instead of keeping an eye upon him, and affectionately asking him to
+respect his family's honour, the Prince and Princesse de Soubise made as
+if it were their duty to ignore him and blush for him.
+
+Profligacy, debts, and despair drove this unfortunate nobleman to make a
+resolve such as might never be expected of any high-born gentleman.
+
+Discontented with their governor, Don Diego de Soria, the inhabitants of
+Messina had just shaken off the Spanish yoke, and had surrendered to the
+King of France, who proffered protection and help.
+
+Such conduct on the part of the French Government seemed to the King of
+Spain most disloyal, and he desired nothing better than to revenge
+himself.  This is how he set about it.
+
+On occasions of this kind it is always the crafty who are sought out for
+such work.  Comte de Monterey was instructed to sound the Chevalier de
+Rohan upon the subject, offering him safety and a fortune as his reward.
+Pressed into their service there was also the Marquise de Villars,--a
+frantic gambler, a creature bereft of all principle and all modesty,--to
+whom a sum of twenty thousand crowns in cash was paid over beforehand,
+with the promise of a million directly success was ensured.  She
+undertook to manage Rohan and tell him what to do.  Certain ciphers had
+to be used, and to these the Marquise had the key.  They needed a
+messenger both intelligent and trustworthy, and for this mission she gave
+the Chevalier an ally in the person of an ex-teacher in the Flemish
+school at Picpus, on the Faubourg Saint Antoine.  This man and the
+Chevalier went secretly to the Comte de Monterey in Flanders, and by this
+trio it was settled that on a certain day, at high tide, Admiral van
+Tromp with his fleet should anchor off Honfleur or Quillebceuf in
+Normandy, and that, at a given signal, La Truaumont, the Chevalier de
+Preaux, and the Chevalier de Rohan were to surrender to him the town and
+port without ever striking a single blow, all this being for the benefit
+of his Majesty the King of Spain.
+
+But all was discovered.  The five culprits were examined, when the
+Marquise de Villars stated that the inhabitants of Messina had given them
+an example which the King of France had not condemned!
+
+The Marquise and the two Chevaliers were beheaded, while the
+ex-schoolmaster was hanged.  As for young La Truaumont, son of a
+councillor of the Exchequer, he escaped the block by letting himself be
+throttled by his guards or gaolers, to whom he offered no resistance.
+
+Despite her influence upon the King's feelings, the Princess de Soubise
+did not deign to take the least notice of the trial, and they say that
+she drove across the Pont-Neuf in her coach just as the Chevalier de
+Rohan, pinioned and barefooted, was marching to his doom.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER LV.
+
+The Prince of Orange Captures Bonn.--The King Captures Orange.--The
+Calvinists of Orange Offer Resistance.
+
+
+Since Catiline's famous hatred for Consul Cicero, there has never been
+hatred so deep and envenomed as that of William of Orange for the King.
+For this loathing, cherished by a petty prince for a great potentate,
+various reasons have been given.  As for myself, I view things closely
+and in their true light, and I am convinced that Prince William was
+actuated by sheer jealousy and envy.
+
+It was affirmed that the King, when intending to give him as bride
+Mademoiselle de Blois, his eldest daughter and great favourite, had
+offered to place him on the Dutch throne as independent King, and that to
+such generous proposals the petty Stadtholder replied, "I am not pious
+enough to marry the daughter of a Carmelite nun."  So absurd a proposal
+as this, however, was never made, for the simple reason that Mademoiselle
+de Blois has never yet been offered in marriage to any prince or noble
+man in this wide world.  Rather than to be parted from her, the King
+would prefer her to remain single.  He has often said as much to me, and
+there is no reason to doubt his word.
+
+The little Principality of Orange, which once formed the estate of this
+now outlandish family, is situate close to the Rhone, amid French
+territory.  Though decorated with the title of Sovereignty, like its
+neighbour the Principality of Dombes, it is no less a fief-land of the
+Crown.  In this capacity it has to contribute to the Crown revenues, and
+owes homage and fealty to the sovereign.
+
+Such petty, formal restrictions are very galling to the arrogant young
+Prince of Orange, for he is one of those men who desire, at all cost, to
+make a noise in the world, and who would set fire to Solomon's Temple or
+to the Delphian Temple, it mattered not which, so long as they made
+people talk about them.
+
+After Turenne's death, there was a good deal of rivalry among our
+generals.  This proved harmful to the service.  The Goddess of Victory
+discovered this, and at times forsook us.  Many possessions that were
+conquered had to be given up, and we had to bow before those whom erst we
+had humiliated.  But Orange was never restored.--[This was written in
+1677.]
+
+When, in November, 1673, the Prince of Orange had the audacity to besiege
+Bonn, the residence of our ally, the Prince Elector of Cologne, and to
+reduce that prelate to the last extremity, the King promptly seized upon
+the Principality of Orange; and having planted the French flag upon every
+building, he published a general decree, strictly forbidding the
+inhabitants to hold any communication whatever with "their former petty
+sovereign," and ordering prayers to be said for him, Louis, in all their
+churches.  This is a positive fact.
+
+The Roman Catholics readily complied with this royal decree, which was in
+conformity with their sympathies and their interests; but the Protestants
+waxed furious thereat.  Some of them even carried their devotion to such
+a pitch that they paid taxes to two masters; that is to say, to
+Stadtholder William, as well as to his Majesty the King.
+
+The Huguenot "ministers," or priests, issued pastoral letters in praise
+of the Calvinist Prince and in abuse of the Most Christian King.  They
+also preached against the new oath of fealty, and committed several most
+imprudent acts, which the Jesuits were not slow to remark and report in
+Court circles.
+
+Such audacity, and the need for its repression, rankled deep in the
+King's heart; and I believe he is quite disposed to pass measures of such
+extreme severity as will soon deprive the Protestants and Lutherans of
+any privileges derived from the Edict of Nantes.
+
+From various sources I receive the assurance that he is preparing to deal
+a heavy blow anent this; but the King's character is impenetrable.  Time
+alone will show.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER LVI
+
+The Castle of Bleink-Elmeink.--Romantic and Extraordinary Discovery.--An
+Innocent and Persecuted Wife.--Madame de Bleink-Elmeink at Chaillot.
+
+
+After the siege and surrender of Maestricht, when the King had no other
+end in view than the entire conquest of Dutch Brabant, he took us to this
+country, which had suffered greatly by the war.  Some districts were
+wholly devastated, and it became increasingly difficult to find lodging
+and shelter for the Court.
+
+The grooms of the chambers one day found for us a large chateau, situated
+in a woody ravine, old-fashioned in structure, and surrounded by a moat.
+There was only one drawbridge, flanked by two tall towers, surmounted by
+turrets and culverins.  Its owner was in residence at the time.  He came
+to the King and the Queen, and greeting them in French, placed his entire
+property at their disposal.
+
+It had rained in torrents for two days without ceasing.  Despite the
+season, everybody was wet through and benumbed with cold.  Large fires
+were made in all the huge fireplaces; and when the castle's vast rooms
+were lighted up by candles, we agreed that the architect had not lacked
+grandeur of conception nor good taste when building such large corridors,
+massive staircases, lofty vestibules, and spacious, resounding rooms.
+That given to the Queen was like an alcove, decorated by six large marble
+caryatides, joined by a handsome balustrade high enough to lean upon. The
+four-post bed was of azure blue velvet, with flowered work and rich gold
+and silver tasselling.  Over the chimneypiece was the huge Bleink-Elmeink
+coat-of-arms, supported by two tall Templars.
+
+The King's apartment was an exact reproduction of a room existing at
+Jerusalem in the time of Saint Louis; this was explained by inscriptions
+and devices in Gothic or Celtic.
+
+My room was supposed to be an exact copy of the famous Pilate's chamber,
+and it was named so; and for three days my eyes were rejoiced by the
+detailed spectacle of our Lord's Passion, from His flagellation to His
+agony on Calvary.
+
+The Queen came to see me in this room, and did me the honour of being
+envious of so charming an apartment.
+
+The fourth day, when the weather became fine, we prepared to change our
+quarters and take to our carriages again, when an extraordinary event
+obliged us to send a messenger for the King, who had already left us, and
+had gone forward to join the army.
+
+An old peasant, still robust and in good health, performed in this gloomy
+castle the duties of a housekeeper.  In this capacity she frequently
+visited our rooms to receive our orders and satisfy our needs.
+
+Seeing that the Queen's boxes were being closed, and that our departure
+was at hand, she came to me and said:
+
+"Madame, the sovereign Lord of Heaven has willed it thus; that the
+officers of the French King should have discovered as the residence of
+his Court this castle amid gloomy forests and precipices.  The great
+prince has come hither and has stayed here for a brief while, and we have
+sought to welcome him as well as we could.  He gave the Comte de
+Bleink-Elmeink, lord of this place and my master, his portrait set in
+diamonds; he had far better have cut his throat."
+
+"Good heavens, woman!  What is this you tell me?" I exclaimed.  "Of what
+crime is your master guilty?  He seems to me to be somewhat moody and
+unsociable; but his family is of good renown, and all sorts of good
+things have been, told concerning it to the King and Queen."
+
+"Madame," replied the old woman, drawing me aside into a window-recess,
+and lowering her voice, "do you see at the far end of yonder court an old
+dungeon of much narrower dimensions than the others?  In that dungeon
+lies the good Comtesse de Bleink-Elmeink; she has languished there for
+five years."
+
+Then this woman informed me that her master, formerly page of honour to
+the Empress Eleanor, had wedded, on account of her great wealth, a young
+Hungarian noblewoman, by whom he had two children, both of whom were
+living.  Such was his dislike of their mother, on account of a slight
+deformity, that for four or five years he shamefully maltreated her, and
+at last shut her up in this dungeon-keep, allowing her daily the most
+meagre diet possible.
+
+"When, some few days since, the royal stewards appeared in front of the
+moat, and claimed admittance, the Count was much alarmed," added the
+peasant woman.  "He thought that all was discovered, and that he was
+going to suffer for it.  It was not until the King and Queen came that he
+was reassured, and he has not been able to hide his embarrassment from
+any of us."
+
+"Where are the two children of his marriage?"  I asked the old woman,
+before deciding to act.
+
+"The young Baron," she answered, "is at Vienna or Ohnutz, at an academy
+there.  His sister, a graceful, pretty girl, has been in a convent from
+her childhood; the nuns have promised to keep her there, and as soon as
+she is fourteen, she will take the veil."
+
+My first impulse was to acquaint the Queen with these astounding
+revelations, but it soon struck me that, to tackle a man of such
+importance as the Count, we could not do without the King.  I at once
+sent my secretary with a note, imploring his Majesty to return, but
+giving no reason for my request.  He came back immediately, post-haste,
+when the housekeeper repeated to him, word for word, all that I have set
+down here.  The King could hardly believe his ears.
+
+When coming to a decision, his Majesty never does so precipitately. He
+paced up and down the room twice or thrice, and then said to me, "The
+matter is of a rather singular nature; I am unacquainted with law, and
+what I propose to do may one day serve as an example.  It is my duty to
+rescue our unfortunate hostess, and requite her nobly for her
+hospitality."
+
+So saying, he sent for the Count, and assuming a careless, almost jocular
+air, thus addressed him:
+
+"You were formerly page to the Empress Eleanor, I believe, M. le
+Bleink-Elmeink?"
+
+"Yes, Sire."
+
+"She is dead, but the Emperor would easily recognise you, would he not?"
+
+"I imagine so, Sire."
+
+"I have thought of you as a likely person to be the bearer of a message,
+some one of your age and height being needed, and of grave, secretive
+temperament, such as I notice you to possess.  Get everything in
+readiness, as I intend to send you as courier to his Imperial Majesty. I
+am going to write to him from here, and you shall bring me back his reply
+to my proposals."
+
+To be sent off like this was most galling to the Count, but his youth and
+perfect health allowed him not the shadow of a pretext.  He was obliged
+to pack his valise and start.  He pretended to look pleased and
+acquiescent, but in his eyes I could detect fury and despair.
+
+Half an hour after his departure, the King had the drawbridge raised, and
+then went to inform the Queen of everything.
+
+"Madame," said he, "you have been sleeping in this unfortunate lady's
+nuptial bed.  She is now about to be presented to you.  I ask that you
+will receive her kindly, and afterwards act as her protector, should
+anything happen to me."
+
+Tears filled the Queen's eyes, and she trembled in amazement.  The King
+instantly made for the dungeon, and in default of a key, broke open all
+the gates.  In a few minutes Madame de Bleink-Elmeink, supported by two
+guards, entered the Queen's presence, and was about to fling herself at
+her feet; but the King prevented this.  He himself placed her in an
+armchair, and we others at once formed a large semicircle round her.
+
+She seemed to breathe with difficulty, sighing and sobbing without being
+able to utter a word.  At, length she said to the King in fairly good
+French, "May my Creator and yours reward you for this, great and
+unexpected boon!  Do not forsake me, Sire, now that you have broken my
+fetters, but let your might protect me against the unjust violence of my
+husband; and permit me to reside in France in whatever convent it please
+you to choose.  My august liberator shall become my lawful King, and
+under his rule I desire to live and die."
+
+In spite of her sorrow, Madame de Bleink-Elmeink did not appear to be
+more than twenty-eight or thirty years old.  Her large blue eyes, though
+she had wept, much, were still splendid, and her high-bred features
+denoted nobility and beauty of soul.  To such a charming countenance her
+figure scarcely corresponded; one side of her was slightly deformed, yet.
+this did not interfere with the grace of her attitude when seated, nor
+her agreeable deportment.
+
+Directly she saw her, the Queen liked her.  She looked half longingly at
+the Countess, and then rising approached her and held out her hand to be
+kissed, saying, "I mean to love you as if you were one of my own family;
+you shall be placed at Val-de-Grace, and I will often come and see you."
+
+Recovering herself somewhat, the Countess sank on her knees and kissed
+the Queen's hand in a transport of joy.  We, led her to her room, where
+she took a little refreshment and afterwards slept until the following
+day.  All her servants and gardeners came to express their gladness at
+her deliverance; and in order to keep her company, the Queen decided to
+stay another week at the castle.  The Countess then set out for Paris,
+and it was arranged that she should have the apartments at Chaillot, once
+constructed by the Queen of England.
+
+As for her dreadful husband, the King gave him plenty to do, and he did
+not see his wife again for a good long while.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER LVII.
+
+The Silver Chandelier.--The King Holds the Ladder.--The Young Dutchman.
+
+
+One day the King was passing through some of the large rooms of the
+palace, at a time of the morning when the courtiers had not yet made
+their appearance, and when carpenters and workmen were about, each busy
+in getting his work done.
+
+The King noticed a workman of some sort standing tiptoe on a double
+ladder, and reaching up to unhook a large chandelier from the ceiling.
+The fellow seemed likely to break his neck.
+
+"Be careful," cried the King; "don't you see that your ladder is a short
+one and is on castors?  I have just come in time to help you by holding
+it."
+
+"Monsieur," said the man, "a thousand pardons, but if you will do so, I
+shall be much obliged.  On account of this ambassador who is coming
+today, all my companions have lost their heads and have left me alone."
+
+Then he unhooked the large crystal and silver chandelier, stepped down
+carefully, leaning on the King's shoulder, who graciously allowed him to
+do so.  After humbly thanking him, the fellow made off.
+
+That night in the chateau every one was talking about the hardihood of
+some thief who in sight of everybody had stolen a handsome chandelier;
+the Lord High Provost had already been apprised of the matter.  The King
+began to smile as he said out loud before every one, "I must request the
+Lord High Provost to be good enough to hush the matter up, as in cases of
+theft accomplices are punished as well, and it was I who held the ladder
+for the thief."
+
+Then his Majesty told us of the occurrence, as already narrated, and
+every one was convinced that the thief could not be a novice or an
+apprentice at his craft.  Inquiries were instantly made, since so bold an
+attempt called for exemplary punishment.  All the upholsterers of the
+castle wished to give themselves up as prisoners; their honour was
+compromised.  It would be hard to describe their consternation, being in
+truth honest folk.
+
+When the Provost respectfully asked the King if he had had time to notice
+the culprit's features, his Majesty replied that the workman in question
+was a young fellow of about five-and-twenty, fair complexioned, with
+chestnut hair, and pleasant features of delicate, almost feminine cast.
+
+At this news, all the dark, plain men-servants were exultant; the
+good-looking ones, however, were filled with fear.
+
+Among the feutiers, whose sole duty it is to attend to the fires and
+candles in the royal apartments, there was a nice-looking young Dutchman,
+whom his companions pointed out to the Provost.  They entered his room
+while he was asleep, and found in his cupboard the following articles:
+Two of the King's lace cravats, two shirts marked with a double L and the
+crown, a pair of pale blue velvet shoes embroidered with silver, a
+flowered waistcoat, a hat with white and scarlet plumes, other trifles,
+and splendid portrait of the King, evidently part of some bracelet.  As
+regarded the chandelier, nothing was discovered.
+
+When this young foreigner was taken to prison, he refused to speak for
+twenty-four hours, and in all Versailles there was but one cry,--"They've
+caught the thief!"
+
+Next day matters appeared in a new light.  The Provost informed his
+Majesty that the young servant arrested was not a Dutchman, but a very
+pretty Dutch woman.
+
+At the time of the invasion, she was so unlucky as to see the King close
+to her father's house, and conceived so violent a passion for him that
+she at once forgot country, family, friends,--everything.  Leaving the
+Netherlands with the French army, she followed her conqueror back to his
+capital, and by dint of perseverance managed to secure employment in the
+royal palace.  While there, her one delight was to see the King as often
+as possible, and to listen to praise of his many noble deeds.
+
+"The articles found in my possession," said she to the Provost, "are most
+dear and precious to me; not for their worth, but because they have
+touched the King's person.  I did not steal them from his Majesty; I
+could not do such a thing.  I bought them of the valets de chambre, who
+were by right entitled to such things, and who would have sold them
+indiscriminately to any one else.  The portrait was not sold to me, I
+admit, but I got it from Madame la  Marquise de Montespan, and in this
+way: One day, in the parterres, madame dropped her bracelet.  I had the
+good fortune to pick it up, and I kept it for three or four days in my
+room.  Then bills were posted up in the park, stating that whoever
+brought the bracelet to madame should receive a reward of ten louis. I
+took back the ornament, for its pearls and diamonds did not tempt me, but
+I kept the portrait instead of the ten louis offered."
+
+When the King asked me if I recollected the occurrence, I assured him
+that everything was perfectly true.  Hereupon the King sent for the girl,
+who was immediately brought to his chamber.  Such was her modesty, and
+confusion that she dared not raise her eyes from the ground.  The King
+spoke kindly to her, and gave her two thousand crowns to take her back to
+her own home.  The Provost was instructed to restore all these different
+articles to her, and as regarded myself, I willingly let her have the
+portrait, though it was worth a good deal more than the ten louis
+mentioned.
