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FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN ETEXTS*Ver.06/12/01*END* +[Portions of this header are copyright (C) 2001 by Michael S. Hart +and may be reprinted only when these Etexts are free of all fees.] +[Project Gutenberg is a TradeMark and may not be used in any sales +of Project Gutenberg Etexts or other materials be they hardware or +software or any other related product without express permission.] + + + + + +This etext was produced by David Widger <widger@cecomet.net> + + + + + +[NOTE: There is a short list of bookmarks, or pointers, at the end of +each file for those who may wish to sample the author's ideas before +making an entire meal of them. D.W.] + + + + + + +MEMOIRS OF MADAME LA MARQUISE DE MONTESPAN + +Written by Herself + +Being the Historic Memoirs of the Court of Louis XIV. + + + +BOOK 1. + + +TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE. + +Historians have, on the whole, dealt somewhat harshly with the +fascinating Madame de Montespan, perhaps taking their impressions from +the judgments, often narrow and malicious, of her contemporaries. +To help us to get a fairer estimate, her own "Memoirs," written by +herself, and now first given to readers in an English dress, should +surely serve. Avowedly compiled in a vague, desultory way, with no +particular regard to chronological sequence, these random recollections +should interest us, in the first place, as a piece of unconscious self- +portraiture. The cynical Court lady, whose beauty bewitched a great +King, and whose ruthless sarcasm made Duchesses quail, is here drawn for +us in vivid fashion by her own hand, and while concerned with depicting +other figures she really portrays her own. Certainly, in these Memoirs +she is generally content to keep herself in the background, while giving +us a faithful picture of the brilliant Court at which she was for long +the most lustrous ornament. It is only by stray touches, a casual +remark, a chance phrase, that we, as it were, gauge her temperament in +all its wiliness, its egoism, its love of supremacy, and its shallow +worldly wisdom. Yet it could have been no ordinary woman that held the +handsome Louis so long her captive. The fair Marquise was more than a +mere leader of wit and fashion. If she set the mode in the shape of a +petticoat, or devised the sumptuous splendours of a garden fete, her +talent was not merely devoted to things frivolous and trivial. She had +the proverbial 'esprit des Mortemart'. Armed with beauty and sarcasm, +she won a leading place for herself at Court, and held it in the teeth of +all detractors. + +Her beauty was for the King, her sarcasm for his courtiers. Perhaps +little of this latter quality appears in the pages bequeathed to us, +written, as they are, in a somewhat cold, formal style, and we may assume +that her much-dreaded irony resided in her tongue rather than in her pen. +Yet we are glad to possess these pages, if only as a reliable record of +Court life during the brightest period of the reign of Louis Quatorze. + +As we have hinted, they are more, indeed, than this. For if we look +closer we shall perceive, as in a glass, darkly, the contour of a subtle, +even a perplexing, personality. + +P. E. P. + + + + + + + HISTORIC COURT MEMOIRS. + + MADAME DE MONTESPAN. + + +CHAPTER I. + +The Reason for Writing These Memoirs.--Gabrielle d'Estrees. + +The reign of the King who now so happily and so gloriously rules over +France will one day exercise the talent of the most skilful historians. +But these men of genius, deprived of the advantage of seeing the great +monarch whose portrait they fain would draw, will search everywhere among +the souvenirs of contemporaries and base their judgments upon our +testimony. It is this great consideration which has made me determined +to devote some of my hours of leisure to narrating, in these accurate and +truthful Memoirs, the events of which I myself am witness. + +Naturally enough, the position which I fill at the great theatre of the +Court has made me the object of much false admiration, and much real +satire. Many men who owed to me their elevation or their success have +defamed me; many women have belittled my position after vain efforts to +secure the King's regard. In what I now write, scant notice will be +taken of all such ingratitude. Before my establishment at Court I had +met with hypocrisy of this sort in the world; and a man must, indeed, be +reckless of expense who daily entertains at his board a score of insolent +detractors. + +I have too much wit to be blind to the fact that I am not precisely +in my proper place. But, all things considered, I flatter myself that +posterity will let certain weighty circumstances tell in my favour. +An accomplished monarch, to greet whom the Queen of Sheba would have +come from the uttermost ends of the earth, has deemed me worthy of his +entertainment, and has found amusement in my society. He has told me of +the esteem which the French have for Gabrielle d'Estrees, and, like that +of Gabrielle, my heart has let itself be captured, not by a great king, +but by the most honest man of his realm. + +To France, Gabrielle gave the Vendome, to-day our support. The princes, +my sons, give promise of virtues as excellent, and will be worthy to +aspire to destinies as noble. It is my desire and my duty to give no +thought to my private griefs begotten of an ill-assorted marriage. May +the King ever be adored by his people; may my children ever be beloved +and cherished by the King; I am happy, and I desire to be so. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +That Which Often It is Best to Ignore.--A Marriage Such as One Constantly +Sees.--It is Too Late. + +My sisters thought it of extreme importance to possess positive knowledge +as to their future condition and the events which fate held in store for +them. They managed to be secretly taken to a woman famed for her talent +in casting the horoscope. But on seeing how overwhelmed by chagrin they +both were after consulting the oracle, I felt fearful as regarded myself, +and determined to let my star take its own course, heedless of its +existence, and allowing it complete liberty. + +My mother occasionally took me out into society after the marriage of my +sister, De Thianges; and I was not slow to perceive that there was in my +person something slightly superior to the average intelligence,--certain +qualities of distinction which drew upon me the attention and the +sympathy of men of taste. Had any liberty been granted to it, my heart +would have made a choice worthy alike of my family and of myself. They +were eager to impose the Marquis de Montespan upon me as a husband; and +albeit he was far from possessing those mental perfections and that +cultured charm which alone make an indefinite period of companionship +endurable, I was not slow to reconcile myself to a temperament which, +fortunately, was very variable, and which thus served to console me on +the morrow for what had troubled me to-day. + +Hardly had my marriage been arranged and celebrated than a score of the +most brilliant suitors expressed, in prose and in verse, their regret at +having lost beyond recall Mademoiselle de Tonnai-Charente. Such elegiac +effusions seemed to me unspeakably ridiculous; they should have explained +matters earlier, while the lists were still open. For persons of this +sort I conceived aversion, who were actually so clumsy as to dare to tell +me that they had forgotten to ask my hand in marriage! + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +Madame de Montespan at the Palace.--M. de Montespan.--His Indiscreet +Language.--His Absence.--Specimen of His Way of Writing.--A Refractory +Cousin.--The King Interferes.--M. de Montespan a Widower.--Amusement of +the King.--Clemency of Madame de Montespan. + +The Duc and Duchesse de Navailles had long been friends of my father's +and of my family. When the Queen-mother proceeded to form the new +household of her niece and daughter-in-law, the Infanta, the Duchesse de +Navailles, chief of the ladies-in-waiting, bethought herself of me, and +soon the Court and Paris learnt that I was one of the six ladies in +attendance on the young Queen. + +This princess, who while yet at the Escurial had been made familiar with +the notable names of the French monarchy, honoured me during the journey +by alluding in terms of regard to the Mortemarts and Rochechouarts,-- +kinsmen of mine. She was even careful to quote matters of history +concerning my ancestors. By such marks of good sense and good will I +perceived that she would not be out of place at a Court where politeness +of spirit and politeness of heart ever go side by side, or, to put it +better, where these qualities are fused and united. + +M. le Marquis de Montespan, scion of the old house of Pardaillan de +Gondrin, had preferred what he styled "my grace and beauty" to the most +wealthy partis of France. He was himself possessed of wealth, and his +fortune gave him every facility for maintaining at Court a position of +advantage and distinction. + +At first the honour which both Queens were graciously pleased to confer +upon me gave my husband intense satisfaction. He affectionately thanked +the Duc and Duchesse de Navailles, and expressed his most humble +gratitude to the two