+
+When she got back to her own country and the news of her safe arrival was
+confirmed, the King sent her twenty thousand livres  as a dowry, which
+enabled her to make a marriage suitable to her good-natured disposition
+and blameless conduct.
+
+She made a marked impression upon his Majesty, and he was often wont to
+speak about the chandelier on account of her, always alluding to her in
+kindly, terms.  If ever he returns to Holland, I am sure he will want to
+see her, either from motives of attachment or curiosity.  Her name, if I
+remember rightly, was Flora.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER LVIII.
+
+The Observatory.--The King Visits the Carthusians.--How a Painter with
+His Brush May Save a Convent.--The Guilty Monk.--Strange
+Revelations.--The King's Kindness.--The Curate of Saint Domingo.
+
+
+When it was proposed to construct in Paris that handsome building called
+the Observatory, the King himself chose the site for this.  Having a map
+of his capital before him, he wished this fine edifice to be in a direct
+line of perspective with the Luxembourg, to which it should eventually be
+joined by the demolition of the Carthusian Monastery, which filled a
+large gap.
+
+The King was anxious that his idea should be carried out, but whenever he
+mentioned it to M. Mansard and the other architects, they declared that
+it was a great pity to lose Lesueur's admirable frescos in the cloisters,
+which would have to be destroyed if the King's vast scheme were executed.
+
+One day his Majesty resolved to see for himself, and without the least
+announcement of his arrival, he went to the Carthusian Monastery in the
+Rue d'Enfer.  The King has great knowledge of art; he admired the whole
+series of wall-paintings, in which the life of Saint Bruno is divinely
+set forth.
+
+[By a new process these frescos were subsequently transferred to canvas
+in 1800 or 1802, at which date the vast property of the Carthusian monks
+became part of the Luxembourg estates.--EDITOR'S NOTE.]
+
+"Father," said he to the prior who showed him round, "these simple,
+touching pictures are far beyond all that was ever told me.  My
+intention, I admit, was to move your institution elsewhere, so as to
+connect your spacious property with my palace of the Luxembourg, but the
+horrible outrage which would have to be committed deters me; to the
+marvellous art of Lesueur you owe it that your convent remains intact."
+
+The monk, overjoyed, expressed his gratitude to the King, and promised
+him the love and guardianship of Saint Bruno in heaven.
+
+Just then, service in the chapel was over, and the monks filed past two
+and two, never raising their eyes from the gloomy pavement bestrewn with
+tombstones.  The prior, clapping his hands, signalled them to stop, and
+then addressed them:
+
+"My brethren, stay your progress a moment; lift up your heads, bowed down
+by penance, and behold with awe the descendant of Saint Louis, the august
+protector of this convent.  Yes, our noble sovereign himself has
+momentarily quitted his palace to visit this humble abode.  On these
+quiet walls which hide our cells, he has sought to read the simple,
+touching story, of the life of our saintly founder.  The august son of
+Louis the Just has taken our dwelling-place and community under his
+immediate protection.  Go to your cells and pray to God for this
+magnanimous prince, for his children and successors in perpetuity."
+
+As he said these flattering words, a monk, with flushed cheeks and mouth
+agape, flung himself down at the King's feet, beating his brow repeatedly
+upon the pavement, and exclaiming:
+
+"Sire, forgive me, forgive me, guilty though I be.  I crave your royal
+pardon and pity."
+
+The prior, somewhat confused, saw that some important confession was
+about to be made, so he dismissed the others, and sent them back to their
+devotions.  The prostrate monk, however, never thought of moving from his
+position.  Perceiving that he was alone with the King, whose calm, gentle
+demeanour emboldened him, he begged anew for pardon with great energy,
+and fervour.  The King clearly saw that the penitent was some great
+evil-doer, and he promised forgiveness in somewhat ambiguous fashion.
+Then the monk rose and said:
+
+"Your Majesty reigns to-day, and reigns gloriously.  That is an amazing
+miracle, for countless incredible dangers of the direst sort have beset
+your cradle and menaced your youth.  A prince of your house, backed up by
+ambitious inferiors, resolved to wrest the crown from you, in order to
+get it for himself and his descendants.  The Queen, your mother, full of
+heroic resolution, herself had energy enough to resist the cabal; but
+more than once her feet touched the very brink of the precipice, and more
+than once she nearly fell over it with her children.
+
+"Noble qualities did this great Queen possess, but at times she had too
+overweening a contempt for her enemies.  Her disdain for my master, the
+young Cardinal, was once too bitter, and begot in this presumptuous
+prelate's heart undying hatred.  Educated under the same roof as M. le
+Cardinal, with the same teachers and the same doctrines, I saw, as it
+were, with his eyes when I went out into the world, and marched beneath
+his banner when civil war broke out.
+
+"Dreading the punishment for his temerity, this prelate decided that the
+sceptre should pass into other hands, and that the elder branch should
+become extinct.  With this end in view, he made me write a pamphlet
+showing that you and your brother, the Prince, were not the King's sons;
+and subsequently he induced me to issue another, in which I affirmed on
+oath that the Queen, your mother, was secretly married to Cardinal
+Mazarin.  Unfortunately, these books met with astounding success, nor,
+though my tears fall freely, can they ever efface such vile pages.
+
+"I am also guilty of another crime, Sire, and this weighs more heavily
+upon my heart.  When the Queen-mother dexterously arranged for your
+removal to Vincennes, she left in your bed at the Louvre a large doll.
+The rebels were aware of this when it was too late.  I was ordered to
+ride post-haste with an escort in pursuit of your carriage; and I had to
+swear by the Holy Gospels that, if I could not bring you back to Paris, I
+would stab you to the heart.
+
+"The enormity of my offence weighed heavily upon my spirit and my
+conscience.  I conceived a horror for the Cardinal and withdrew to this
+convent.  For many years I have undergone the most grievous penances, but
+I shall never make thorough expiation for my sins, and I hold myself to
+be as great a criminal as at first, so long as I have not obtained pardon
+from my King."
+
+"Are you in holy orders?" asked the King gently.
+
+"No, Sire; I feel unworthy to take them," replied the Carthusian, in
+dejected tones.
+
+"Let him be ordained as soon as possible," said his Majesty to the prior.
+"The monk's keen repentance touches me; his brain is still excitable; it
+needs fresh air and change.  I will appoint him to a curacy at Saint
+Domingo, and desire him to leave for that place at the earliest
+opportunity.  Do not forget this."
+
+The monk again prostrated himself before the King, overwhelming him with
+blessings, and these royal commands were in due course executed.  So it
+came about that Lesueur's frescos led to startling revelations, and
+enabled the Carthusians to keep their splendid property intact, ungainly
+though this was and out of place.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER LIX.
+
+Journey to Poitou.--The Mayor and the Sheriffs of Orleans.--The
+Marquise's Modesty.--The Serenade.--The Abbey of Fontevrault.--Family
+Council.--Duchomania.--A Letter to the King.--The Bishop of
+Poitiers.--The Young Vicar.--Rather Give Him a Regiment.--The Fete at the
+Convent.--The Presentation.--The Revolt.--A Grand Example.
+
+
+The Abbess of Fontevrault, who, when a mere nun, could never bear her
+profession, now loved it with all her heart, doubtless because of the
+authority and freedom which she possessed, being at liberty to go or come
+at will, and as absolute mistress of her actions, accountable to no one
+for these.
+
+She sent me her confidential woman, one of the "travelling sisters" of
+the community, to tell me privately that the Principality of Talmont was
+going to be sold, and to offer me her help at this important juncture.
+
+Her letter, duly tied up and sealed, begged me to be bold and use my
+authority, if necessary, in order to induce the King at last to give his
+approval and consent.  "What!" she wrote, "my dear sister; you have given
+birth to eight children, the youngest of which is a marvel, and you have
+not yet got your reward.  All your children enjoy the rank of prince, and
+you, their mother, are exempt from such distinction!  What is the King
+thinking about?  Does it add to his dignity, honour, and glory that you
+should still be merely a petty marquise?  I ask again, what is the King
+thinking of?"
+
+In conclusion my sister invited me to pay a visit to her charming abbey.
+"We have much to tell you," said she, and "such brief absence is needful
+to you, so as to test the King's affection.  Your sort of temperament
+suits him, your talk amuses him; in fact, your society is absolutely
+essential to him; the distance from Versailles to Saumur would seem to
+him as far off as the uttermost end of his kingdom.  He will send courier
+upon courier to you; each of his letters will be a sort of entreaty, and
+you have only just got to express your firm intention and desire to be
+created a duchess or a princess, and, my dear sister, it will forthwith
+be done."
+
+For two days I trained the travelling nun from Fontevrault in her part,
+and then I suddenly presented her to the King.  She had the honour of
+explaining to his Majesty that she had left the Abbess sick and ailing,
+and informed him that my sister was most anxious to see me again, and
+that she hoped his Majesty would not object to my paying her a short
+visit.  For a moment the King hesitated; then he asked me if I thought
+such a change of urgent necessity.  I replied that the news of Madame de
+Mortemart's ill-health had greatly affected me, and I promised not to be
+away more than a week.
+
+The King accordingly instructed the Marquis de Louvois--[Minister of War,
+and inspector-General of Posts and Relays.]--to make all due arrangements
+for my journey, and two days afterwards, my sister De Thianges, her
+daughter the Duchesse de Nevers, and myself, set out at night for
+Poitiers.
+
+The royal relays took us as far as Orleans, after which we had
+post-horses, but specially chosen and well harnessed.  Couriers in
+advance of us had given all necessary orders to the officials and
+governors, so that we were provided with an efficient military escort
+along the road, and were as safe as if driving through Paris.
+
+At Orleans, the mayor and sheriffs in full dress presented themselves at
+our carriage window, and were about to deliver an address "to please the
+King;" but I thought such a proceeding ill-timed, and my niece De Nevers
+told these magnates that we were travelling incognito.
+
+Crowds collected below our balcony.  Madame de Thianges thought they were
+going to serenade me, but I distinctly heard sounds of hissing.  My niece
+De Nevers was greatly upset; she would eat no supper, but began to cry.
+"What are you worrying about?" quoth I to this excitable young person.
+"Don't you see that we are stopping the night on the estates of the
+Princess Palatine,--[The boorish Bavarian princess, the Duc d'Orleans's
+second wife.  EDITOR'S NOTE.]--and that it is to her exquisite breeding
+that we owe compliments of this kind?"
+
+Next morning at daybreak we drove on, and the day after we reached
+Fontevrault.  The Abbess, accompanied by her entire community, came to
+welcome us at the main gate, and her surpliced chaplains offered me holy
+water.
+
+After rest and refreshment, we made a detailed survey of her little
+empire, and everywhere observed traces of her good management and tact.
+Rules had been made more lenient, while not relaxed; the revenues had
+increased; everywhere embellishments, contentment, and well-being were
+noticeable.
+
+After praising the Abbess as she deserved, we talked a little about the
+Talmont principality.  My sister was inconsolable.  The Tremouilles had
+come into property which restored their shattered fortunes; the
+principality was no longer for sale; all thought of securing it must be
+given up.
+
+Strange to say, I at once felt consoled by such news.  Rightly to explain
+this feeling, I ought, perhaps, to make an avowal.  A grand and brilliant
+title had indeed ever been the object of my ambition; but I thought that
+I deserved such a distinction personally, for my own sake, and I was
+always wishing that my august friend would create a title specially in my
+favour.  I had often hinted at such a thing in various ways, and full as
+he is of wit and penetration, he always listened to my covert
+suggestions, and was perfectly aware of my desire.  And yet,
+magnificently generous as any mortal well could be, he never granted my
+wish.  Any one else but myself would have been tired, disheartened even;
+but at Court one must never be discouraged nor give up the game.  The
+atmosphere is rife with vicissitude and change.  Monotony would seem to
+have made there its home; yet no day is quite like another.  What one
+hopes for is too long in coming; and what one never foresees on, a sudden
+comes to pass.
+
+We took counsel together as to the best thing to be done.  Madame de
+Thianges said to me: "My dear Athenais, you have the elegance of the
+Mortemarts, the fine perception and ready wit that distinguishes them,
+but strangely enough you have not their energy, nor the firm will
+necessary for the conduct of weighty matters.  The King does not treat
+you like a great friend, like a distinguished friend, like the mother of
+his son, the Duc du Maine; he treats you like a province that he has
+conquered, on which he levies tax after tax; that is all.  Pray
+recollect, my sister, that for ten years you have played a leading part
+on the grand stage.  Your beauty, to my surprise, has been preserved to
+you, notwithstanding your numerous confinements and the fatigues of your
+position.  Profit by the present juncture, and do not let the chance
+slip.  You must write to the King, and on some pretext or other, ask for
+another week's leave.  You must tell him plainly that you have been
+marquise long enough, and that the moment has come at last for you to
+have the 'imperiale', and sign your name in proper style."
+
+[The distinctive mark of duchesses was the 'imperiale'; that is, a rich
+and costly hammer-cloth of embroidered velvet, edged with gold, which
+covered the roofs of ducal equipages.--EDITOR'S NOTE.]
+
+Her advice was considered sound, but the Abbess, taking into account the
+King's susceptibility, decided that it would not do for me to write
+myself about a matter so important as this.  The Marquise de Thianges, in
+some way or other, had got the knack of plain speaking, so that a letter
+of hers would be more readily excused.  Thus it was settled that she
+should write; and write she did.  I give her letter verbatim, as it will
+please my readers; and they will agree with me that I could never have
+touched this delicate subject so happily myself.
+
+SIRE:--Madame de Montespan had the honour of writing one or two notes to
+you during our journey, and now she rests all day long in this vast and
+pleasant abbey, where your Majesty's name is held in as great veneration
+as elsewhere, being beloved as deeply as at Versailles.  Madame de
+Mortemart has caused one of the best portraits of your Majesty, done by
+Mignard, to be brought hither from Paris, and this magnificent personage
+in royal robes is placed beneath an amaranth-coloured dais, richly
+embroidered with gold, at the extreme end of a vast hall, which bears the
+name of our illustrious and well-beloved monarch.  Your privileges are
+great, in truth, Sire.  Here you are, installed in this pious and
+secluded retreat, where never mortal may set foot.  Before you, beside
+you daily, you may contemplate the multitude of modest virgins who look
+at you and admire you, becoming all of them attached to you without
+wishing it, perhaps without knowing it, even.
+
+Surely, Sire, your penetration is a most admirable thing.  After your
+first interview with her, you considered our dear Abbess to be a woman of
+capacity and talent.  You rightly appreciated her, for nothing can be
+compared to the perfect order that prevails in her house.  She is active
+and industrious without sacrificing her position and her dignity in the
+slightest.  Like yourself, she can judge of things in their entirety, and
+examine them in every little detail; like yourself, she knows how to
+command obedience and affection, desiring nothing but that which is just
+and reasonable. In a word, Sire, Madame de Mortemart has the secret of
+convincing her subordinates that she is acting solely in their interests,
+a supreme mission, in sooth, among men; and my sister really has no other
+desire nor ambition,--to this we can testify.
+
+Upon our return, which for our liking can never be too soon, we will
+acquaint your Majesty with the slight authorised mortification which we
+had to put up with at Orleans.  We are in possession of certain
+information regarding this, and your Majesty will have ample means of
+throwing a light upon the subject.  As for the magistrates, they behaved
+most wonderfully; they had an address all ready for us, but Madame de
+Montespan would not listen to it, saying that "such honours are meet only
+for you and for your children."  Such modesty on my sister's part is in
+keeping with her great intelligence; I had almost said her genius.  But
+in this matter I was not wholly of her opinion.  It seemed to me, Sire,
+that, in refusing the homage offered to her by these worthy magnates,
+she, so to speak, disowned the rank ensured to her by your favour.  While
+the Marquise enjoys your noble affection, she is no ordinary personage.
+She has her seat in your own Chapel Royal, so in travelling she has a
+right to special honour.  By your choice of her, you have made her
+notable; in giving her your heart, you have made her a part of yourself.
+By giving birth to your children, she has acquired her rank at Court, in
+society, and in history.  Your Majesty intends her to be considered and
+respected; the escorts of cavalry along the highroads are sufficient
+proof of that.
+
+All France, Sire, is aware of your munificence and of your princely
+generosity: Shall I tell you of the amazement of the provincials at
+noticing that the ducal housings are absent from my sister's splendid
+coach?  Yes, I have taken upon myself to inform you of this surprise, and
+knowing how greatly Athenais desires this omission to be repaired, I went
+so far as to promise that your Majesty would cause this to be done
+forthwith.  It must be done, Sire; the Marquise loves you as much as it
+is possible for you to be loved; of this, all that she has sacrificed is
+a proof.  But while dearly loving you, she fears to appear importunate,
+and were it not for my respectful freedom of speech, perhaps you would
+still be ignorant of that which she most fervently desires.
+
+What we all three of us ask is but a slight thing for your Majesty, who,
+with a single word, can create a thousand nobles and princes. The kings,
+your ancestors, used their glory in making their lovers illustrious.  The
+Valois built temples and palaces in their honour. You, greater than all
+the Valois, should not let their example suffice.  And I am sure that you
+will do for the mother of the Duc du Maine what the young prince himself
+would do for her if you should happen to forget.
+
+Your Majesty's most humble servant, "MARQUISE DE THIANGES."
+
+To the Abbess and myself; this ending seemed rather too sarcastic, but
+Madame de Thianges was most anxious to let it stand.  There was no way of
+softening or glossing it over; so the letter went off, just as she had
+written it.
+
+It so happened that the Bishop of Poitiers was in his diocese at the
+time.  He came to pay me a visit, and ask me if I could get an abbey for
+his nephew, who, though extremely young, already acted as vicar-general
+for him.  "I would willingly get him a whole regiment," I replied,
+"provided M. de Louvois be of those that are my friends.  As for the
+benefices, they depend, as you know, upon the Pere de la Chaise, and I
+don't think he would be willing to grant me a favour."
+
+"Permit me to assure you, madame, that in this respect you are in error,"
+replied the Bishop.  "Pere de la Chaise respects you and honours you, and
+only speaks of you in such terms.  What distresses him is to see that you
+have an aversion for him.  Let me write to him, and say that my nephew
+has had the honour of being presented to you, and that you hoped he might
+have a wealthy abbey to enable him to bear the privations of his
+calling."
+
+The young vicar-general was good-looking, and of graceful presence. He
+had that distinction of manner which causes the priesthood to be held in
+honour, and that amenity of address which makes the law to be obeyed. My
+sisters began to take a fancy to him, and recommended him to me. I wrote
+to Pere de la Chaise myself, and instead of a mere abbey, we asked for a
+bishopric for him.
+
+It was my intention to organise a brilliant fete for the Fontevrault
+ladies, and invite all the nobility of the neighbourhood.  We talked of
+this to the young vicar, who highly approved of my plan, and albeit
+monsieur his uncle thought such a scheme somewhat contrary to rule and to
+what he termed the proprieties, we made use of his nephew, the young
+priest, as a lever; and M. de Poitiers at last consented to everything.