Queens and to the King. But it was not long before +I perceived that he had altered his opinion. + +The love-affair between Mademoiselle de la Valliere and the King having +now become public, M. de Montespan condemned this attachment in terms of +such vehemence that I perforce felt afraid of the consequences of such +censure. He talked openly about the matter in society, airing his views +thereanent. Impetuously and with positive hardihood, he expressed his +disapproval in unstinted terms, criticising and condemning the prince's +conduct. Once, at the ballet, when within two feet of the Queen, it was +with the utmost difficulty that he could be prevented from discussing so +obviously unfitting a question, or from sententiously moralising upon the +subject. + +All at once the news of an inheritance in the country served to occupy +his attention. He did all that he could to make me accompany him on this +journey. He pointed out to me that it behoved no young wife to be +anywhere without her husband. I, for my part, represented to him all +that in my official capacity I owed to the Queen. And as at that time I +still loved him heartily (M. de Montespan, I mean), and was sincerely +attached to him, I advised him to sell off the whole of the newly +inherited estate to some worthy member of his own family, so that he +might remain with us in the vast arena wherein I desired and hoped to +achieve his rapid advance. + +Never was there man more obstinate or more selfwilled than the Marquis. +Despite all my friendly persuasion, he was determined to go. And when +once settled at the other end of France, he launched out into all sorts +of agricultural schemes and enterprises, without even knowing why he did +so. He constructed roads, built windmills, bridged over a large torrent, +completed the pavilions of his castle, replanted coppices and vineyards, +and, besides all this, hunted the chamois, bears, and boars of the +Nebouzan and the Pyrenees. Four or five months after his departure I +received a letter from him of so singular a kind that I kept it in spite +of myself, and in the Memoirs it will not prove out of place. Far better +than any words of mine, it will depict the sort of mind, the logic, and +the curious character of the man who was my husband. + + MONTESPAN,--May 15, 1667. + + I count more than ever, madame, upon your journey to the Pyrenees. + If you love me, as all your letters assure me, you should promptly + take a good coach and come. We are possessed of considerable + property here, which of late years my family have much neglected. + These domains require my presence, and my presence requires yours. + Enough is yours of wit or of good sense to understand that. + + The Court is, no doubt, a fine country,--finer than ever under the + present reign. The more magnificent the Court is, the more uneasy + do I become. Wealth and opulence are needed there; and to your + family I never figured as a Croesus. By dint of order and thrift, + we shall ere long have satisfactorily settled our affairs; and I + promise you that our stay in the Provinces shall last no longer than + is necessary to achieve that desirable result. Three, four, five,-- + let us say, six years. Well, that is not an eternity! By the time + we come back we shall both of us still be young. Come, then, my + dearest Athenais, come, and make closer acquaintance with these + imposing Pyrenees, every ravine of which is a landscape and every + valley an Eden. To all these beauties, yours is missing; you shall + be here, like Dian, the goddess of these noble forests. All our + gentlefolk await you, admiring your picture on the sweetmeat-box. + They are minded to hold many pleasant festivals in your honour; you + may count upon having a veritable Court. Here it is that you will + meet the old Warnais nobility that followed Henri IV. and placed the + sceptre in his hand. Messieurs de Grammont and de Biron are our + neighbours; their grim castles dominate the whole district, so that + they seem like kings. + + Our Chateau de Montespan will offer you something less severe; the + additions made for my mother twenty years ago are infinitely better + than anything that you will leave behind you in Paris. We have here + the finest fruits that ever grew in any earthly paradise. Our huge, + luscious peaches are composed of sugar, violets, carnations, amber, + and jessamine; strawberries and raspberries grow everywhere; and + naught may vie with the excellence of the water, the vegetables, and + the milk. + + You are fond of scenery and of sketching from nature; there are half + a dozen landscapes here for you that leave Claude Lorrain far + behind. I mean to take you to see a waterfall, twelve hundred and + seventy feet in height, neither more nor less. What are your + fountains at Saint Germain and Chambord compared with such + marvellous things as these? + + Now, madame, I am really tired of coaxing and flattering you, as I + have done in this letter and in preceding ones. Do you want me, or + do you not? Your position as Court lady, so you say, keeps you near + the monarch; ask, then, or let me ask, for leave of absence. After + having been for four consecutive years Lady of the Palace, consent + to become Lady of the Castle, since your duties towards your spouse + require it. The young King, favourite as he is with the ladies, + will soon find ten others to replace you. And I, dearest Athenais, + find it hard even to think of replacing you, in spite of your cruel + absence, which at once annoys and grieves me. I am--no, I shall be + --always and ever yours, when you are always and ever mine. + + MONTESPAN. + + +I hastened to tell my husband in reply that his impatience and ill-humour +made me most unhappy; that as, through sickness or leave of absence, five +or six of the Court ladies were away, I could not possibly absent myself +just then; that I believed that I sufficiently merited his confidence to +let me count upon his attachment and esteem, whether far or near. And I +gave him my word of honour that I would join him after the Court moved to +Fontainebleau, that is to say, in the autumn. + +My answer, far from soothing or calming him, produced quite a contrary +effect. I received the following letter, which greatly alarmed and +agitated me: + + Your allegations are only vain pretexts, your pretexts mask your + falsehoods, your falsehoods confirm all my suspicions; you are + deceiving me, madame, and it is your intention to dishonour me. + My cousin, who saw through you better than I did before my wretched + marriage,--my cousin, whom you dislike and who is no whit afraid of + you,--informs me that, under the pretext of going to keep Madame de + la Valliere company, you never stir from her apartments during the + time allotted to her by the King, that is to say, three whole hours + every evening. There you pose as sovereign arbiter; as oracle, + uttering a thousand divers decisions; as supreme purveyor of news + and gossip; the scourge of all who are absent; the complacent + promoter of scandal; the soul and the leader of sparkling + conversation. + + One only of these ladies became ill, owing to an extremely + favourable confinement, from which she recovered a week ago. + At the outset, the King fought shy of your raillery, but in a + thousand discreditable ways you set your cap at him and forced him + to pay you attention. If all the letters written to me (all of them + in the same strain) are not preconcerted, if your misconduct is such + as I am told it is, if you have dishonoured and disgraced your + husband, then, madame, expect all that your excessive imprudence + deserves. At this distance of two hundred and fifty leagues I shall + not trouble you with complaints and vain reproaches; I shall collect + all necessary information and documentary evidence at headquarters; + and, cost me what it may, I shall bring action against you, before + your parents, before a court of law, in the face of public opinion, + and before your protector, the King. I charge you instantly to + deliver up to me my child. My unfortunate son comes of a race which + never yet has had cause to blush for disgrace such as this. What + would he gain, except bad example, by staying with a mother who has + no virtue and no husband? Give him up to me, and at once let Dupre, + my valet, have charge of him until my return. This latter will + occur sooner than you think; and I shall shut you up in a convent, + unless you shut me up in the Bastille. + + Your unfortunate husband, + MONTESPAN. + + +The officious cousin to whom he alluded in this threatening letter had +been so bold as to sue for my hand, although possessed of no property. +Ever since that time he remained, as I knew, my enemy, though I did not +know, nor ever suspected, that such a man would find pleasure in spying +upon my actions and in effecting the irrevocable estrangement of a +husband and a wife, who until then had been mutually attached to each +other. + +The King, whose glance, though very sweet, is very searching, said to me +that evening, "Something troubles you; what is it?" He felt my pulse, +and perceived my great agitation. I showed him the letter just +transcribed, and his Majesty changed colour. + +"It is a matter requiring caution and tact," added the prince after brief +meditation. "At any rate we can prevent his showing you