+
+The Fontevrault gardens are one of the most splendid sights in all the
+country round.  We chose the large alley as our chief entertainment-hall,
+and the trees were all illuminated as in my park at Clagny, or at
+Versailles.  There was no dancing, on account of the nuns, but during our
+repast there was music, and a concert and fireworks afterwards.  The fete
+ended with a performance of "Genevieve de Brabant," a grand spectacular
+pantomime, played to perfection by certain gentry of the neighbourhood;
+it made a great impression upon all the nuns and novices.
+
+Before going down into the gardens, the Abbess wished to present me
+formally to all the nuns, as well as to those persons it had pleased her
+to invite.  Imagine her astonishment!  Three nuns were absent, and
+despite our entreaties and the commands of their superiors, they
+persisted in their rebellion and their refusal.  They set up to keep
+rules before all things, and observe the duties of their religion, lying
+thus to their Abbess and their conscience.  It was all mere spite. Of
+this there can be no doubt, for one of these refractory creatures, as it
+transpired, was a cousin of the Marquis de Lauzun, my so-called victim;
+while the other two were near relatives of Mademoiselle de Mauldon, an
+intimate friend of M. de Meaux.
+
+In spite of these three silly absentees, we enjoyed ourselves greatly,
+and had much innocent amusement; while they, who could watch us from
+their windows, were probably mad with rage to think they were not of our
+number.
+
+My sister complained of them to the Bishop of Poitiers, who severely
+blamed them for such conduct; and seeing that he could not induce them to
+offer me an apology, sent them away to three different convents.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER LX.
+
+The Page-Dauphin.--A Billet from the King.--Madame de Maintenon's
+Letter.--The King as Avenger.--His Sentence on the Murderers.
+
+
+The great liberty which we enjoyed at Fontevrault, compared with the
+interminable bondage of Saint Germain or Versailles, made the abbey ever
+seem more agreeable to me; and Madame de Thianges asked me in sober
+earnest "if I no longer loved the King."
+
+"Of course I do," was my answer; "but may one not love oneself just a
+little bit, too?  To me, health is life; and I assure you, at
+Fontevrault, my dear sister, I sleep most soundly, and have quite got rid
+of all my nervous attacks and headaches."
+
+We were just talking thus when Madame de Mortemart entered my room, and
+introduced young Chamilly, the Page-Dauphin,--[The chief page-in-waiting
+bore the title of Page-Dauphin]--who brought with him a letter from the
+King.  He also had one for me from Madame de Maintenon, rallying me upon
+my absence and giving me news of my children.  The King's letter was
+quite short, but a king's note such as that is worth a whole pile of
+commonplace letters.  I transcribe it here:
+
+I am jealous; an unusual thing for me.  And I am much vexed, I confess,
+with Madame de Mortemart, who might have chosen a very different moment
+to be ill.  I am ignorant as to the nature of her malady, but if it be
+serious, and of those which soon grow more dangerous, she has played me a
+very sorry trick in sending for you to act as her nurse or her physician.
+Pray tell her, madame, that you are no good whatever as a nurse, being
+extremely hasty and impatient in everything; while as regards medical
+skill, you are still further from the mark, since you have never yet been
+able to understand your own ailments, nor even explain these with the
+least clearness.  I must ask the Abbess momentarily to suspend her
+sufferings and come to Versailles, where all my physicians shall treat
+her with infinite skill; and, to oblige me, will cure her, as they know
+how much I esteem and like her.  Farewell, my ladies three, who in your
+friendship are but as one.  I should like to be there to make a fourth.
+Madame de Maintenon, who loves you sincerely, will give you news of your
+little family and of Saint Germain.  Her letter and mine will be brought
+to you and delivered by the young Comte de Chamilly.  Send him back to me
+at once, and don't let him, see your novices or your nuns, else he will
+not want to return to me. LOUIS.
+
+Madame de Maintenon's letter was not couched in the same playfully
+mocking tone; though a marquise, she felt the distance that there was
+between herself and me; besides, she always knows exactly what is the
+proper thing to do.  The Abbess, who is an excellent judge, thought this
+letter excellently written.  She wanted to have a copy of it, which made
+me determine to preserve it.  Here it is, a somewhat more voluminous
+epistle than that of the King:
+
+I promised you, madame, that I would inform you as often as possible of
+all that interests you here, and now I keep my promise, being glad to say
+that I have only pleasant news to communicate.  His Majesty is
+wonderfully well, and though annoyed at your journey, he has hardly lost
+any of his gaiety, as seemingly he hopes to have you back again in a day
+or two.
+
+Mademoiselle de Nantes declares that she would have behaved very well in
+the coach, and that she is a nearer relation to you than the Duchesse de
+Nevers, and that it was very unfair not to take her with you this time.
+In order to comfort her, the Duc du Maine has discovered an expedient
+which greatly amuses us, and never fails of its effect.  He tells her how
+absolutely necessary it is for her proper education that she should be
+placed in a convent, and then adds in a serious tone that if she had been
+taken to Fontevrault she would never have come back!
+
+"Oh, if that is the case," she answered, "why, I am not jealous of the
+Duchesse de Nevers."
+
+The day after your departure the Court took up its quarters at Saint
+Germain, where we shall probably remain for another week.  You know,
+madame, how fond his Majesty is of the Louis Treize Belvedere, and the
+telescope erected by this monarch,--one of the best ever made hitherto.
+As if by inspiration, the King turned this instrument to the left towards
+that distant bend which the Seine makes round the verge of the Chatou
+woods.  His Majesty, who observes every thing, noticed two bathers in the
+river, who apparently were trying to teach their much younger companion,
+a lad of fourteen or fifteen, to swim; doubtless, they had hurt him, for
+he got away from their grasp, and escaped to the river-bank, to reach his
+clothes and dress himself.  They tried to coax him back into the water,
+but he did not relish such treatment; by his gestures it was plain that
+he desired no further lessons.  Then the two bathers jumped out of the
+river, and as he was putting on his shirt, dragged him back into the
+water, and forcibly held him under till he was drowned.
+
+When they had committed this crime, and their victim was murdered, they
+cast uneasy glances at either river-bank, and the heights of Saint
+Germain.  Believing that no one had knowledge of their deed, they put on
+their clothes, and with all a murderer's glee depicted on their evil
+countenances, they walked along the bank in the direction of the castle.
+The King instantly rode off in pursuit, accompanied by five or six
+musketeers; he got ahead of them, and soon turned back and met them.
+
+"Messieurs," said he to them, "when you went away you were three in
+number; what have you done with your comrade?" This question, asked in a
+firm voice, disconcerted them somewhat at first, but they soon replied
+that their companion wanted to have a swim in the river, and that they
+had left him higher up the stream near the corner of the forest, close to
+where his clothes and linen made a white spot on the bank.
+
+On hearing this answer the King gave orders for them to be bound and
+brought back by the soldiery to the old chateau, where they were shut up
+in separate rooms.  His Majesty, filled with indignation, sent for the
+High Provost, and recounting to him what took place before his eyes,
+requested him to try the culprits there and then. The Marquis, however,
+is always scrupulous to excess; he begged the King to reflect that at
+such a great distance, and viewed through a telescope, things might have
+seemed somewhat different from what they actually were, and that, instead
+of forcibly holding their companion under the water, perhaps the two
+bathers were endeavouring to bring him to the surface.
+
+"No, monsieur, no," replied his Majesty; "they dragged him into the river
+against his will, and I saw their struggles and his when they thrust him
+under the water."
+
+"But, Sire," replied this punctilious personage, "our criminal law
+requires the testimony of two witnesses, and your Majesty, all-powerful
+though you be, can only furnish that of one."
+
+"Monsieur," replied the King gently, "I authorise you in passing sentence
+to state that you heard the joint testimony of the King of France and the
+King of Navarre."
+
+Seeing that this failed to convince the judge, his Majesty grew impatient
+and said to the old Marquis, "King Louis IX., my ancestor, sometimes
+administered justice himself in the wood at Vincennes; I will to-day
+follow his august example and administer justice at Saint Germain."
+
+The throne-room was at once got ready by his order.  Twenty notable
+burgesses of the town were summoned to the castle, and the lords and
+ladies sat with these upon the benches.  The King, wearing his orders,
+took his seat when the two prisoners were placed in the dock.
+
+By their contradictory statements, ever-increasing embarrassment, and
+unveracious assertions, the jury were soon convinced of their guilt.  The
+unhappy youth was their brother, and had inherited property from their
+mother, he being her child by a second husband. So these monsters
+murdered him for revenge and greed.  The King sentenced them to be bound
+hand and foot, and flung into the river in the selfsame place "where they
+killed their young brother Abel."
+
+When they saw his Majesty leaving his throne, they threw themselves at
+his feet, implored his pardon, and confessed their hideous crime. The
+King, pausing a moment, thanked God that their conscience had forced such
+confession from them, and then remitted the sentence of confiscation
+only.  They were executed before the setting of that sun which had
+witnessed their crime, and the next day, that is, yesterday evening, the
+three bodies, united once more by fate, were found floating about two
+leagues from Saint Germain, under the willows at the edge of the river
+near Poisay.
+
+Orders were instantly given for their separate interment.  The youngest
+was brought back to Saint Germain, where the King wished him to have a
+funeral befitting his innocence and untimely fate. All the military
+attended it.
+
+Forgive me, madams, for all these lengthy details; we have all been so
+much upset by this dreadful occurrence, and can talk of nothing else,--in
+fact, it will furnish matter for talk for a long while yet.
+
+I sincerely hope that by this time Madame de Mortsmart has completely
+recovered.  I agree with his Majesty that, in doctoring, you have not had
+much experience; still, friendship acts betimes as a most potent
+talisman, and the heart of the Abbess is of those that in absence pines,
+but which in the presence of some loved one revives.
+
+She has deigned to grant me a little place in her esteem; pray tell her
+that this first favour has somewhat spoiled me, and that now I ask for
+more than this, for a place in her affections.  Madame de Thianges and
+Madame de Nevers are aware of my respect and attachment for them, and
+they approve of this, for they have engraved their names and crests on my
+plantain-trees at Maintenon.  Such inscriptions are a bond to bind us,
+and if no mischance befall, these trees, as I hope, will survive me.
+
+I am, madame, etc., MAINTENON.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER LXI.
+
+Mademoiselle d'Amurande.--The Married Nun.--The Letter to the
+Superior.--Monseigneur's Discourse.--The Abduction.--A Letter from the
+King.--Beware of the Governess.--We Leave Fontevrault.
+
+
+Amoung the novices at Fontevrault there was a most interesting, charming
+young person, who gave Madame de Mortemart a good deal of anxiety, as she
+thought her still undecided as to the holy profession she was about to
+adopt.  This interested me greatly, and evoked my deepest sympathy.
+
+The night of our concert and garden fete she sang to please the Abbess,
+but there were tears in her voice.  I was touched beyond expression, and
+going up to her at the bend of one of the quickset-hedges, I said, "You
+are unhappy, mademoiselle; I feel a deep interest for you.  I will ask
+Madame de Mortemart to let you come and read to me; then we can talk as
+we like.  I should like to help you if I can."
+
+She moved away at once, fearing to be observed, and the following day I
+met her in my sister's room.
+
+"Your singing and articulation are wonderful, mademoiselle," said I,
+before the Abbess; "would you be willing to come and read to me for an
+hour every day?  I have left my secretary at Versailles, and I am
+beginning to miss her much."
+
+Madame de Mortemart thanked me for my kindly intentions towards the young
+novice, who, from that time forward, was placed at my disposal.
+
+The reading had no other object than to gain her confidence, and as soon
+as we were alone I bade her tell me all.  After brief hesitation, the
+poor child thus began:
+
+"In a week's time, a most awful ceremony takes place in this monastery.
+The term of my novitiate has already expired, and had it not been for the
+distractions caused by your visit, I should have already been obliged to
+take this awful oath and make my vows.
+
+"Madame de Mortemart is gentle and kind (no wonder! she is your sister),
+but she has decided that I am to be one of her nuns, and nothing on earth
+can induce her to change her mind.  If this fatal decree be executed, I
+shall never live to see this year of desolation reach its close.  Perhaps
+I may fall dead at the feet of the Bishop who ordains us.
+
+"They would have me give to God--who does not need it--my whole life as a
+sacrifice.  But, madame, I cannot give my God this life of mine, as four
+years ago I surrendered it wholly to some one else.  Yes, madame," said
+she, bursting into tears, "I am the lawful wife of the Vicomte d'Olbruze,
+my cousin german.
+
+"Of this union, planned and approved by my dear mother herself, a child
+was born, which my ruthless father refuses to recognise, and which kindly
+peasants are bringing up in the depths of the woods.
+
+"My dear, good mother was devotedly fond of my lover, who was her nephew.
+From our very cradles she had always destined us for each other.  And she
+persisted in making this match, despite her husband, whose fortune she
+had immensely increased, and one day during his absence we were legally
+united by our family priest in the castle chapel.  My father, who, was
+away at sea, came back soon afterwards: He was enraged at my mother's
+disobedience, and in his fury attempted to stab her with his own hand. He
+made several efforts to put an end to her existence, and the general
+opinion in my home is that he was really the author of her death.
+
+"Devotedly attached to my husband by ties of love no less than of duty, I
+fled with him to his uncle's, an old knight-commander of Malta, whose
+sole heir he was.  My father, with others, pursued us thither, and scaled
+the walls of our retreat by night, resolved to kill his nephew first and
+me afterwards.  Roused by the noise of the ruffians, my husband seized
+his firearms.  Three of his assailants he shot from the balcony, and my
+father, disguised as a common man, received a volley in the face, which
+destroyed his eyesight.  The Parliament of Rennes took up the matter. My
+husband thought it best not to put in an appearance, and after the
+evidence of sundry witnesses called at random, a warrant for his arrest
+as a defaulter was issued, a death penalty being attached thereto.
+
+"Ever since that time my husband has been wandering about in disguise
+from province to province.  Doomed to solitude in our once lovely
+chateau, my father forced me to take the veil in this convent, promising
+that if I did so, he would not bring my husband to justice.
+
+"Perhaps, madame, if the King were truly and faithfully informed of all
+these things, he would have compassion for my grief, and right the
+injustice meted out to my unlucky husband."
+
+After hearing this sad story, I clearly saw that, in some way or other,
+we should have to induce Madame de Mortemart to postpone the ceremony of
+taking the vow, and I afterwards determined to put these vagaries on the
+part of the law before my good friend President de Nesmond, who was the
+very man to give us good advice, and suggest the right remedy.
+
+As for the King, I did not deem it fit that he should be consulted in the
+matter.  Of course I look upon him as a just and wise prince, but he is
+the slave of form.  In great families, he does not like to hear of
+marriages to which the father has not given formal consent; moreover, I
+did not forget about the gun-shot which blinded the gentleman, and made
+him useless for the rest of his life.  The King, who is devoted to his
+nobles, would never have pronounced in favour of the Vicomte, unless he
+happened to be in a particularly good humour.  Altogether, it was a risky
+thing.
+
+I deeply sympathised with Mademoiselle d'Amurande in her trouble, and
+assured her of my good-will and protection, but I begged her to approve
+my course of action, though taken independently of the King.  She
+willingly left her fate in my hands, and I bade her write my sister the
+following note:
+
+MADAME:--You know the vows that bind me; they are sacred, having been
+plighted at the foot of the altar.  Do not persist, I entreat you, do not
+persist in claiming the solemn declaration of my vows. You are here to
+command the Virgins of the Lord, but among these I have no right to a
+place.  I am a mother, although so young, and the Holy Scriptures tell me
+every day that Hagar, the kindly hearted, may not forsaken her darling
+Ishmael.
+
+I happened to be with Madame de Mortemart when one of the aged sisters
+brought her this letter.  On reading it she was much affected.  I feigned
+ignorance, and asked her kindly what was the reason of her trouble.  She
+wished to hide it; but I insisted, and at last persuaded her to let me
+see the note.  I read it calmly and with reflection, and afterwards said
+to the Abbess:
+
+"What!  You, sister, whose distress and horror I witnessed when our stern
+parents shut you up in a cloister,--are you now going to impose like
+fetters upon a young and interesting person, who dreads them, and rejects
+them as once you rejected them?"
+
+Madame de Mortemart replied, "I was young then, and without experience,
+when I showed such childish repugnance as that of which you speak.  At
+that age one knows nothing of religion nor of the eternal verities.  Only
+the world, with its frivolous pleasures, is then before one's eyes; and
+the spectacle blinds our view, even our view of heaven.  Later on I
+deplored such resistance, which so grieved my family; and when I saw you
+at Court, brilliant and adored, I assure you, my dear Marquise, that this
+     convent and its solitude seemed to me a thousand times more
+desirable than the habitation of kings."
+
+"You speak thus philosophically," I replied, "only because your lot
+happens to have undergone such a change.  From a slave, you have become
+an absolute and sovereign mistress.  The book of rules is in your hands;
+you turn over its leaves wherever you like; you open it at whatever page
+suits you; and if the book should chance to give you a severe rebuke, you
+never let others know this.  Human nature was ever thus.  No, no, madame;
+you can never make one believe that a religious life is in itself such an
+attractive one that you would gladly resume it if the dignities of your
+position as an abbess were suddenly wrested from you and given to some
+one else."
+
+"Well, well, if that is so," said the Abbess, reddening, "I am quite
+ready to send in my resignation, and so return you your liberality."
+
+"I don't ask you for an abbey which you got from the King," I rejoined,
+smiling; "but the favour, which I ask and solicit you can and ought to
+grant.  Mademoiselle d'Amurande points out to you in formal and
+significant terms that she cannot enrol herself among the Virgins of the
+Lord, and that the gentle Hagar of Holy Writ may not forsake Ishmael.
+Such a confession plainly hints at an attachment which religion cannot
+violate nor destroy, else our religion would be a barbarous one, and
+contrary to nature.
+
+"Since God has brought me to this convent, and by chance I have got to
+know and appreciate this youthful victim, I shall give her my compassion
+and help,--I, who have no necessity to make conversions by force in order
+to add to the number of my community.  If I have committed any grave
+offence in the eyes of God, I trust that He will pardon me in
+consideration of the good work that I desire to do.  I shall write to the
+King, and Mademoiselle d'Amurande shall not make her vows until his
+Majesty commands her to do so."
+
+This last speech checkmated my sister.  She at once became gentle,
+sycophantic, almost caressing in manner, and assured me that the ceremony
+of taking the vow would be indefinitely postponed, although the Bishop of
+Lugon had already prepared his homily, and invitations had been issued to
+the nobility.
+
+Madame de Mortemart is the very embodiment of subtlety and cunning.  I
+saw that she only wanted to gain time in order to carry out her scheme. I
+did not let myself be hoodwinked by her promises, but went straight to
+work, being determined to have my own way.