any disrespect. +Give up the Marquis d'Antin to him," continued the King, after another +pause. "He is useless, perhaps an inconvenience, to you; and if deprived +of his child he might be driven to commit some desperate act." + +"I would rather die!" I exclaimed, bursting into tears. + +The King affectionately took hold of both my hands, and gently said: + +"Very well, then, keep him yourself, and don't give him up." + +As God is my witness, M. de Montespan had already neglected me for some +time before he left for the Pyrenees; and to me this sudden access of +fervour seemed singularly strange. But I am not easily hoodwinked; +I understood him far better and far quicker than he expected. +The Marquis is one of those vulgar-minded men who do not look upon a +woman as a friend, a companion, a frank, free associate, but as a piece +of property or of furniture, useful to his house, and which he has +procured for that purpose only. + +I am told that in England a man is the absolute proprietor of his wife, +and that if he took her to the public market with a cord round her neck +and exhibited her for sale, such sale is perfectly valid in the eyes of +the law. Laws such as these inspire horror. Yet they should hardly +surprise one among a semibarbarous nation, which does nothing like other +peoples, and which deems itself authorised to place the censer in the +hands of its monarch, and its monarch in the hands of the headsman. + +M. de Montespan came to Paris and instituted proceedings against me +before the Chatelet authorities. To the King he sent a letter full of +provocations and insults. To the Pope he sent a formal complaint, +accompanied by a most carefully prepared list of opinions which no lawyer +was willing to sign. For three whole months he tormented the Pope, in +order to induce him to annul our marriage. Of a truth, our Sovereign +Pontiff could have done nothing better, but in Rome justice and religion +always rank second to politics. The cardinals feared to offend a great +prince, and so they suffered me to remain the wife of my husband. When +he saw that on every side his voice was lost in the desert, and that the +King, being calmer and more prudent than he, did not deign to pick up the +glove, his folly reached its utmost limit. He went into the deepest +mourning ever seen. He draped his horses and carriages with black. +He gave orders for a funeral service to be held in his parish, which the +whole town and its suburbs were invited to attend. He declared, verbally +and in writing, that he no longer possessed a wife; that Madame de +Montespan had died of an attack of coquetry and ambition; and he talked +of marrying again when the year of mourning and of widowhood should be +over. + +His first outbursts of wrath were the source of much amusement to the +King, who naturally was on the side of decorum and averse to hostile +opinion. Pranks such as these seemed to him more a matter for mirth than +fear, and, on hearing the story of the catafalque, he laughingly said to +me, "Now that he has buried you, it is to be hoped that he will let you +repose in peace." But hearing each day of fresh absurdities, his Majesty +grew at last impatient. Luckily, M. de Montespan, perceiving that every +house had closed its doors to him, decided to close his own altogether +and travel abroad. + +Not being of a vindictive disposition, I never would allow M. de Louvois +to shut him up in the Bastille. On the contrary I privately paid more +than fifty thousand crowns to defray his debts, being glad to render him +some good service in exchange for all the evil that he spoke of me. + +I reflected that he had been my husband, my confidant, my friend; that +his only faults were bad temper, love of sport, and love of wine; that he +belonged to one of the very first families of France; and that, despite +all that was said, my son D'Antin certainly was nothing to the King, and +that the Marquis was his father. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +Mademoiselle de la Valliere Jealous.--The King Wishes All to Enjoy +Themselves.--The Futility of Fighting against Fate.