+
+Hearing from Mademoiselle d'Amurande that her friend and ally, the old
+commander, was still living, I was glad to know that she had in him such
+a stanch supporter.  "It is the worthy commander," said I, "who must be
+as a father to you, until I have got the sentence of the first Parliament
+cancelled."  Then we arranged that I should get her away with me from the
+convent, as there seemed to be little or no difficulty about this.
+
+Accordingly, three days afterwards I dressed her in a most elegant
+costume of my niece's.  We went out in the morning for a drive, and the
+nuns at the gateway bowed low, as usual, when my carriage passed, never
+dreaming of such a thing as abduction.
+
+That evening the whole convent seemed in a state of uproar.  Madame de
+Mortemart, with flaming visage, sought to stammer out her reproaches. But
+as there was no law to prevent my action, she had to hide her vexation,
+and behave as if nothing had happened.
+
+The following year I wrote and told her that the judgment of the Rennes
+Parliament had been cancelled by the Grand Council, as it was based on
+conflicting evidence.  The blind Comte d'Amurande had died of rage, and
+the young couple, who came into all his property, were eternally grateful
+to me, and forever showered blessings upon my head.
+
+The Abbess wrote back to say that she shared my satisfaction at so happy
+a conclusion, and that Madame d'Olbruse's disappearance from Fontevrault
+had scarcely been noticed.
+
+The Marquise de Thianges, whose ideas regarding such matters were
+precisely the same as my own, confined herself to stating that I had not
+told her a word about it.  She spoke the truth; for the enterprise was
+not of such difficulty that I needed any one to help me.
+
+On the twelfth day, as we were about to leave Fontevrault, I received
+another letter from the King, which was as follows:
+
+As the pain in your knee continues, and the Bourbonne waters have been
+recommended to you, I beg you, madame, to profit by being in their
+vicinity, and to go and try their effect.  Mademoiselle de Nantes is in
+fairly good health, yet it looks as if a return of her fluxion were
+likely.  Five or six pimples have appeared on her face, and there is the
+same redness of the arms as last year.  I shall send her to Bourbonne;
+your maids and the governess will accompany her.  The Prince de Conde,
+who is in office there, will show you every attention.  I would rather
+see you a little later on in good health, than a little sooner, and
+ailing.
+
+My kindest messages to Madame de Thianges, the Abbess, and all those who
+show you regard and sympathy.  Madame de Nevers might invite you to stay
+with her; on her return I will not forget such obligation.
+
+LOUIS.
+
+We left Fontevrault after a stay of fifteen days; to the nuns and novices
+it seemed more like fifteen minutes, but to Madame de Mortemart, fifteen
+long years.  Yet that did not prevent her from tenderly embracing me, nor
+from having tears in her eyes when the time came for us to take coach and
+depart.
+
+
+
+
+ETEXT EDITOR'S BOOKMARKS:
+
+All the death-in-life of a convent
+Cuddlings and caresses of decrepitude
+In ill-assorted unions, good sense or good nature must intervene
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Memoirs of Madame de Montespan,
+Volume IV., by Madame La Marquise De Montespan
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+The Project Gutenberg The Memoirs of Madame de Montespan, v4
+#4 in our series by Madame La Marquise De Montespan
+#13 in our series Historic Court Memoirs
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+Title: The Memoirs of Madame de Montespan, v4
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+Author: Madame La Marquise De Montespan
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+MEMOIRS OF MADAME LA MARQUISE DE MONTESPAN, v4
+
+Written by Herself
+
+Being the Historic Memoirs of the Court of Louis XIV.
+
+
+
+BOOK 4.
+
+
+CHAPTER XLIX.
+
+President de Nesmond.--Melladoro.--A Complacent Husband and His Love-sick
+Wife.--Tragic Sequel.
+
+President de Nesmond--upright, clear-headed magistrate as he was--was of
+very great service to me at the Courts of Justice.  He always managed to
+oblige me and look after my interests and my rights in any legal dispute
+of mine, or when I had reason to fear annoyance on the part of my
+husband.
+
+I will here relate the grief that his young wife caused him, and it will
+be seen that, by the side of this poor President, M. de Montespan might
+count himself lucky.  Having long been a widower, he was in some measure
+accustomed to this state, until love laid a snare for him just at the age
+of sixty-five.
+
+In the garden that lay below his windows--a garden owned by his
+neighbour, a farmer--he saw Clorinde.  She was this yeoman's only
+daughter.  He at once fell passionately in love with her, as David once
+loved Bathsheba.
+
+The President married Clorinde, who was very pleased to have a fine name
+and a title.  But her husband soon saw--if not with surprise, at least
+with pain--that his wife did not love him.  A young and handsome
+Spaniard, belonging to the Spanish Legation, danced one day with
+Clorinde; to her he seemed as radiant as the god of melody and song.
+She lost her heart, and without further delay confessed to him this loss.
+
+On returning home, the President said to his youthful consort, "Madame,
+every one is noticing and censuring your imprudent conduct; even the
+young Spaniard himself finds it compromising."
+
+"Nothing you say can please me more," she replied, "for this proves that
+he is aware of my love.  As he knows this, and finds my looks to his
+liking, I hope that he will wish to see me again."
+
+Soon afterwards there was a grand ball given at the Spanish Embassy.
+Madame de Nesmond managed to secure an invitation, and went with one of
+her cousins.  The young Spaniard did the honours of the evening, and
+showed them every attention.
+
+As the President was obliged to attend an all-night sitting at the
+Tourelle,--[The parliamentary criminal court.]-- and as these young
+ladies did not like going home alone,--for their residence was some way
+off,--the young Spaniard had the privilege of conducting them to their
+coach and of driving back with them.  After cards and a little music,
+they had supper about daybreak; and when the President returned, at five
+o'clock, he saw Melladoro, to whom he was formally introduced by madame.
+
+The President's welcome was a blend of surprise, anger, forced
+condescension, and diplomatic politeness.  All these shades of feeling
+were easily perceived by the Spaniard, who showed not a trace of
+astonishment.  This was because Clorinde's absolute sway over her husband
+was as patent as the fact that, in his own house, the President was
+powerless to do as he liked.
+
+Melladoro, who was only twenty years old, thought he had made a charming
+conquest.  He asked to be allowed to present his respects occasionally,
+when Clorinde promptly invited him to do so, in her husband's name as
+well as in her own.
+
+It was now morning, and he took leave of the ladies.  Two days after this
+he reappeared; then he came five or six times a week, until at last it
+was settled that a place should be laid for him every day at the
+President's table.
+
+That year it was M. de Nesmond's turn to preside at the courts during
+vacation-time.  He pleaded urgent motives of health, which made it
+imperative for him to have country air and complete rest.  Another judge
+consented to forego his vacation and take his place on the bench for four
+months; so M. de Nesmond was able to leave Paris.
+
+When the time came to set out by coach, madame went off into violent
+hysterics; but the magistrate, backed up by his father-in-law, showed
+firmness, and they set out for the Chateau de Nesmond, about thirty
+leagues from Paris.
+
+M. de Nesmond found the country far from enjoyable.  His wife, who always
+sat by herself in her dressing-gown and seldom consented to see a soul,
+on more than one occasion left her guests at table in order to sulk and
+mope in her closet.
+
+She fell ill.  During her periods of suffering and depression, she
+continually mentioned the Spaniard's name.  Failing his person, she
+desired to have his portrait.  Alarmed at his wife's condition, the
+President agreed to write a letter himself to the author of all this
+trouble, who soon sent the lady a handsome sweetmeat-box ornamented with
+his crest and his portrait.
+
+At the sight of this, Clorinde became like another woman.  She had her
+hair dressed and put on a smart gown, to show the portrait how deeply
+enamoured she was of the original.
+
+"Monsieur," she said to her husband, "I am the only daughter of a wealthy
+man, who, when he gave me to a magistrate older than himself, did not
+intend to sacrifice me.  You have been young, no doubt, and you,
+therefore, ought to know how revolting to youth, all freshness and
+perfume, are the cuddlings and caresses of decrepitude.  As yet I do not
+detest you, but it is absolutely impossible to love you.  On the
+contrary, I am in love with Melladoro; perhaps in your day you were as
+attractive as he is, and knew how to make the most of what you then
+possessed.  Now, will you please me by going back to Paris?  I shall be
+ever so grateful to you if you will.  Or must you spend the autumn in
+this gloomy abode of your ancestors?  To show myself obedient, I will
+consent; only in this case you must send your secretary to the Spanish
+Legation, and your coach-and-six, to bring Melladoro here without delay."
+
+At this speech M. de Nesmond could no longer hide his disgust, but
+frankly refused to entertain such a proposal for one moment.  Whereupon,
+his wife gave way to violent grief.  She could neither eat nor sleep, and
+being already in a weakly state, soon developed symptoms which frightened
+her doctors.
+
+M. de Nesmond was frightened too, and at length sent his rival a polite
+and pressing invitation to come and stay at the chateau.
+
+This state of affairs went on for six whole years, during which time
+Madame de Nesmond lavished upon her comely paramour all the wealth
+amassed by her frugal, orderly spouse.
+
+At last the President could stand it no longer, but went and made a
+bitter complaint to the King.  His Majesty at once asked the Spanish
+Ambassador to have Melladoro recalled.
+
+At this news, Clorinde was seized with violent convulsions; so severe,
+indeed, was this attack, that her wretched husband at once sought to have
+the order rescinded.  But as it transpired, the King's wish had been
+instantly complied with, and the unwelcome news had to be told to
+Clorinde.
+
+"If you love me," quoth she to her husband, "then grant me this last
+favour, after which, I swear it, Clorinde will never make further appeal
+to your kind-heartedness.  However quick they have been, my young friend
+cannot yet have reached the coast.  Let me have sight of him once more;
+let me give him a lock of my hair, a few loving words of advice, and one
+last kiss before he is lost to me forever."
+
+So fervent was her pleading and so profuse her tears, that M. de Nesmond
+consented to do all.  His coach-and-six was got ready there and then.
+An hour before sunset the belfries of Havre came in sight, and as it was
+high tide, they drove right up to the harbour wharf.
+
+The ship had just loosed her moorings, and was gliding out to sea.
+Clorinde could recognise Melladoro standing amid the passengers on deck.
+Half fainting, she stretched out her arms and called him in a piteous
+voice.  Blushing, he sought to hide behind his companions, who all begged
+him to show himself.  By means of a wherry Clorinde soon reached the
+frigate, and the good-natured sailors helped her to climb up the side of
+the vessel.  But in her agitation and bewilderment her foot slipped, and
+she fell into the sea, whence she was soon rescued by several of the
+pluckiest of the crew.
+
+As she was being removed to her carriage, the vessel sailed out of
+harbour.  M. de Nesmond took a large house at Havre, in order to nurse
+her with greater convenience, and had to stop there for a whole month,
+his wife being at length brought back on a litter to Paris.
+
+Her convalescence was but an illusion after all.  Hardly had she reached
+home when fatal symptoms appeared; she felt that she must die, but showed
+little concern thereat.  The portrait of the handsome Spaniard lay close
+beside her on her couch.  She smiled at it, besought it to have pity on
+her loneliness, or scolded it bitterly for indifference, and for going
+away.
+
+A short time before her death, she sent for her husband and her father,
+to whom she entrusted the care of her three children.
+
+"Monsieur," said she to the President de Nesmond, "be kind to my son; he
+has a right to your name and arms, and though he is my living image,
+dearest Theodore is your son."  Then turning to her father, who was
+weeping, she said briefly, "All that to-day remains to you of Clorinde
+are her two daughters.
+
+"Pray love them as you loved me, and be more strict with them than you
+were with me.  M. de Nesmond owes these orphans nothing.  All that
+Melladoro owes them is affection.  Tell him, I pray you, of my constancy
+and of my death."
+
+Such was the sad end of a young wife who committed no greater crime than
+to love a man who was agreeable and after her own heart.  M. de Nesmond
+was just enough to admit that, in ill-assorted unions, good sense or good
+nature must intervene, to ensure that the one most to be pitied receive
+indulgent treatment at the hands of the most culpable, if the latter be
+also the stronger of the two.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER L.
+
+Madame de Montespan's Children and Those of La Valliere.--Monsieur le
+Dauphin.
+
+I had successively lost the first and second Comte de Vegin; God also
+chose to take Mademoiselle de Tours from me, who (in what way I know not)
+was in features the very image of the Queen.  Her Majesty was told so,
+and desired to see my child, and when she perceived how striking was the
+resemblance, she took a fancy to the charming little girl, and requested
+that she might frequently be brought to see her.  Such friendliness
+proved unlucky, for the Infanta, as is well known, has never been able to
+rear one of her children,--a great pity, certainly, for she has had five,
+all handsome, well-made, and of gracious, noble mien, like the King.
+
+In the case of Mademoiselle de Tours, the Queen managed to conquer her
+dislike, and also sent for the Duc du Maine.  Despite her affection for
+M. le Dauphin, she herself admitted that if Monseigneur had the airs of a
+gentleman, M. le Duc du Maine looked the very type of a king's son.
+
+The Duc du Maine, Madame de Maintenon's special pupil, was so well
+trained to all the exigencies of his position and his rank, that such
+premature perfection caused him to pass for a prodigy.  Than his, no
+smile could be more winning and sweet; no one could carry himself with
+greater dignity and ease.  He limps slightly, which is a great pity,
+especially as he has such good looks, and so graceful a figure; his
+lameness, indeed, was entirely the result of an accident,--a sad
+accident, due to teething.  To please the King, his governess took him
+once to Auvez, and twice to the Pyrenees, but neither the waters nor the
+Auvez quack doctors could effect a cure.  At any rate, I was fortunate
+enough to bring up this handsome prince, who, if he treat me with
+ceremony, yet loves me none the less.
+
+Brought up by the Duc de Montausier, a sort of monkish soldier, and by
+Bossuet, a sort of military monk, Monsieur le Dauphin had no good
+examples from which to profit.  Crammed as he is with Latin, Greek,
+German, Spanish, and Church history, he knows all that they teach in
+colleges, being totally ignorant of all that can only be learnt at the
+Court of a king.  He has no distinction of manner, no polish or
+refinement of address; he laughs in loud guffaws, and even raises his
+voice in the presence of his father.  Having been born at Court, his way
+of bowing is not altogether awkward; but what a difference between his
+salute and that of the King!  "Monseigneur looks just like a German
+prince."  That speech exactly hits him off,--a portrait sketched by no
+other brush than that of his royal father.
+
+Monseigneur, who does not like me, pays me court the same as any one
+else.  Being very jealous of the pretty Comte de Vermandois and his
+brother, the Duc du Maine, he tries to imitate their elegant manner, but
+is too stiff to succeed.  The Duc du Maine shows him the respect inspired
+by his governess, but the Comte de Vermandois, long separated from his
+mother, has been less coached in this respect, and being thoroughly
+candid and sincere, shows little restraint.  Often, instead of styling
+him "Monseigneur," he calls him merely "Monsieur le Dauphin," while the
+latter, as if such a title were common or of no account, looks at his
+brother and makes no reply.
+
+When I told the King about such petty fraternal tiffs, he said, "With
+age, all that will disappear; as a man grows taller, he gets a better,
+broader view of his belongings."
+
+M. le Dauphin shows a singular preference for Mademoiselle de Nantes, but
+my daughter, brimful of wit and fun, often makes merry at the expense of
+her exalted admirer.
+
+Mademoiselle de Blois, the eldest daughter of Madame de la Valliere, is
+the handsomest, most charming person it is possible to imagine.  Her
+slim, graceful figure reminds one of the beautiful goddesses, with whom
+poets entertain us; she abounds in accomplishments and every sort of
+charm.  Her tender solicitude for her mother, and their constant close
+companionship, have doubtless served to quicken her intelligence and
+penetration.
+
+Like the King, she is somewhat grave; she has the same large brown eyes,
+and just his Austrian lip, his shapely hand and well-turned leg, almost
+his selfsame voice.  Madame de la Valliere, who, in the intervals of
+pregnancy, had no bosom to speak of, has shown marked development in this
+respect since living at the convent.  The Princess, ever since she
+attained the age of puberty, has always seemed adequately furnished with
+physical charms.  The King provided her with a husband in the person of
+the Prince de Conti, a nephew of the Prince de Conde.  They are devotedly
+attached to each other, being both as handsome as can be.  The Princesse
+de Conti enjoys the entire affection of the Queen, who becomes quite
+uneasy if she does not see her for five or six days.
+
+Certain foreign princes proposed for her hand, when the King replied that
+the presence of his daughter was as needful to him as daylight or the air
+he breathed.
+
+I have here surely drawn a most attractive portrait of this princess, and
+I ought certainly to be believed, for Madame de Conti is not fond of me
+at all.  Possibly she looks upon me as the author of her mother's
+disgrace; I shall never be at pains to undeceive her.  Until the moment
+of her departure, Madame de la Valliere used always to visit me.  The
+evening before her going she took supper with me, and I certainly had no
+cause to read in her looks either annoyance or reproach.  Mademoiselle de
+Montpensier, who happened to call, saw us at table, and stayed to have
+some dessert with us.  She has often told me afterwards how calm and
+serene the Duchess looked.  One would never have thought she was about to
+quit a brilliant Court for the hair shirt of the ascetic, and all the
+death-in-life of a convent.  I grieved for her, I wept for her, and I got
+her a grand gentleman as a husband.
+
+     [This statement is scarcely reconcilable with the fact that Madame
+     de la Valliere remained in a convent until her death.  This may
+     refer to Mademoiselle de Blois, La Valliere's daughter, who was
+     given in marriage to the Prince de Conti.--EDITOR'S NOTE.]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER LI.
+
+
+Madame de Maintenon's Character.--The Queen Likes Her.--She Revisits Her
+Family.--Her Grandfather's Papers Restored to Her.
+
+As Madame de Maintenon's character happened to please the King, as I have
+already stated, he allotted her handsome apartments at Court while
+waiting until he could keep her there as a fixture, by conferring upon
+her some important appointment.  She had the honour of being presented to
+the Queen, who paid her a thousand compliments respecting the Duc du
+Maine's perfections, being so candid and so good natured as to say:
+
+"You would have been just the person to educate Monseigneur."
+
+Unwilling to appear as if she slighted the Dauphin's actual tutors,
+Madame de Maintenon adroitly replied that, as it seemed to her, M. le
+Dauphin had been brought up like an angel.
+
+It is said that I have special talent for sustaining and enlivening a
+conversation; there is something in that, I admit, but to do her justice,
+I must say that in this respect Madame de Maintenon is without a rival.
+She has quite a wealth of invention; the most arid subject in her hands
+becomes attractive; while for transitions, her skill is unequalled.  Far
+simpler than myself, she gauges her whole audience with a single glance.