--What is Dead is +Dead. + +MADEMOISELLE DE LA VALLIERE was tall, shapely, and extremely pretty, with +as sweet and even a temper as one could possibly imagine, which eminently +fitted her for dreamy, contemplative love-making, such as one reads of in +idyls and romances. She would willingly have spent her life in. +contemplating the King,--in loving and adoring him without ever opening +her mouth; and to her, the sweet silence of a tete-a-tete seemed +preferable to any conversation enlivened by wit. + +The King's character was totally different. His imagination was vivid, +and mere love-making, however pleasant, bored him at last if the charm of +ready speech and ready wit were wanting. + +I do not profess to be a prodigy, but those who know me do me the justice +to admit that where I am it is very difficult for boredom to find ever so +small a footing. + +Mademoiselle de la Valliere, after having begged me, and begged me often, +to come and help her to entertain the King, grew suddenly suspicious and +uneasy. She is candour itself, and one day, bursting into tears, she +said to me, in that voice peculiar to her alone, "For Heaven's sake, my +good friend, do not steal away the King's heart from me!" +When mademoiselle said this to me, I vow and declare in all honesty +that her fears were unfounded, and that (for my part at least) I had +only just a natural desire to gain the good-will of a great prince. +My friendship for La Valliere was so sincere, so thorough, that I often +used to superintend little details of her toilet and give her various +little hints as to attentive conduct of the sort which cements and +revives attachments. I even furnished her with news and gossip, +composing for her a little repertoire, of which, when needful, she made +use. + +But her star had set, and she had to show the world the touching +spectacle of love as true, as tender, and as disinterested as any that +has ever been in this world, followed by a repentance and an expiation +far superior to the sin, if sin it was. + +Moreover, Mademoiselle de la Valliere never broke with me. She shed +tears in abundance, and wounded my heart a thousand times by the sight +of her grief and her distress. For her sake I was often fain to bid +farewell to her fickle lover, proud monarch though he was. But by +breaking with him I should not have reestablished La Valliere. The +prince's violent passion had changed to mere friendship, blended with +esteem. To try and resuscitate attachments of this sort is as if one +should try to open the grave and give life to the dead. God alone can +work miracles such as these. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +The Marquis de Bragelonne, Officer of the Guards.--His Baleful Love.-- +His Journey.--His Death. + +The Marquis de Bragelonne was born for Mademoiselle de la Valliere. +It was this young officer, endowed with all perfections imaginable, +whom Heaven had designed for her, to complete her happiness. Despite his +sincere, incomparable attachment for her, she disdained him, preferring a +king, who soon afterwards wearied of her. + +The Marquis de Bragelonne conceived a passion for the little La Valliere +as soon as he saw her at the Tuileries with Madame Henrietta of England, +whose maid of honour at first she was. Having made proof and declaration +of his tender love, Bragelonne was so bold as to ask her hand of the +princess. Madame caused her relatives to be apprised of this, and the +Marquise de Saint-Remy, her stepmother, after all necessary inquiries had +been made, replied that the fortune of this young man was as yet too +slender to permit him to think of having an establishment. + +Grieved at this answer, but nothing daunted, Bragelonne conferred +privately with his lady-love, and told her of his hazardous project. +This project instantly to realise all property coming to him from his +father, and furnished with this capital, to go out, and seek his fortune +in India [West Indies. D.W.] + +"You will wait for me, dearest one, will you not?" quoth he. "Heaven, +that is witness how ardently I long to make you happy, will protect me on +my journey and guard my ship. Promise me to keep off all suitors, the +number of whom will increase with your beauty. This promise, for which I +desire no other guarantee but your candour, shall sustain me in exile, +and make me count as nought my privations and my hardships." + +Mademoiselle de la Beaume-le-Blanc allowed the Marquis to hope all that +he wished from her beautiful soul, and he departed, never imagining that +one could forget or set at nought so tender a love which had prompted so +hazardous an enterprise. + +His journey proved thoroughly successful. He brought back with him +treasures from the New World; but of all his treasures the most precious +had disappeared. Restored once more to family and friends, he hastened +to the capital. Madame d'Orleans no longer resided at the Tuileries, +which was being enlarged by the King. + +Bragelonne, in his impatience, asks everywhere for La Valliere. They +tell him that she has a charming house between Saint Germain, Lucienne, +and Versailles. He goes thither, laden with coral and pearls from the +Indies. He asks to have sight of his love. A tall Swiss repulses