+And as, since her misfortunes, her rule has been never to make an enemy,
+since these easily crop up along one's path, she is careful never to
+utter anything which could irritate the feelings or wound the pride of
+the most sensitive.  Her descriptions are so varied, so vivacious, that
+they fascinate a whole crowd.  If now and again some little touch of
+irony escapes her, she knows how to temper and even instantly to
+neutralise this by terms of praise at once natural and simple.
+
+Under the guise of an extremely pretty woman, she conceals the knowledge
+and tact of a statesman.  I have, moreover, noticed that latterly the
+King likes to talk about matters of State when she is present.  He rarely
+did this with me.
+
+I think she is at the outset of a successful career.  The King made
+persistent inquiries with regard to her whole family.  He has already
+conferred a petty governorship upon the Comte d'Aubigne, her brother,
+and the Marquis de la Gallerie, their cousin, has just received the
+command of a regiment, and a pension.
+
+Madame de Maintenon readily admits that she owes her actual good fortune
+to myself.  I also saw one of her letters to Madame de Saint-Geran, in
+which she refers to me in terms of gratitude.  Sometimes, indeed, she
+goes too far, even siding with my husband, and condemning what she dares
+to term my conduct; however, this is only to my face.  I have always
+liked her, and in spite of her affronts, I like her still; but there are
+times when I am less tolerant, and then we are like two persons just
+about to fall out.
+
+The Comte de Toulouse and Mademoiselle de Blois were not entrusted to her
+at their birth as the others were.  The King thought that the additional
+responsibility of their education would prove too great for the Marquise.
+He preferred to enjoy her society and conversation, so my two youngest
+children were placed in the care of Madame d'Arbon, a friend or
+stewardess of M. de Colbert.  Not a great compliment, as I take it.
+
+When, for the second time, Madame de Maintenon took the Duc du Maine to
+Barege, she returned by way of the Landes, Guienne, and Poitou.  She
+wished to revisit her native place, and show her pupil to all her
+relations.  Perceiving that she was a marquise, the instructress of
+princes, and a personage in high favour, they were lavish of their
+compliments and their praise, yet forebore to give her back her property.
+
+Knowing that she was a trifle vain about her noble birth, they made over
+to her the great family pedigree, as well as a most precious manuscript.
+These papers, found to be quite correct, included a most spirited history
+of the War of the League, written by Baron Agrippa d'Aubigne, who might
+rank as an authority upon the subject, having fought against the Leaguers
+for over fifteen years.  Among these documents the King found certain
+details that hitherto had been forgotten, or had never yet come to light.
+And as the Baron was Henri IV.'s favourite aide-decamp, every reference
+that he makes to that good king is of importance and interest.
+
+This manuscript, in the simplest manner possible, set forth the
+governess's ancestors.  I am sure she was more concerned about this
+document than about her property.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER LII.
+
+The Young Flemish Lady.--The Sainte-Aldegonde Family.--The Sage of the
+Sepulchres.
+
+Just at the time of the conquest of Tournai, a most amusing thing
+occurred, which deserves to be chronicled.  Another episode may be
+recorded also, of a gloomier nature.
+
+Directly Tournai had surrendered, and the new outposts were occupied, the
+King wished to make his entry into this important town, which he had long
+desired to see.  The people and the burghers, although mute and silent,
+willingly watched the French army and its King march past, but the
+aristocracy scarcely showed themselves at any of the windows, and the few
+folk who appeared here and there on the balconies abstained from
+applauding the King.
+
+Splendidly apparelled, and riding the loveliest of milk-white steeds, his
+Majesty proceeded upon his triumphant way, surrounded by the flower of
+French nobility, and scattering money as he went.
+
+Before the Town Hall the procession stopped, when the magistrates
+delivered an address, and gave up to his Majesty the keys of the city in
+a large enamelled bowl.
+
+When the King, looking calmly contented, was about to reply, he observed
+a woman who had pushed her way through the French guardsmen, and staring
+hard at him, appeared anxious to get close up to him.  In fact, she
+advanced a step or two, and the epithet that crossed her lips struck the
+conqueror as being coarsely offensive.
+
+"Arrest that woman," cried the King.  She was instantly seized and
+brought before him.
+
+"Why do you insult me thus?"  he asked quickly, but with dignity.
+
+"I have not insulted you," replied the Flemish lady.  "The word that
+escaped me was rather a term of flattery and of praise, at least if it
+has the meaning which it conveys to us here, in these semi-French parts."
+
+"Say that word again," added the King; "for I want everybody to bear
+witness that I am just in punishing you for such an insult."
+
+"Sire," answered this young woman, "your soldiers have destroyed my
+pasture-lands, my woods, and my crops.  Heart-broken, I came here to
+curse you, but your appearance at once made me change my mind.  On
+looking closer at you, in.  spite of my grief, I could not help
+exclaiming, 'So that's the handsome b-----, is it!'"
+
+The grenadiers, being called as witnesses, declared that such was in fact
+her remark.  Then the King smiled, and said to the young Flemish lady:
+
+"Who are you?  What is your name?"
+
+With readiness and dignity she replied, "Sire, you see before you the
+Comtesse de Sainte-Aldegonde."
+
+"Pray, madame," quoth the King, "be so good as to finish your toilet; I
+invite you to dine with me to-day."
+
+Madame de Sainte-Aldegonde accepted the honour, and did in fact dine with
+his Majesty that day.  She was clever, and made herself most agreeable,
+so that the King, whose policy it was to win hearts by all concessions
+possible, indemnified her for all losses sustained during the war,
+besides granting favours to all her relatives and friends.
+
+The Sainte-Aldegonde family appeared at Court, being linked thereto by
+good services.  It is already a training-ground for excellent officers
+and persons of merit.
+
+But for that somewhat neat remark of the Countess's, all those gentlemen
+would have remained in poverty and obscurity within the walls or in the
+suburbs of Tournai.
+
+Some days after this, the King was informed of the arrest of a most
+dangerous individual, who had been caught digging below certain ancient
+aqueducts "with a view to preparing a mine of some sort."  This person
+was brought in, tied and bound like a criminal; they hustled him and
+maltreated him.  I noticed how he trembled and shed tears.
+
+He was a learned man--an antiquary.  A few days before our invasion he
+had commenced certain excavations, which he had been forced to
+discontinue, and now so great was his impatience that he had been obliged
+to go on in spite of the surrounding troops.  By means of an old
+manuscript, long kept by the Druids, as also by monks, this man had been
+able to discover traces of an old Roman highroad, and as in the days of
+the Romans the tombs of the rich and the great were always placed
+alongside these broad roads, our good antiquary had been making certain
+researches there, which for him had proved to be a veritable gold-mine.
+
+Having made confession of all this to the King, his Majesty set him free,
+granting him, moreover, complete liberty as regarded the execution of his
+enterprise.
+
+A few days afterwards he begged to have the honour of presenting to his
+Majesty some of the objects which he had collected during his researches.
+I was present, and the following are the funereal curiosities which he
+showed us:
+
+Having broken open a tomb, he had extracted therefrom a large alabaster
+vase, which still contained the ashes of the deceased.  Next this urn,
+carefully sealed up, there was another vase, containing three gold rings
+adorned with precious stones, two gold spurs, the bit of a battle-horse,
+very slightly rusted, and chased with silver and gold, a sort of seal
+with rough coat-of-arms, a necklace of large and very choice pearls, a
+stylet or pencil for calligraphy, and a hundred gold and silver coins
+bearing the effigy of Domitian, a very wicked emperor, who reigned over
+Rome and over Gaul in those days.
+
+When the King had amused himself with examining these trinkets, he turned
+to the antiquary and said, "Is that all, sir?  Why, where is Charon's
+flask of wine?"
+
+"Here, your Majesty," replied the old man, producing a small flask.
+"See, the wine has become quite clear."
+
+With great difficulty the flask was opened; the wine it contained was
+pale and odourless, but by those bold enough to taste it, was pronounced
+delicious.
+
+When overturning the urn in order to empty out the ashes and bury them,
+they noticed an inscription, which the King instantly translated.  It ran
+thus:
+
+"May the gods who guard tombs punish him who breaks open this mausoleum.
+The troubles and misfortunes of Aurelius Silvius have been cruel enough
+during his lifetime; in this tomb at least let him have peace."
+
+The worthy antiquary offered me his pearl necklace and one of the antique
+rings, but I refused these with a look of horror.  He sold the coins to
+the King, and informed us that his various excavations and researches had
+brought him in about one hundred thousand livres up to the present time.
+
+The King said to him playfully, "Mind what you are about, monsieur; that
+sentence which I translated for you is not of a very, reassuring nature."
+
+"Yet it will not serve to hinder me in my scientific researches," replied
+the savant.  "Charon, who by now must be quite a rich man, evidently
+disdains all such petty hidden treasures as these.  To me they are most
+useful."
+
+Next time we passed through Tournai, I made inquiries as to this miser,
+and afterwards informed the King.  It appears that he was surprised by
+robbers when despoiling one of these tombs.  After robbing him of all
+that he possessed, they buried him alive in the very, grave where he was
+digging, so as to save expense.  What a dismal sort of science!  What a
+life, and what a death!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER LIII.
+
+The Monks of Sainte Amandine.--The Prince of Orange Entrapped.--The
+Drugged Wine.--The Admirable Judith.
+
+After the furious siege of Conde, which lasted only four days, the King,
+who had been present, left for Sebourg, whence he sent orders for the
+destruction of the principal forts of Liege, and for the ravaging of the
+Juliers district.  He treated the Neubourg estates in the same ruthless
+fashion, as the Duke had abandoned his attitude of neutrality, and had
+joined the Empire, Holland and Spain.  All the Cleves district, and those
+between the Meuse and the Vahal, were subjected to heavy taxation.
+Everywhere one saw families in flight, castles sacked, homesteads and
+convents in flames.
+
+The Duc de Villa-Hermosa, Governor-General in Flanders for the King of
+Spain, and William of Orange, the Dutch leader, went hither and thither
+all over the country, endeavouring to rouse the people, and spur them on
+to offer all possible resistance to the King of France.
+
+These two noble generalissimi even found their way into monasteries and
+nunneries, and carried off their silver plate, actually, seizing the
+consecrated vessels used for the sacrament, saying that all such things
+would help the good cause.
+
+One day they entered a wealthy Bernardine monastery, where the miraculous
+tomb of Sainte Amandine was on view.  The great veneration shown for this
+saint in all the country thereabouts had served greatly to enrich the
+community and bring them in numerous costly offerings.  The chapel
+wherein the saint's heart was said to repose was lighted by a huge gold
+lamp, and on the walls and in niches right up to the ceiling were
+thousands of votive offerings in enamel, silver, and gold.  The Duc de
+Villa-Hermosa (a good Catholic) dared not give orders for the pillage of
+this holy chapel, but left that to the Prince of Orange (a good
+Huguenot).
+
+One evening they came to ask the prior for shelter, who, seeing that he
+was at the mercy of both armies, had to show himself pleasant to each.
+
+During supper, when the two generals informed him of the object of their
+secret visit, he clearly perceived that the monastery was about to be
+sacked, and like a man of resource, at once made up his mind.  When
+dessert came, he gave his guests wine that had been drugged.  The
+generals, growing drowsy, soon fell asleep, and the prior at once caused
+them to be carried off to a cell and placed upon a comfortable bed.
+
+This done, he celebrated midnight mass as usual, and at its close he
+summoned the whole community, telling them of their peril and inviting
+counsel and advice.
+
+"My brethren," asked he, "ought we not to look upon our prisoners as
+profaners of holy places, and serve them in secret and before God as once
+the admirable Judith served Holofernes?"
+
+At this proposal there was a general murmur.  The assembly grew agitated,
+but seeing how perilous was the situation, order was soon restored.
+
+The old monks were of opinion that the two generals ought not yet to be
+sacrificed, but should be shut up in a subterranean dungeon, a messenger
+being sent forthwith to the French King announcing their capture.
+
+The young monks protested loudly against such an act, declaring it to be
+treacherous, disgraceful, felonious.  The prior endeavoured to make them
+listen to reason and be silent, but the young monks, though in a
+minority, got the upper hand.  They deposed the prior, abused and
+assaulted him, and finally flung him into prison.  One of them was
+appointed prior without ballot, and this new leader, followed by his
+adherents, roused the generals and officiously sent them away.
+
+The prior's nephew, a young Bernardine, accompanied by a lay brother and
+two or three servants, set out across country that night, and brought
+information to the King of all this disorder, begging his Majesty to save
+his worthy uncle's life.
+
+At the head of six hundred dragoons, the King hastened to the convent and
+at once rescued the prior, sending the good old monks of Sainte Amandine
+to Citeaux, and dispersing the rebellious young ones among the Carthusian
+and Trappist monasteries.  All the treasures contained in the chapel he
+had transferred to his camp, until a calmer, more propitious season.
+
+That priceless capture, the Prince of Orange, escaped him, however, and
+he was inconsolable thereat, adding, as he narrated the incident, "Were
+it not that I feared to bring dishonour upon my name, and sully the
+history of my reign and my life, I would have massacred those young
+Saint-Bernard monks."
+
+"What a vile breed they all are!" I cried, losing all patience.
+
+"No, no, madame," he quickly rejoined, "you are apt to jump from one
+extreme to the other.  It does not do to generalise thus.  The young
+monks at Sainte Amandine showed themselves to be my enemies, I admit,
+and for this I shall punish them as they deserve, but the poor old monks
+merely desired my success and advantage.  When peace is declared,
+I shall take care of them and of their monastery; the prior shall be made
+an abbot.  I like the poor fellow; so will you, when you see him."
+
+I really cannot see why the King should have taken such a fancy to this
+old monk, who was minded to murder a couple of generals in his convent
+because, forsooth, Judith once slew Holofernes!  Judith might have been
+tempted to do that sort of thing; she was a Jewess.  But a Christian
+monk!  I cannot get over it!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER LIV.
+
+The Chevalier de Rohan.--He is Born Too Late.--His Debts.--Messina Ceded
+to the French.--The King of Spain Meditates Revenge.--The Comte de
+Monterey.--Madame de Villars as Conspirator.--The Picpus Schoolmaster.--
+The Plot Fails.--Discovery and Retribution.--Madame de Soubise's
+Indifference to the Chevalier's Fate.
+
+Had he been born fifty or sixty years earlier, the Chevalier de Rohan
+might have played a great part.  He was one of those men, devoid of
+restraint and of principle, who love pleasure above all things, and who
+would sacrifice their honour, their peace of mind, aye, even the State
+itself, if such a sacrifice were really needed, in order to attain their
+own personal enjoyment and satisfaction.
+
+The year before, he once invited himself to dinner at my private
+residence at Saint Germain, and he then gave me the impression of being a
+madman, or a would-be conspirator.  My sister De Thianges noticed the
+same thing, too.
+
+The Chevalier had squandered his fortune five or six years previously;
+his bills were innumerable.
+
+Each day he sank deeper into debt, and the King remarked, "The Chevalier
+de Rohan will come to a bad end; it will never do to go on as he does."
+
+Instead of keeping an eye upon him, and affectionately asking him to
+respect his family's honour, the Prince and Princesse de Soubise made as
+if it were their duty to ignore him and blush for him.
+
+Profligacy, debts, and despair drove this unfortunate nobleman to make a
+resolve such as might never be expected of any high-born gentleman.
+
+Discontented with their governor, Don Diego de Soria, the inhabitants of
+Messina had just shaken off the Spanish yoke, and had surrendered to the
+King of France, who proffered protection and help.
+
+Such conduct on the part of the French Government seemed to the King of
+Spain most disloyal, and he desired nothing better than to revenge
+himself.  This is how he set about it.
+
+On occasions of this kind it is always the crafty who are sought out for
+such work.  Comte de Monterey was instructed to sound the Chevalier de
+Rohan upon the subject, offering him safety and a fortune as his reward.
+Pressed into their service there was also the Marquise de Villars,--
+a frantic gambler, a creature bereft of all principle and all modesty,--
+to whom a sum of twenty thousand crowns in cash was paid over beforehand,
+with the promise of a million directly success was ensured.  She
+undertook to manage Rohan and tell him what to do.  Certain ciphers had
+to be used, and to these the Marquise had the key.  They needed a
+messenger both intelligent and trustworthy, and for this mission she gave
+the Chevalier an ally in the person of an ex-teacher in the Flemish
+school at Picpus, on the Faubourg Saint Antoine.  This man and the
+Chevalier went secretly to the Comte de Monterey in Flanders, and by this
+trio it was settled that on a certain day, at high tide, Admiral van
+Tromp with his fleet should anchor off Honfleur or Quillebceuf in
+Normandy, and that, at a given signal, La Truaumont, the Chevalier de
+Preaux, and the Chevalier de Rohan were to surrender to him the town and
+port without ever striking a single blow, all this being for the benefit
+of his Majesty the King of Spain.
+
+But all was discovered.  The five culprits were examined, when the.
+Marquise de Villars stated that the inhabitants of Messina had given them
+an example which the King of France had not condemned!
+
+The Marquise and the two Chevaliers were beheaded, while the ex-
+schoolmaster was hanged.  As for young La Truaumont, son of a councillor
+of the Exchequer, he escaped the block by letting himself be throttled by
+his guards or gaolers, to whom he offered no resistance.
+
+Despite her influence upon the King's feelings, the Princess de Soubise
+did not deign to take the least notice of the trial, and they say that
+she drove across the Pont-Neuf in her coach just as the Chevalier de
+Rohan, pinioned and barefooted, was marching to his doom.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER LV.
+
+The Prince of Orange Captures Bonn.--The King Captures Orange.--
+The Calvinists of Orange Offer Resistance.
+
+Since Catiline's famous hatred for Consul Cicero, there has never been
+hatred so deep and envenomed as that of William of Orange for the King.
+For this loathing, cherished by a petty prince for a great potentate,
+various reasons have been given.  As for myself, I view things closely
+and in their true light, and I am convinced that Prince William was
+actuated by sheer jealousy and envy.
+
+It was affirmed that the King, when intending to give him as bride
+Mademoiselle de Blois, his eldest daughter and great favourite, had
+offered to place him on the Dutch throne as independent King, and that
+to such generous proposals the petty Stadtholder replied, "I am not pious
+enough to marry the daughter of a Carmelite nun."  So absurd a proposal
+as this, however, was never made, for the simple reason that Mademoiselle
+de Blois has never yet been offered in marriage to any prince or noble
+man in this wide world.  Rather than to be parted from her, the King
+would prefer her to remain single.  He has often said as much to me, and
+there is no reason to doubt his word.
+
+The little Principality of Orange, which once formed the estate of this
+now outlandish family, is situate close to the Rhone, amid French
+territory.  Though decorated with the title of Sovereignty, like its
+neighbour the Principality of Dombes, it is no less a fief-land of the
+Crown.  In this capacity it has to contribute to the Crown revenues, and
+owes homage and fealty to the sovereign.
+
+Such petty, formal restrictions are very galling to the arrogant young
+Prince of Orange, for he is one of those men who desire, at all cost,
+to make a noise in the world, and who would set fire to Solomon's Temple
+or to the Delphian Temple, it mattered not which, so long as they made
+people talk about them.
+
+After Turenne's death, there was a good deal of rivalry among our
+generals.  This proved harmful to the service.  The Goddess of Victory
+discovered this, and at times forsook us.  Many possessions that were
+conquered had to be given up, and we had to bow before those whom erst we
+had humiliated.  But Orange was never restored.--[This was written in
+1677.]
+
+When, in November, 1673, the Prince of Orange had the audacity to besiege
+Bonn, the residence of our ally, the Prince Elector of Cologne, and to
+reduce that prelate to the last extremity, the King promptly seized upon
+the Principality of Orange; and having planted the French flag upon every
+building, he published a general decree, strictly forbidding the
+inhabitants to hold any communication whatever with "their former petty
+sovereign," and ordering prayers to be said for him, Louis, in all their
+churches.  This is a positive fact.
+
+The Roman Catholics readily complied with this royal decree, which was in
+conformity with their sympathies and their interests; but the Protestants
+waxed furious thereat.  Some of them even carried their devotion to such
+a pitch that they paid taxes to two masters; that is to say, to
+Stadtholder William, as well as to his Majesty the King.
+
+The Huguenot "ministers," or priests, issued pastoral letters in praise
+of the Calvinist Prince and in abuse of the Most Christian King.  They
+also preached against the new oath of fealty, and committed several most
+imprudent acts, which the Jesuits were not slow to remark and report in
+Court circles.
+
+Such audacity, and the need for its repression, rankled deep in the
+King's heart; and I believe he is quite disposed to pass measures of such
+extreme severity as will soon deprive the Protestants and Lutherans of
+any privileges derived from the Edict of Nantes.
+
+From various sources I receive the assurance that he is preparing to deal
+a heavy blow anent this; but the King's character is impenetrable.  Time
+alone will show.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER LVI
+
+The Castle of Bleink-Elmeink.--Romantic and Extraordinary Discovery.--
+An Innocent and Persecuted Wife.--Madame de Bleink-Elmeink at Chaillot.
+
+After the siege and surrender of Maestricht, when the King had no other
+end in view than the entire conquest of Dutch Brabant, he took us to this
+country, which had suffered greatly by the war.  Some districts were
+wholly devastated, and it became increasingly difficult to find lodging
+and shelter for the Court.
+
+The grooms of the chambers one day found for us a large chateau, situated
+in a woody ravine, old-fashioned in structure, and surrounded by a moat.
+There was only one drawbridge, flanked by two tall towers, surmounted by
+turrets and culverins.  Its owner was in residence at the time.  He came
+to the King and the Queen, and greeting them in French, placed his entire
+property at their disposal.
+
+It had rained in torrents for two days without ceasing.  Despite the
+season, everybody was wet through and benumbed with cold.  Large fires
+were made in all the huge fireplaces; and when the castle's vast rooms
+were lighted up by candles, we agreed that the architect had not lacked
+grandeur of conception nor good taste when building such large corridors,
+massive staircases, lofty vestibules, and spacious, resounding rooms.
+That given to the Queen was like an alcove, decorated by six large marble
+caryatides, joined by a handsome balustrade high enough to lean upon.
+The four-post bed was of azure blue velvet, with flowered work and rich
+gold and silver tasselling.  Over the chimneypiece was the huge Bleink-
+Elmeink coat-of-arms, supported by two tall Templars.
+
+The King's apartment was an exact reproduction of a room existing at
+Jerusalem in the time of Saint Louis; this was explained by inscriptions
+and devices in Gothic or Celtic.
+
+My room was supposed to be an exact copy of the famous Pilate's chamber,
+and it was named so; and for three days my eyes were rejoiced by the
+detailed spectacle of our Lord's Passion, from His flagellation to His
+agony on Calvary.
+
+The Queen came to see me in this room, and did me the honour of being
+envious of so charming an apartment.
+
+The fourth day, when the weather became fine, we prepared to change our
+quarters and take to our carriages again, when an extraordinary event
+obliged us to send a messenger for the King, who had already left us,
+and had gone forward to join the army.
+
+An old peasant, still robust and in good health, performed in this gloomy
+castle the duties of a housekeeper.  In this capacity she frequently
+visited our rooms to receive our orders and satisfy our needs.
+
+Seeing that the Queen's boxes were being closed, and that our departure
+was at hand, she came to me and said:
+
+"Madame, the sovereign Lord of Heaven has willed it thus; that the
+officers of the French King should have discovered as the residence of
+his Court this castle amid gloomy forests and precipices.  The great
+prince has come hither and has stayed here for a brief while, and we have
+sought to welcome him as well as we could.  He gave the Comte de Bleink-
+Elmeink, lord of this place and my master, his portrait set in diamonds;
+he had far better have cut his throat."
+
+"Good heavens, woman!  What is this you tell me?" I exclaimed.  "Of what
+crime is your master guilty?  He seems to me to be somewhat moody and
+unsociable; but his family is of good renown, and all sorts of good
+things have been, told concerning it to the King and Queen."
+
+"Madame," replied the old woman, drawing me aside into a window-recess,
+and lowering her voice, "do you see at the far end of yonder court an old
+dungeon of much narrower dimensions than the others?  In that dungeon
+lies the good Comtesse de Bleink-Elmeink; she has languished there for
+five years."
+
+Then this woman informed me that her master, formerly page of honour to
+the Empress Eleanor, had wedded, on account of her great wealth, a young
+Hungarian noblewoman, by whom he had two children, both of whom were
+living.  Such was his dislike of their mother, on account of a slight
+deformity, that for four or five years he shamefully maltreated her, and
+at last shut her up in this dungeon-keep, allowing her daily the most
+meagre diet possible.
+
+"When, some few days since, the royal stewards appeared in front of the
+moat, and claimed admittance, the Count was much alarmed," added the
+peasant woman.  "He thought that all was discovered, and that he was
+going to suffer for it.  It was not until the King and Queen came that he
+was reassured, and he has not been able to hide his embarrassment from
+any of us."
+
+"Where are the two children of his marriage?"  I asked the old woman,
+before deciding to act.
+
+"The young Baron," she answered, "is at Vienna or Ohnutz, at an academy
+there.  His sister, a graceful, pretty girl, has been in a convent from
+her childhood; the nuns have promised to keep her there, and as soon as
+she is fourteen, she will take the veil."
+
+My first impulse was to acquaint the Queen with these astounding
+revelations, but it soon struck me that, to tackle a man of such
+importance as the Count, we could not do without the King.  I at once
+sent my secretary with a note, imploring his Majesty to return, but
+giving no reason for my request.  He came back immediately, post-haste,
+when the housekeeper repeated to him, word for word, all that I have set
+down here.  The King could hardly believe his ears.
+
+When coming to a decision, his Majesty never does so precipitately.
+He paced up and down the room twice or thrice, and then said to me,
+"The matter is of a rather singular nature; I am unacquainted with law,
+and what I propose to do may one day serve as an example.  It is my duty
+to rescue our unfortunate hostess, and requite her nobly for her
+hospitality."
+
+So saying, he sent for the Count, and assuming a careless, almost jocular
+air, thus addressed him:
+
+"You were formerly page to the Empress Eleanor, I believe, M. le Bleink-
+Elmeink?"
+
+"Yes, Sire."
+
+"She is dead, but the Emperor would easily recognise you, would he not?"
+
+"I imagine so, Sire."
+
+"I have thought of you as a likely person to be the bearer of a message,
+some one of your age and height being needed, and of grave, secretive
+temperament, such as I notice you to possess.  Get everything in
+readiness, as I intend to send you as courier to his Imperial Majesty.
+I am going to write to him from here, and you shall bring me back his
+reply to my proposals."
+
+To be sent off like this was most galling to the Count, but his youth and
+perfect health allowed him not the shadow of a pretext.  He was obliged
+to pack his valise and start.  He pretended to look pleased and
+acquiescent, but in his eyes I could detect fury and despair.
+
+Half an hour after his departure, the King had the drawbridge raised, and
+then went to inform the Queen of everything.
+
+"Madame," said he, "you have been sleeping in this unfortunate lady's
+nuptial bed.  She is now about to be presented to you.  I ask that you
+will receive her kindly, and afterwards act as her protector, should
+anything happen to me."
+
+Tears filled the Queen's eyes, and she trembled in amazement.  The King
+instantly made for the dungeon, and in default of a key, broke open all
+the gates.  In a few minutes Madame de Bleink-Elmeink, supported by two
+guards, entered the Queen's presence, and was about to fling herself at
+her feet; but the King prevented this.  He himself placed her in an
+armchair, and we others at once formed a large semicircle round her.
+
+She seemed to breathe with difficulty, sighing and sobbing without being
+able to utter a word.  At, length she said to the King in fairly good
+French, "May my Creator and yours reward you for this, great and
+unexpected boon!  Do not forsake me, Sire, now that you have broken my
+fetters, but let your might protect me against the unjust violence of my
+husband; and permit me to reside in France in whatever convent it please
+you to choose.  My august liberator shall become my lawful King, and
+under his rule I desire to live and die."
+
+In spite of her sorrow, Madame de Bleink-Elmeink did not appear to be
+more than twenty-eight or thirty years old.  Her large blue eyes, though
+she had wept, much, were still splendid, and her high-bred features
+denoted nobility and beauty of soul.  To such a charming countenance her
+figure scarcely corresponded; one side of her was slightly deformed, yet.
+this did not interfere with the grace of her attitude when seated, nor
+her agreeable deportment.
+
+Directly she saw her, the Queen liked her.  She looked half longingly at
+the Countess, and then rising approached her and held out her hand to be
+kissed, saying, "I mean to love you as if you were one of my own family;
+you shall be placed at Val-de-Grace, and I will often come and see you."
+
+Recovering herself somewhat, the Countess sank on her knees and kissed
+the Queen's hand in a transport of joy.  We, led her to her room, where
+she took a little refreshment and afterwards slept until the following
+day.  All her servants and gardeners came to express their gladness at
+her deliverance; and in order to keep her company, the Queen decided to
+stay another week at the castle.  The Countess then set out for Paris,
+and it was arranged that she should have the apartments at Chaillot,
+once constructed by the Queen of England.
+
+As for her dreadful husband, the King gave him plenty to do, and he did
+not see his wife again for a good long while.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER LVII.
+
+The Silver Chandelier.--The King Holds the Ladder.--The Young Dutchman.
+
+One day the King was passing through some of the large rooms of the
+palace, at a time of the morning when the courtiers had not yet made
+their appearance, and when carpenters and workmen were about, each busy
+in getting his work done.
+
+The King noticed a workman of some sort standing tiptoe on a double
+ladder, and reaching up to unhook a large chandelier from the ceiling.
+The fellow seemed likely to break his neck.
+
+"Be careful," cried the King; "don't you see that your ladder is a short
+one and is on castors?  I have just come in time to help you by holding
+it."
+
+"Monsieur," said the man, "a thousand pardons, but if you will do so, I
+shall be much obliged.  On account of this ambassador who is coming
+today, all my companions have lost their heads and have left me alone."
+
+Then he unhooked the large crystal and silver chandelier, stepped down
+carefully, leaning on the King's shoulder, who graciously allowed him to
+do so.  After humbly thanking him, the fellow made off.
+
+That night in the chateau every one was talking about the hardihood of
+some thief who in sight of everybody had stolen a handsome chandelier;
+the Lord High Provost had already been apprised of the matter.  The King
+began to smile as he said out loud before every one, "I must request the
+Lord High Provost to be good enough to hush the matter up, as in cases of
+theft accomplices are punished as well, and it was I who held the ladder
+for the thief."
+
+Then his Majesty told us of the occurrence, as already narrated, and
+every one was convinced that the thief could not be a novice or an
+apprentice at his craft.  Inquiries were instantly made, since so bold an
+attempt called for exemplary punishment.  All the upholsterers of the
+castle wished to give themselves up as prisoners; their honour was
+compromised.  It would be hard to describe their consternation, being in
+truth honest folk.
+
+When the Provost respectfully asked the King if he had had time to notice
+the culprit's features, his Majesty replied that the workman in question
+was a young fellow of about five-and-twenty, fair complexioned, with
+chestnut hair, and pleasant features of delicate, almost feminine cast.
+
+At this news, all the dark, plain men-servants were exultant; the good-
+looking ones, however, were filled with fear.
+
+Among the feutiers, whose sole duty it is to attend to the fires and
+candles in the royal apartments, there was a nice-looking young Dutchman,
+whom his companions pointed out to the Provost.  They entered his room
+while he was asleep, and found in his cupboard the following articles:
+Two of the King's lace cravats, two shirts marked with a double L and the
+crown, a pair of pale blue velvet shoes embroidered with silver, a
+flowered waistcoat, a hat with white and scarlet plumes, other trifles,
+and splendid portrait of the King, evidently part of some bracelet.  As
+regarded the chandelier, nothing was discovered.
+
+When this young foreigner was taken to prison, he refused to speak for
+twenty-four hours, and in all Versailles there was but one cry,--"They've
+caught the thief!"
+
+Next day matters appeared in a new light.  The Provost informed his
+Majesty that the young servant arrested was not a Dutchman, but a very
+pretty Dutch woman.
+
+At the time of the invasion, she was so unlucky as to see the King close
+to her father's house, and conceived so violent a passion for him that
+she at once forgot country, family, friends,--everything.  Leaving the
+Netherlands with the French army, she followed her conqueror back to his
+capital, and by dint of perseverance managed to secure employment in the
+royal palace.  While there, her one delight was to see the King as often
+as possible, and to listen to praise of his many noble deeds.
+
+"The articles found in my possession," said she to the Provost, "are most
+dear and precious to me; not for their worth, but because they have
+touched the King's person.  I did not steal them from his Majesty; I
+could not do such a thing.  I bought them of the valets de chambre, who
+were by right entitled to such things, and who would have sold them
+indiscriminately to any one else.  The portrait was not sold to me, I
+admit, but I got it from Madame la  Marquise de Montespan, and in this
+way: One day, in the parterres, madame dropped her bracelet.  I had the
+good fortune to pick it up, and I kept it for three or four days in my
+room.  Then bills were posted up in the park, stating that whoever
+brought the bracelet to madame should receive a reward of ten louis.
+I took back the ornament, for its pearls and diamonds did not tempt me,
+but I kept the portrait instead of the ten louis offered."
+
+When the King asked me if I recollected the occurrence, I assured him
+that everything was perfectly true.  Hereupon the King sent for the girl,
+who was immediately brought to his chamber.  Such was her modesty, and
+confusion that she dared not raise her eyes from the ground.  The King
+spoke kindly to her, and gave her two thousand crowns to take her back to
+her own home.  The Provost was instructed to restore all these different
+articles to her, and as regarded myself, I willingly let her have the
+portrait, though it was worth a good deal more than the ten louis
+mentioned.
+
+When she got back to her own country and the news of her safe arrival was
+confirmed, the King sent her twenty thousand livres  as a dowry, which
+enabled her to make a marriage suitable to her good-natured disposition
+and blameless conduct.
+
+She made a marked impression upon his Majesty, and he was often wont to
+speak about the chandelier on account of her, always alluding to her in
+kindly, terms.  If ever he returns to Holland, I am sure he will want to
+see her, either from motives of attachment or curiosity.  Her name, if I
+remember rightly, was Flora.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER LVIII.
+
+The Observatory.--The King Visits the Carthusians.--How a Painter with
+His Brush May Save a Convent.--The Guilty Monk.--Strange Revelations.--
+The King's Kindness.--The Curate of Saint Domingo.
+
+When it was proposed to construct in Paris that handsome building called
+the Observatory, the King himself chose the site for this.  Having a map
+of his capital before him, he wished this fine edifice to be in a direct
+line of perspective with the Luxembourg, to which it should eventually be
+joined by the demolition of the Carthusian Monastery, which filled a
+large gap.
+
+The King was anxious that his idea should be carried out, but whenever he
+mentioned it to M. Mansard and the other architects, they declared that
+it was a great pity to lose Lesueur's admirable frescos in the cloisters,
+which would have to be destroyed if the King's vast scheme were executed.
+
+One day his Majesty resolved to see for himself, and without the least
+announcement of his arrival, he went to the Carthusian Monastery in the
+Rue d'Enfer.  The King has great knowledge of art; he admired the whole
+series of wall-paintings, in which the life of Saint Bruno is divinely
+set forth.
+
+     [By a new process these frescos were subsequently transferred to
+     canvas in 1800 or 1802, at which date the vast property of the
+     Carthusian monks became part of the Luxembourg estates.--EDITOR'S
+     NOTE.]
+
+"Father," said he to the prior who showed him round, "these simple,
+touching pictures are far beyond all that was ever told me.  My
+intention, I admit, was to move your institution elsewhere, so as to
+connect your spacious property with my palace of the Luxembourg, but the
+horrible outrage which would have to be committed deters me; to the
+marvellous art of Lesueur you owe it that your convent remains intact."
+
+The monk, overjoyed, expressed his gratitude to the King, and promised
+him the love and guardianship of Saint Bruno in heaven.
+
+Just then, service in the chapel was over, and the monks filed past two
+and two, never raising their eyes from the gloomy pavement bestrewn with
+tombstones.  The prior, clapping his hands, signalled them to stop, and
+then addressed them:
+
+"My brethren, stay your progress a moment; lift up your heads, bowed down
+by penance, and behold with awe the descendant of Saint Louis, the august
+protector of this convent.  Yes, our noble sovereign himself has
+momentarily quitted his palace to visit this humble abode.  On these
+quiet walls which hide our cells, he has sought to read the simple,
+touching story, of the life of our saintly founder.  The august son of
+Louis the Just has taken our dwelling-place and community under his
+immediate protection.  Go to your cells and pray to God for this
+magnanimous prince, for his children and successors in perpetuity."
+
+As he said these flattering words, a monk, with flushed cheeks and mouth
+agape, flung himself down at the King's feet, beating his brow repeatedly
+upon the pavement, and exclaiming:
+
+"Sire, forgive me, forgive me, guilty though I be.  I crave your royal
+pardon and pity."
+
+The prior, somewhat confused, saw that some important confession was
+about to be made, so he dismissed the others, and sent them back to their
+devotions.  The prostrate monk, however, never thought of moving from his
+position.  Perceiving that he was alone with the King, whose calm, gentle
+demeanour emboldened him, he begged anew for pardon with great energy,
+and fervour.  The King clearly saw that the penitent was some great evil-
+doer, and he promised forgiveness in somewhat ambiguous fashion.  Then
+the monk rose and said:
+
+"Your Majesty reigns to-day, and reigns gloriously.  That is an amazing
+miracle, for countless incredible dangers of the direst sort have beset
+your cradle and menaced your youth.  A prince of your house, backed up by
+ambitious inferiors, resolved to wrest the crown from you, in order to
+get it for himself and his descendants.  The Queen, your mother, full of
+heroic resolution, herself had energy enough to resist the cabal; but
+more than once her feet touched the very brink of the precipice, and more
+than once she nearly fell over it with her children.