him, +saying that, in order to speak with Madame la Duchesse, it was absolutely +necessary to make an appointment. + +At the same moment one of his friends rides past the gateway. They greet +each other, and in reply to his questioning, this friend informs him that +Mademoiselle de la Valliere is a duchess, that she is a mother, that she +is lapped in grandeur and luxury, and that she has as lover a king. + +At this news, Bragelonne finds nothing further for him to do in this +world. He grasps his friend's hand, retires to a neighbouring wood, and +there, drawing his sword, plunges it into his heart,--a sad requital for +love so noble! + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +M. Fouquet.--His Mistake.--A Woman's Indiscretion May Cause the Loss of a +Great Minister.--The Castle of Vaux.--Fairy-land.--A Fearful Awakening.-- +Clemency of the King. + +On going out into society, I heard everybody talking everywhere about M. +Fouquet. They praised his good-nature, his affability, his talents, his +magnificence, his wit. His post as Surintendant-General, envied by a +thousand, provoked indeed a certain amount of spite; yet all such vain +efforts on the part of mediocrity to slander him troubled him but little. +My lord the Cardinal (Mazarin. D.W.) was his support, and so long as the +main column stood firm, M. Fouquet, lavish of gifts to his protector, had +really nothing to fear. + +This minister also largely profited by the species of fame to be derived +from men of letters. He knew their venality and their needs. His +sumptuous, well-appointed table was placed in grandiose fashion at their +disposal. Moreover, he made sure of their attachment and esteem by fees +and enormous pensions. The worthy La Fontaine nibbled like others at the +bait, and at any rate paid his share of the reckoning by the most profuse +gratitude. M. Fouquet had one great defect: he took it into his head +that every woman is devoid of will-power and of resistance if only one +dazzle her eyes with gold. Another prejudice of his was to believe, as +an article of faith, that, if possessed of gold and jewels, the most +ordinary of men can inspire affection. + +Making this twofold error his starting-point as a principle that was +incontestable, he was wont to look upon every beautiful woman who +happened to appear on the horizon as his property acquired in advance. + +At Madame's, he saw Mademoiselle de la Valliere, and instantly sent her +his vows of homage and his proposals. + +To his extreme astonishment, this young beauty declined to understand +such language. Couched in other terms, he renewed his suit, yet +apparently was no whit less obscure than on the first occasion. Such a +scandal as this well-nigh put him to the blush, and he was obliged to +admit that this modest maiden either affected to be, or really was, +utterly extraordinary. + +Perhaps Mademoiselle de la Valliere ought to have had the generosity not +to divulge the proposals made to her; but she spoke about them, so +everybody said, and the King took a dislike to his minister. + +Whatever the cause or the real motives for Fouquet's disgrace, it was +never considered unjust, and this leads me to tell the tale of his mad +folly at Vaux. + +The two palaces built by Cardinal Mazarin and the castles built by +Cardinal Richelieu served as fine examples for M. Fouquet. He knew that +handsome edifices embellished the country, and that Maecenas has always +been held in high renown, because Maecenas built a good deal in his day. + +He had just built, at great expense, in the neighbourhood of Melun, a +castle of such superb and elegant proportions that the fame of it had +even reached foreign parts. All that Fouquet lived for was show and +pomp. To have a fine edifice and not show it off was as if one only +possessed a kennel. + +He spoke of the Castle of Vaux in the Queen's large drawing-room, and +begged their Majesties to honour by their presence a grand fete that he +was preparing for them. + +To invite the royal family was but a trifling matter,--he required +spectators proportionate to the scale of decorations and on a par with +the whole spectacle; so he took upon himself to invite the entire Court +to Vaux. + +On reaching Vaux-le-Vicomte, how great and general was our amazement! +It was not the well-appointed residence of a minister, it was not a human +habitation that presented itself to our view,--it was a veritable fairy +palace. All in this brilliant dwelling was stamped with the mark of +opulence and of exquisite taste in art. Marbles, balustrades, vast +staircases, columns, statues, groups, bas-reliefs, vases, and pictures +were scattered here and there in rich profusion, besides