+
+"Noble qualities did this great Queen possess, but at times she had too
+overweening a contempt for her enemies.  Her disdain for my master, the
+young Cardinal, was once too bitter, and begot in this presumptuous
+prelate's heart undying hatred.  Educated under the same roof as M. le
+Cardinal, with the same teachers and the same doctrines, I saw, as it
+were, with his eyes when I went out into the world, and marched beneath
+his banner when civil war broke out.
+
+"Dreading the punishment for his temerity, this prelate decided that the
+sceptre should pass into other hands, and that the elder branch should
+become extinct.  With this end in view, he made me write a pamphlet
+showing that you and your brother, the Prince, were not the King's sons;
+and subsequently he induced me to issue another, in which I affirmed on
+oath that the Queen, your mother, was secretly married to Cardinal
+Mazarin.  Unfortunately, these books met with astounding success, nor,
+though my tears fall freely, can they ever efface such vile pages.
+
+"I am also guilty of another crime, Sire, and this weighs more heavily
+upon my heart.  When the Queen-mother dexterously arranged for your
+removal to Vincennes, she left in your bed at the Louvre a large doll.
+The rebels were aware of this when it was too late.  I was ordered to
+ride post-haste with an escort in pursuit of your carriage; and I had to
+swear by the Holy Gospels that, if I could not bring you back to Paris,
+I would stab you to the heart.
+
+"The enormity of my offence weighed heavily upon my spirit and my
+conscience.  I conceived a horror for the Cardinal and withdrew to this
+convent.  For many years I have undergone the most grievous penances, but
+I shall never make thorough expiation for my sins, and I hold myself to
+be as great a criminal as at first, so long as I have not obtained pardon
+from my King."
+
+"Are you in holy orders?" asked the King gently.
+
+"No, Sire; I feel unworthy to take them," replied the Carthusian, in
+dejected tones.
+
+"Let him be ordained as soon as possible," said his Majesty to the prior.
+"The monk's keen repentance touches me; his brain is still excitable; it
+needs fresh air and change.  I will appoint him to a curacy at Saint
+Domingo, and desire him to leave for that place at the earliest
+opportunity.  Do not forget this."
+
+The monk again prostrated himself before the King, overwhelming him with
+blessings, and these royal commands were in due course executed.  So it
+came about that Lesueur's frescos led to startling revelations, and
+enabled the Carthusians to keep their splendid property intact, ungainly
+though this was and out of place.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER LIX.
+
+Journey to Poitou.--The Mayor and the Sheriffs of Orleans.--The
+Marquise's Modesty.--The Serenade.--The Abbey of Fontevrault.--Family
+Council.--Duchomania.--A Letter to the King.--The Bishop of Poitiers.--
+The Young Vicar.--Rather Give Him a Regiment.--The Fete at the Convent.--
+The Presentation.--The Revolt.--A Grand Example.
+
+The Abbess of Fontevrault, who, when a mere nun, could never bear her
+profession, now loved it with all her heart, doubtless because of the
+authority and freedom which she possessed, being at liberty to go or come
+at will, and as absolute mistress of her actions, accountable to no one
+for these.
+
+She sent me her confidential woman, one of the "travelling sisters" of
+the community, to tell me privately that the Principality of Talmont was
+going to be sold, and to offer me her help at this important juncture.
+
+Her letter, duly tied up and sealed, begged me to be bold and use my
+authority, if necessary, in order to induce the King at last to give his
+approval and consent.  "What!" she wrote, "my dear sister; you have given
+birth to eight children, the youngest of which is a marvel, and you have
+not yet got your reward.  All your children enjoy the rank of prince, and
+you, their mother, are exempt from such distinction!  What is the King
+thinking about?  Does it add to his dignity, honour, and glory that you
+should still be merely a petty marquise?  I ask again, what is the King
+thinking of?"
+
+In conclusion my sister invited me to pay a visit to her charming abbey.
+"We have much to tell you," said she, and "such brief absence is needful
+to you, so as to test the King's affection.  Your sort of temperament
+suits him, your talk amuses him; in fact, your society is absolutely
+essential to him; the distance from Versailles to Saumur would seem to
+him as far off as the uttermost end of his kingdom.  He will send courier
+upon courier to you; each of his letters will be a sort of entreaty, and
+you have only just got to express your firm intention and desire to be
+created a duchess or a princess, and, my dear sister, it will forthwith
+be done."
+
+For two days I trained the travelling nun from Fontevrault in her part,
+and then I suddenly presented her to the King.  She had the honour of
+explaining to his Majesty that she had left the Abbess sick and ailing,
+and informed him that my sister was most anxious to see me again, and
+that she hoped his Majesty would not object to my paying her a short
+visit.  For a moment the King hesitated; then he asked me if I thought
+such a change of urgent necessity.  I replied that the news of Madame de
+Mortemart's ill-health had greatly affected me, and I promised not to be
+away more than a week.
+
+The King accordingly instructed the Marquis de Louvois--[Minister of War,
+and inspector-General of Posts and Relays.]--to make all due arrangements
+for my journey, and two days afterwards, my sister De Thianges, her
+daughter the Duchesse de Nevers, and myself, set out at night for
+Poitiers.
+
+The royal relays took us as far as Orleans, after which we had post-
+horses, but specially chosen and well harnessed.  Couriers in advance of
+us had given all necessary orders to the officials and governors, so that
+we were provided with an efficient military escort along the road, and
+were as safe as if driving through Paris.
+
+At Orleans, the mayor and sheriffs in full dress presented themselves at
+our carriage window, and were about to deliver an address "to please the
+King;" but I thought such a proceeding ill-timed, and my niece De Nevers
+told these magnates that we were travelling incognito.
+
+Crowds collected below our balcony.  Madame de Thianges thought they were
+going to serenade me, but I distinctly heard sounds of hissing.  My niece
+De Nevers was greatly upset; she would eat no supper, but began to cry.
+"What are you worrying about?" quoth I to this excitable young person.
+"Don't you see that we are stopping the night on the estates of the
+Princess Palatine,--[The boorish Bavarian princess, the Duc d'Orleans's
+second wife.  EDITOR'S NOTE.]--and that it is to her exquisite breeding
+that we owe compliments of this kind?"
+
+Next morning at daybreak we drove on, and the day after we reached
+Fontevrault.  The Abbess, accompanied by her entire community, came to
+welcome us at the main gate, and her surpliced chaplains offered me holy
+water.
+
+After rest and refreshment, we made a detailed survey of her little
+empire, and everywhere observed traces of her good management and tact.
+Rules had been made more lenient, while not relaxed; the revenues had
+increased; everywhere embellishments, contentment, and well-being were
+noticeable.
+
+After praising the Abbess as she deserved, we talked a little about the
+Talmont principality.  My sister was inconsolable.  The Tremouilles had
+come into property which restored their shattered fortunes; the
+principality was no longer for sale; all thought of securing it must be
+given up.
+
+Strange to say, I at once felt consoled by such news.  Rightly to explain
+this feeling, I ought, perhaps, to make an avowal.  A grand and brilliant
+title had indeed ever been the object of my ambition; but I thought that
+I deserved such a distinction personally, for my own sake, and I was
+always wishing that my august friend would create a title specially in my
+favour.  I had often hinted at such a thing in various ways, and full as
+he is of wit and penetration, he always listened to my covert
+suggestions, and was perfectly aware of my desire.  And yet,
+magnificently generous as any mortal well could be, he never granted my
+wish.  Any one else but myself would have been tired, disheartened even;
+but at Court one must never be discouraged nor give up the game.  The
+atmosphere is rife with vicissitude and change.  Monotony would seem to
+have made there its home; yet no day is quite like another.  What one
+hopes for is too long in coming; and what one never foresees on, a sudden
+comes to pass.
+
+We took counsel together as to the best thing to be done.  Madame de
+Thianges said to me: "My dear Athenais, you have the elegance of the
+Mortemarts, the fine perception and ready wit that distinguishes them,
+but strangely enough you have not their energy, nor the firm will
+necessary for the conduct of weighty matters.  The King does not treat
+you like a great friend, like a distinguished friend, like the mother of
+his son, the Duc du Maine; he treats you like a province that he has
+conquered, on which he levies tax after tax; that is all.  Pray
+recollect, my sister, that for ten years you have played a leading part
+on the grand stage.  Your beauty, to my surprise, has been preserved to
+you, notwithstanding your numerous confinements and the fatigues of your
+position.  Profit by the present juncture, and do not let the chance
+slip.  You must write to the King, and on some pretext or other, ask for
+another week's leave.  You must tell him plainly that you have been
+marquise long enough, and that the moment has come at last for you to
+have the 'imperiale',
+
+     [The distinctive mark of duchesses was the 'imperiale'; that is, a
+     rich and costly hammer-cloth of embroidered velvet, edged with gold,
+     which covered the roofs of ducal equipages.--EDITOR'S NOTE.]
+
+and sign your name in proper style."
+
+Her advice was considered sound, but the Abbess, taking into account the
+King's susceptibility, decided that it would not do for me to write
+myself about a matter so important as this.  The Marquise de Thianges, in
+some way or other, had got the knack of plain speaking, so that a letter
+of hers would be more readily excused.  Thus it was settled that she
+should write; and write she did.  I give her letter verbatim, as it will
+please my readers; and they will agree with me that I could never have
+touched this delicate subject so happily myself.
+
+     SIRE:--Madame de Montespan had the honour of writing one or two
+     notes to you during our journey, and now she rests all day long in
+     this vast and pleasant abbey, where your Majesty's name is held in
+     as great veneration as elsewhere, being beloved as deeply as at
+     Versailles.  Madame de Mortemart has caused one of the best
+     portraits of your Majesty, done by Mignard, to be brought hither
+     from Paris, and this magnificent personage in royal robes is placed
+     beneath an amaranth-coloured dais, richly embroidered with gold,
+     at the extreme end of a vast hall, which bears the name of our
+     illustrious and well-beloved monarch.  Your privileges are great,
+     in truth, Sire.  Here you are, installed in this pious and secluded
+     retreat, where never mortal may set foot.  Before you, beside you
+     daily, you may contemplate the multitude of modest virgins who look
+     at you and admire you, becoming all of them attached to you without
+     wishing it, perhaps without knowing it, even.
+
+     Surely, Sire, your penetration is a most admirable thing.  After
+     your first interview with her, you considered our dear Abbess to be
+     a woman of capacity and talent.  You rightly appreciated her, for
+     nothing can be compared to the perfect order that prevails in her
+     house.  She is active and industrious without sacrificing her
+     position and her dignity in the slightest.  Like yourself, she can
+     judge of things in their entirety, and examine them in every little
+     detail; like yourself, she knows how to command obedience and
+     affection, desiring nothing but that which is just and reasonable.
+     In a word, Sire, Madame de Mortemart has the secret of convincing
+     her subordinates that she is acting solely in their interests, a
+     supreme mission, in sooth, among men; and my sister really has no
+     other desire nor ambition,--to this we can testify.
+
+     Upon our return, which for our liking can never be too soon, we will
+     acquaint your Majesty with the slight authorised mortification which
+     we had to put up with at Orleans.  We are in possession of certain
+     information regarding this, and your Majesty will have ample means
+     of throwing a light upon the subject.  As for the magistrates, they
+     behaved most wonderfully; they had an address all ready for us, but
+     Madame de Montespan would not listen to it, saying that "such
+     honours are meet only for you and for your children."  Such modesty
+     on my sister's part is in keeping with her great intelligence; I had
+     almost said her genius.  But in this matter I was not wholly of her
+     opinion.  It seemed to me, Sire, that, in refusing the homage
+     offered to her by these worthy magnates, she, so to speak, disowned
+     the rank ensured to her by your favour.  While the Marquise enjoys
+     your noble affection, she is no ordinary personage.  She has her
+     seat in your own Chapel Royal, so in travelling she has a right to
+     special honour.  By your choice of her, you have made her notable;
+     in giving her your heart, you have made her a part of yourself.  By
+     giving birth to your children, she has acquired her rank at Court,
+     in society, and in history.  Your Majesty intends her to be
+     considered and respected; the escorts of cavalry along the highroads
+     are sufficient proof of that.
+
+     All France, Sire, is aware of your munificence and of your princely
+     generosity: Shall I tell you of the amazement of the provincials at
+     noticing that the ducal housings are absent from my sister's
+     splendid coach?  Yes, I have taken upon myself to inform you of this
+     surprise, and knowing how greatly Athenais desires this omission to
+     be repaired, I went so far as to promise that your Majesty would
+     cause this to be done forthwith.  It must be done, Sire; the
+     Marquise loves you as much as it is possible for you to be loved;
+     of this, all that she has sacrificed is a proof.  But while dearly
+     loving you, she fears to appear importunate, and were it not for my
+     respectful freedom of speech, perhaps you would still be ignorant of
+     that which she most fervently desires.
+
+     What we all three of us ask is but a slight thing for your Majesty,
+     who, with a single word, can create a thousand nobles and princes.
+     The kings, your ancestors, used their glory in making their lovers
+     illustrious.  The Valois built temples and palaces in their honour.
+     You, greater than all the Valois, should not let their example
+     suffice.  And I am sure that you will do for the mother of the Duc
+     du Maine what the young prince himself would do for her if you
+     should happen to forget.
+
+          Your Majesty's most humble servant,
+                                             "MARQUISE DE THIANGES."
+
+
+To the Abbess and myself; this ending seemed rather too sarcastic, but
+Madame de Thianges was most anxious to let it stand.  There was no way of
+softening or glossing it over; so the letter went off, just as she had
+written it.
+
+It so happened that the Bishop of Poitiers was in his diocese at the
+time.  He came to pay me a visit, and ask me if I could get an abbey for
+his nephew, who, though extremely young, already acted as vicar-general
+for him.  "I would willingly get him a whole regiment," I replied,
+"provided M. de Louvois be of those that are my friends.  As for the
+benefices, they depend, as you know, upon the Pere de la Chaise, and I
+don't think he would be willing to grant me a favour."
+
+"Permit me to assure you, madame, that in this respect you are in error,"
+replied the Bishop.  "Pere de la Chaise respects you and honours you, and
+only speaks of you in such terms.  What distresses him is to see that you
+have an aversion for him.  Let me write to him, and say that my nephew
+has had the honour of being presented to you, and that you hoped he might
+have a wealthy abbey to enable him to bear the privations of his
+calling."
+
+The young vicar-general was good-looking, and of graceful presence.
+He had that distinction of manner which causes the priesthood to be held
+in honour, and that amenity of address which makes the law to be obeyed.
+My sisters began to take a fancy to him, and recommended him to me.
+I wrote to Pere de la Chaise myself, and instead of a mere abbey, we
+asked for a bishopric for him.
+
+It was my intention to organise a brilliant fete for the Fontevrault
+ladies, and invite all the nobility of the neighbourhood.  We talked of
+this to the young vicar, who highly approved of my plan, and albeit
+monsieur his uncle thought such a scheme somewhat contrary to rule and
+to what he termed the proprieties, we made use of his nephew, the young
+priest, as a lever; and M. de Poitiers at last consented to everything.
+
+The Fontevrault gardens are one of the most splendid sights in all the
+country round.  We chose the large alley as our chief entertainment-hall,
+and the trees were all illuminated as in my park at Clagny, or at
+Versailles.  There was no dancing, on account of the nuns, but during our
+repast there was music, and a concert and fireworks afterwards.  The
+fete ended with a performance of "Genevieve de Brabant," a grand
+spectacular pantomime, played to perfection by certain gentry of the
+neighbourhood; it made a great impression upon all the nuns and novices.
+
+Before going down into the gardens, the Abbess wished to present me
+formally to all the nuns, as well as to those persons it had pleased her
+to invite.  Imagine her astonishment!  Three nuns were absent, and
+despite our entreaties and the commands of their superiors, they
+persisted in their rebellion and their refusal.  They set up to keep
+rules before all things, and observe the duties of their religion,
+lying thus to their Abbess and their conscience.  It was all mere spite.
+Of this there can be no doubt, for one of these refractory creatures, as
+it transpired, was a cousin of the Marquis de Lauzun, my so-called
+victim; while the other two were near relatives of Mademoiselle de
+Mauldon, an intimate friend of M. de Meaux.
+
+In spite of these three silly absentees, we enjoyed ourselves greatly,
+and had much innocent amusement; while they, who could watch us from
+their windows, were probably mad with rage to think they were not of our
+number.
+
+My sister complained of them to the Bishop of Poitiers, who severely
+blamed them for such conduct; and seeing that he could not induce them to
+offer me an apology, sent them away to three different convents.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER LX.
+
+The Page-Dauphin.--A Billet from the King.--Madame de Maintenon's Letter.
+--The King as Avenger.--His Sentence on the Murderers.
+
+The great liberty which we enjoyed at Fontevrault, compared with the
+interminable bondage of Saint Germain or Versailles, made the abbey ever
+seem more agreeable to me; and Madame de Thianges asked me in sober
+earnest "if I no longer loved the King."
+
+"Of course I do," was my answer; "but may one not love oneself just a
+little bit, too?  To me, health is life; and I assure you, at
+Fontevrault, my dear sister, I sleep most soundly, and have quite got
+rid of all my nervous attacks and headaches."
+
+We were just talking thus when Madame de Mortemart entered my room, and
+introduced young Chamilly, the Page-Dauphin,--[The chief page-in-waiting
+bore the title of Page-Dauphin]--who brought with him a letter from the
+King.  He also had one for me from Madame de Maintenon, rallying me upon
+my absence and giving me news of my children.  The King's letter was
+quite short, but a king's note such as that is worth a whole pile of
+commonplace letters.  I transcribe it here:
+
+     I am jealous; an unusual thing for me.  And I am much vexed, I
+     confess, with Madame de Mortemart, who might have chosen a very
+     different moment to be ill.  I am ignorant as to the nature of her
+     malady, but if it be serious, and of those which soon grow more
+     dangerous, she has played me a very sorry trick in sending for you
+     to act as her nurse or her physician.  Pray tell her, madame, that
+     you are no good whatever as a nurse, being extremely hasty and
+     impatient in everything; while as regards medical skill, you are
+     still further from the mark, since you have never yet been able to
+     understand your own ailments, nor even explain these with the least
+     clearness.  I must ask the Abbess momentarily to suspend her
+     sufferings and come to Versailles, where all my physicians shall
+     treat her with infinite skill; and, to oblige me, will cure her,
+     as they know how much I esteem and like her.  Farewell, my ladies
+     three, who in your friendship are but as one.  I should like to be
+     there to make a fourth.  Madame de Maintenon, who loves you
+     sincerely, will give you news of your little family and of Saint
+     Germain.  Her letter and mine will be brought to you and delivered
+     by the young Comte de Chamilly.  Send him back to me at once, and
+     don't let him, see your novices or your nuns, else he will not want
+     to return to me.
+                                             LOUIS.
+
+Madame de Maintenon's letter was not couched in the same playfully
+mocking tone; though a marquise, she felt the distance that there was
+between herself and me; besides, she always knows exactly what is the
+proper thing to do.  The Abbess, who is an excellent judge, thought this
+letter excellently written.  She wanted to have a copy of it, which made
+me determine to preserve it.  Here it is, a somewhat more voluminous
+epistle than that of the King:
+
+     I promised you, madame, that I would inform you as often as possible
+     of all that interests you here, and now I keep my promise, being
+     glad to say that I have only pleasant news to communicate.  His
+     Majesty is wonderfully well, and though annoyed at your journey, he
+     has hardly lost any of his gaiety, as seemingly he hopes to have you
+     back again in a day or two.
+
+     Mademoiselle de Nantes declares that she would have behaved very
+     well in the coach, and that she is a nearer relation to you than the
+     Duchesse de Nevers, and that it was very unfair not to take her with
+     you this time.  In order to comfort her, the Duc du Maine has
+     discovered an expedient which greatly amuses us, and never fails of
+     its effect.  He tells her how absolutely necessary it is for her
+     proper education that she should be placed in a convent, and then
+     adds in a serious tone that if she had been taken to Fontevrault she
+     would never have come back!
+
+     "Oh, if that is the case," she answered, "why, I am not jealous of
+     the Duchesse de Nevers."
+
+     The day after your departure the Court took up its quarters at Saint
+     Germain, where we shall probably remain for another week.  You know,
+     madame, how fond his Majesty is of the Louis Treize Belvedere, and
+     the telescope erected by this monarch,--one of the best ever made
+     hitherto.  As if by inspiration, the King turned this instrument to
+     the left towards that distant bend which the Seine makes round the
+     verge of the Chatou woods.  His Majesty, who observes every thing,
+     noticed two bathers in the river, who apparently were trying to
+     teach their much younger companion, a lad of fourteen or fifteen,
+     to swim; doubtless, they had hurt him, for he got away from their
+     grasp, and escaped to the river-bank, to reach his clothes and dress
+     himself.  They tried to coax him back into the water, but he did not
+     relish such treatment; by his gestures it was plain that he desired
+     no further lessons.  Then the two bathers jumped out of the river,
+     and as he was putting on his shirt, dragged him back into the water,
+     and forcibly held him under till he was drowned.
+
+     When they had committed this crime, and their victim was murdered,
+     they cast uneasy glances at either river-bank, and the heights of
+     Saint Germain.  Believing that no one had knowledge of their deed,
+     they put on their clothes, and with all a murderer's glee depicted
+     on their evil countenances, they walked along the bank in the
+     direction of the castle.  The King instantly rode off in pursuit,
+     accompanied by five or six musketeers; he got ahead of them, and
+     soon turned back and met them.
+
+     "Messieurs," said he to them, "when you went away you were three in
+     number; what have you done with your comrade?" This question, asked
+     in a firm voice, disconcerted them somewhat at first, but they soon
+     replied that their companion wanted to have a swim in the river, and
+     that they had left him higher up the stream near the corner of the
+     forest, close to where his clothes and linen made a white spot on
+     the bank.
+
+     On hearing this answer the King gave orders for them to be bound and
+     brought back by the soldiery to the old chateau, where they were
+     shut up in separate rooms.  His Majesty, filled with indignation,
+     sent for the High Provost, and recounting to him what took place
+     before his eyes, requested him to try the culprits there and then.
+     The Marquis, however, is always scrupulous to excess; he begged the
+     King to reflect that at such a great distance, and viewed through a
+     telescope, things might have seemed somewhat different from what
+     they actually were, and that, instead of forcibly holding their
+     companion under the water, perhaps the two bathers were endeavouring
+     to bring him to the surface.
+
+     "No, monsieur, no," replied his Majesty; "they dragged him into the
+     river against his will, and I saw their struggles and his when they
+     thrust him under the water."
+
+     "But, Sire," replied this punctilious personage, "our criminal law
+     requires the testimony of two witnesses, and your Majesty, all-
+     powerful though you be, can only furnish that of one."
+
+     "Monsieur," replied the King gently, "I authorise you in passing
+     sentence to state that you heard the joint testimony of the King of
+     France and the King of Navarre."
+
+     Seeing that this failed to convince the judge, his Majesty grew
+     impatient and said to the old Marquis, "King Louis IX., my ancestor,
+     sometimes administered justice himself in the wood at Vincennes; I
+     will to-day follow his august example and administer justice at
+     Saint Germain."
+
+     The throne-room was at once got ready by his order.  Twenty notable
+     burgesses of the town were summoned to the castle, and the lords and
+     ladies sat with these upon the benches.  The King, wearing his
+     orders, took his seat when the two prisoners were placed in the
+     dock.
+
+     By their contradictory statements, ever-increasing embarrassment,
+     and unveracious assertions, the jury were soon convinced of their
+     guilt.  The unhappy youth was their brother, and had inherited
+     property from their mother, he being her child by a second husband.
+     So these monsters murdered him for revenge and greed.  The King
+     sentenced them to be bound hand and foot, and flung into the river
+     in the selfsame place "where they killed their young brother Abel."
+
+     When they saw his Majesty leaving his throne, they threw themselves
+     at his feet, implored his pardon, and confessed their hideous crime.
+     The King, pausing a moment, thanked God that their conscience had
+     forced such confession from them, and then remitted the sentence of
+     confiscation only.  They were executed before the setting of that
+     sun which had witnessed their crime, and the next day, that is,
+     yesterday evening, the three bodies, united once more by fate, were
+     found floating about two leagues from Saint Germain, under the
+     willows at the edge of the river near Poisay.
+
+     Orders were instantly given for their separate interment.  The
+     youngest was brought back to Saint Germain, where the King wished
+     him to have a funeral befitting his innocence and untimely fate.
+     All the military attended it.
+
+     Forgive me, madams, for all these lengthy details; we have all been
+     so much upset by this dreadful occurrence, and can talk of nothing
+     else,--in fact, it will furnish matter for talk for a long while
+     yet.
+
+     I sincerely hope that by this time Madame de Mortsmart has
+     completely recovered.  I agree with his Majesty that, in doctoring,
+     you have not had much experience; still, friendship acts betimes as
+     a most potent talisman, and the heart of the Abbess is of those that
+     in absence pines, but which in the presence of some loved one
+     revives.
+
+     She has deigned to grant me a little place in her esteem; pray tell
+     her that this first favour has somewhat spoiled me, and that now I
+     ask for more than this, for a place in her affections.  Madame de
+     Thianges and Madame de Nevers are aware of my respect and attachment
+     for them, and they approve of this, for they have engraved their
+     names and crests on my plantain-trees at Maintenon.  Such
+     inscriptions are a bond to bind us, and if no mischance befall,
+     these trees, as I hope, will survive me.
+
+     I am, madame, etc.,
+                                   MAINTENON.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER LXI.
+
+Mademoiselle d'Amurande.--The Married Nun.--The Letter to the Superior.--
+Monseigneur's Discourse.--The Abduction.--A Letter from the King.--
+Beware of the Governess.--We Leave Fontevrault.
+
+Amoung the novices at Fontevrault there was a most interesting, charming
+young person, who gave Madame de Mortemart a good deal of anxiety, as she
+thought her still undecided as to the holy profession she was about to
+adopt.  This interested me greatly, and evoked my deepest sympathy.
+
+The night of our concert and garden fete she sang to please the Abbess,
+but there were tears in her voice.  I was touched beyond expression, and
+going up to her at the bend of one of the quickset-hedges, I said, "You
+are unhappy, mademoiselle; I feel a deep interest for you.  I will ask
+Madame de Mortemart to let you come and read to me; then we can talk as
+we like.  I should like to help you if I can."
+
+She moved away at once, fearing to be observed, and the following day I
+met her in my sister's room.
+
+"Your singing and articulation are wonderful, mademoiselle," said I,
+before the Abbess; "would you be willing to come and read to me for an
+hour every day?  I have left my secretary at Versailles, and I am
+beginning to miss her much."
+
+Madame de Mortemart thanked me for my kindly intentions towards the young
+novice, who, from that time forward, was placed at my disposal.
+
+The reading had no other object than to gain her confidence, and as soon
+as we were alone I bade her tell me all.  After brief hesitation, the
+poor child thus began:
+
+"In a week's time, a most awful ceremony takes place in this monastery.
+The term of my novitiate has already expired, and had it not been for the
+distractions caused by your visit, I should have already been obliged to
+take this awful oath and make my vows.
+
+"Madame de Mortemart is gentle and kind (no wonder! she is your sister),
+but she has decided that I am to be one of her nuns, and nothing on earth
+can induce her to change her mind.  If this fatal decree be executed, I
+shall never live to see this year of desolation reach its close.  Perhaps
+I may fall dead at the feet of the Bishop who ordains us.
+
+"They would have me give to God--who does not need it--my whole life as a
+sacrifice.  But, madame, I cannot give my God this life of mine, as four
+years ago I surrendered it wholly to some one else.  Yes, madame," said
+she, bursting into tears, "I am the lawful wife of the Vicomte d'Olbruze,
+my cousin german.
+
+"Of this union, planned and approved by my dear mother herself, a child
+was born, which my ruthless father refuses to recognise, and which kindly
+peasants are bringing up in the depths of the woods.
+
+"My dear, good mother was devotedly fond of my lover, who was her nephew.
+From our very cradles she had always destined us for each other.  And she
+persisted in making this match, despite her husband, whose fortune she
+had immensely increased, and one day during his absence we were legally
+united by our family priest in the castle chapel.  My father, who, was
+away at sea, came back soon afterwards: He was enraged at my mother's
+disobedience, and in his fury attempted to stab her with his own hand.
+He made several efforts to put an end to her existence, and the general
+opinion in my home is that he was really the author of her death.
+
+"Devotedly attached to my husband by ties of love no less than of duty,
+I fled with him to his uncle's, an old knight-commander of Malta, whose
+sole heir he was.  My father, with others, pursued us thither, and scaled
+the walls of our retreat by night, resolved to kill his nephew first and
+me afterwards.  Roused by the noise of the ruffians, my husband seized
+his firearms.  Three of his assailants he shot from the balcony, and my
+father, disguised as a common man, received a volley in the face, which
+destroyed his eyesight.  The Parliament of Rennes took up the matter.
+My husband thought it best not to put in an appearance, and after the
+evidence of sundry witnesses called at random, a warrant for his arrest
+as a defaulter was issued, a death penalty being attached thereto.
+
+"Ever since that time my husband has been wandering about in disguise
+from province to province.  Doomed to solitude in our once lovely
+chateau, my, father forced me to take the veil in this convent, promising
+that if I did so, he would not bring my husband to justice.
+
+"Perhaps, madame, if the King were truly and faithfully informed of all
+these things, he would have compassion for my grief, and right the
+injustice meted out to my unlucky husband."
+
+After hearing this sad story, I clearly saw that, in some way or other,
+we should have to induce Madame de Mortemart to postpone the ceremony of
+taking the vow, and I afterwards determined to put these vagaries on the
+part of the law before my good friend President de Nesmond, who was the
+very man to give us good advice, and suggest the right remedy.
+
+As for the King, I did not deem it fit that he should be consulted in the
+matter.  Of course I look upon him as a just and wise prince, but he is
+the slave of form.  In great families, he does not like to hear of
+marriages to which the father has not given formal consent; moreover, I
+did not forget about the gun-shot which blinded the gentleman, and made
+him useless for the rest of his life.  The King, who is devoted to his
+nobles, would never have pronounced in favour of the Vicomte, unless he
+happened to be in a particularly good humour.  Altogether, it was a risky
+thing.
+
+I deeply sympathised with Mademoiselle d'Amurande in her trouble, and
+assured her of my good-will and protection, but I begged her to approve
+my course of action, though taken independently of the King.  She
+willingly left her fate in my hands, and I bade her write my sister the
+following note:
+
+     MADAME:--You know the vows that bind me; they are sacred, having
+     been plighted at the foot of the altar.  Do not persist, I entreat
+     you, do not persist in claiming the solemn declaration of my vows.
+     You are here to command the Virgins of the Lord, but among these I
+     have no right to a place.  I am a mother, although so young, and the
+     Holy Scriptures tell me every day that Hagar, the kindly hearted,
+     may not forsaken her darling Ishmael.
+
+I happened to be with Madame de Mortemart when one of the aged sisters
+brought her this letter.  On reading it she was much affected.  I feigned
+ignorance, and asked her kindly what was the reason of her trouble.  She
+wished to hide it; but I insisted, and at last persuaded her to let me
+see the note.  I read it calmly and with reflection, and afterwards said
+to the Abbess:
+
+"What!  You, sister, whose distress and horror I witnessed when our stern
+parents shut you up in a cloister,--are you now going to impose like
+fetters upon a young and interesting person, who dreads them, and rejects
+them as once you rejected them?"
+
+Madame de Mortemart replied, "I was young then, and without experience,
+when I showed such childish repugnance as that of which you speak.  At
+that age one knows nothing of religion nor of the eternal verities.  Only
+the world, with its frivolous pleasures, is then before one's eyes; and
+the spectacle blinds our view, even our view of heaven.  Later on I
+deplored such resistance, which so grieved my family; and when I saw you
+at Court, brilliant and adored, I assure you, my dear Marquise, that this
+convent and its solitude seemed to me a thousand times more desirable
+than the habitation of kings."
+
+"You speak thus philosophically," I replied, "only because your lot
+happens to have undergone such a change.  From a slave, you have become
+an absolute and sovereign mistress.  The book of rules is in your hands;
+you turn over its leaves wherever you like; you open it at whatever page
+suits you; and if the book should chance to give you a severe rebuke, you
+never let others know this.  Human nature was ever thus.  No, no, madame;
+you can never make one believe that a religious life is in itself such an
+attractive one that you would gladly resume it if the dignities of your
+position as an abbess were suddenly wrested from you and given to some
+one else."
+
+"Well, well, if that is so," said the Abbess, reddening, "I am quite
+ready to send in my resignation, and so return you your liberality."
+
+"I don't ask you for an abbey which you got from the King," I rejoined,
+smiling; "but the favour, which I ask and solicit you can and ought to
+grant.  Mademoiselle d'Amurande points out to you in formal and
+significant terms that she cannot enrol herself among the Virgins of the
+Lord, and that the gentle Hagar of Holy Writ may not forsake Ishmael.
+Such a confession plainly hints at an attachment which religion cannot
+violate nor destroy, else our religion would be a barbarous one, and
+contrary to nature.
+
+"Since God has brought me to this convent, and by chance I have got to
+know and appreciate this youthful victim, I shall give her my compassion
+and help,--I, who have no necessity to make conversions by force in order
+to add to the number of my community.  If I have committed any grave
+offence in the eyes of God, I trust that He will pardon me in
+consideration of the good work that I desire to do.  I shall write to the
+King, and Mademoiselle d'Amurande shall not make her vows until his
+Majesty commands her to do so."
+
+This last speech checkmated my sister.  She at once became gentle,
+sycophantic, almost caressing in manner, and assured me that the ceremony
+of taking the vow would be indefinitely postponed, although the Bishop of
+Lugon had already prepared his homily, and invitations had been issued to
+the nobility.
+
+Madame de Mortemart is the very embodiment of subtlety and cunning.  I
+saw that she only wanted to gain time in order to carry out her scheme.
+I did not let myself be hoodwinked by her promises, but went straight to
+work, being determined to have my own way.
+
+Hearing from Mademoiselle d'Amurande that her friend and ally, the old
+commander, was still living, I was glad to know that she had in him such
+a stanch supporter.  "It is the worthy commander," said I, "who must be
+as a father to you, until I have got the sentence of the first Parliament
+cancelled."  Then we arranged that I should get her away with me from the
+convent, as there seemed to be little or no difficulty about this.
+
+Accordingly, three days afterwards I dressed her in a most elegant
+costume of my niece's.  We went out in the morning for a drive, and the
+nuns at the gateway bowed low, as usual, when my carriage passed, never
+dreaming of such a thing as abduction.
+
+That evening the whole convent seemed in a state of uproar.  Madame de
+Mortemart, with flaming visage, sought to stammer out her reproaches.
+But as there was no law to prevent my action, she had to hide her
+vexation, and behave as if nothing had happened.
+
+The following year I wrote and told her that the judgment of the Rennes
+Parliament had been cancelled by the Grand Council, as it was based on
+conflicting evidence.  The blind Comte d'Amurande had died of rage, and
+the young couple, who came into all his property, were eternally grateful
+to me, and forever showered blessings upon my head.
+
+The Abbess wrote back to say that she shared my satisfaction at so happy
+a conclusion, and that Madame d'Olbruse's disappearance from Fontevrault
+had scarcely been noticed.
+
+The Marquise de Thianges, whose ideas regarding such matters were
+precisely the same as my own, confined herself to stating that I had not
+told her a word about it.  She spoke the truth; for the enterprise was
+not of such difficulty that I needed any one to help me.
+
+On the twelfth day, as we were about to leave Fontevrault, I received
+another letter from the King, which was as follows:
+
+     As the pain in your knee continues, and the Bourbonne waters have
+     been recommended to you, I beg you, madame, to profit by being in
+     their vicinity, and to go and try their effect.  Mademoiselle de
+     Nantes is in fairly good health, yet it looks as if a return of her
+     fluxion were likely.  Five or six pimples have appeared on her face,
+     and there is the same redness of the arms as last year.  I shall
+     send her to Bourbonne; your maids and the governess will accompany
+     her.  The Prince de Conde, who is in office there, will show you
+     every attention.  I would rather see you a little later on in good
+     health, than a little sooner, and ailing.
+
+     My kindest messages to Madame de Thianges, the Abbess, and all those
+     who show you regard and sympathy.  Madame de Nevers might invite you
+     to stay with her; on her return I will not forget such obligation.
+
+                                             LOUIS.
+
+We left Fontevrault after a stay of fifteen days; to the nuns and novices
+it seemed more like fifteen minutes, but to Madame de Mortemart, fifteen
+long years.  Yet that did not prevent her from tenderly embracing me, nor
+from having tears in her eyes when the time came for us to take coach and
+depart.
+
+
+
+
+ETEXT EDITOR'S BOOKMARKS:
+
+All the death-in-life of a convent
+Cuddlings and caresses of decrepitude
+In ill-assorted unions, good sense or good nature must intervene
+
+
+
+
+End of this Project Gutenberg Etext of The Memoirs of Madame de Montespan, v4
+by Madame La Marquise De Montespan
+
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