cascades and +fountains innumerable. The large salon, octagonal in shape, had a high, +vaulted ceiling, and its flooring of mosaic looked like a rich carpet +embellished with birds, butterflies, arabesques, fruits, and flowers. + +On either side of the main edifice, and somewhat in the rear, the +architect had placed smaller buildings, yet all of them ornamented in the +same sumptuous fashion; and these served to throw the chateau itself into +relief. In these adjoining pavilions there were baths, a theatre, a +'paume' ground, swings, a chapel, billiard-rooms, and other salons. + +One noticed magnificent gilt roulette tables and sedan-chairs of the very +best make. There were elegant stalls at which trinkets were distributed +to the guests,--note-books, pocket-mirrors, gloves, knives, scissors, +purses, fans, sweetmeats, scents, pastilles, and perfumes of all kinds. + +It was as if some evil fairy had prompted the imprudent minister to act +in this way, who, eager and impatient for his own ruin, had summoned +his King to witness his appalling system of plunder in its entirety, and +had invited chastisement. + +When the King went out on to the balcony of his apartment to make a +general survey of the gardens and the perspective, he found everything +well arranged and most alluring; but a certain vista seemed to him +spoiled by whitish-looking clearings that gave too barren an aspect to +the general coup d'oeil. + +His host readily shared this opinion. He at once gave the requisite +instructions, which that very night were executed by torchlight with the +utmost secrecy by all the workmen of the locality whose services at such +an hour it was possible to secure. + +When next day the monarch stepped out on to his balcony, he saw a +beautiful green wood in place of the clearings with which on the previous +evening he had found fault. + +Service more prompt or tasteful than this it was surely impossible to +have; but kings only desire to be obeyed when they command. + +Fouquet, with airy presumption, expected thanks and praise. This, +however, was what he had to hear: "I am shocked at such expense!" + +Soon afterwards the Court moved to Nantes; the ministers followed; M. +Fouquet was arrested. + +His trial at the Paris Arsenal lasted several months. Proofs of his +defalcations were numberless. His family and proteges made frantic yet +futile efforts to save so great a culprit. The Commission sentenced him +to death, and ordered the confiscation of all his property. + +The King, content to have made this memorable and salutary example, +commuted the death penalty, and M. Fouquet learned with gratitude that he +would have to end his days in prison. + +Nor did the King insist upon the confiscation of his property, which went +to the culprit's widow and children, all that was retained being the +enormous sums which he had embezzled. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +Close of the Queen-mother's Illness.--The Archbishop of Auch.-- +The Patient's Resignation.--The Sacrament.--Court Ceremony for its +Reception.--Sage Distinction of Mademoiselle de Montpensier.--Her +Prudence at the Funeral. + +As the Queen-mother's malady grew worse, the Court left Saint Germain to +be nearer the experts and the Val-de-Grace, where the princess frequently +practised her devotions with members of the religious sisterhood that she +had founded. + +Suddenly the cancer dried up, and the head physician declared that the +Queen was lost. + +The Archbishop of Auch said to the King, "Sire, there is not an instant +to be lost; the Queen may die at any moment; she should be informed of +her condition, so that she may prepare herself to receive the Sacrament." + +The King was troubled, for he dearly loved his mother. "Monsieur," he +replied, with emotion, "it is impossible for me to sanction your request. +My mother is resting calmly, and perhaps thinks that she is out of +danger. We might give her her death-blow." + +The prelate, a man of firm, religious character, insisted, albeit +reverently, while the prince continued to object. Then the Archbishop +retorted, "It is not with nature or the world that we have here to deal. +We have to save a soul. I have done my duty, and filial tenderness will +at any rate bear the blame." + +The King thereupon acceded to the churchman's wishes, who lost no time in +acquainting the patient with her doom. + +Anne of Austria was grievously shocked at so terrible an announcement, +but she soon recovered her resignation and her courage; and M. d' Auch +made noble use of his eloquence when exhorting her to prepare for the +change that she dreaded. + +A portable altar was put up in the room, and the Archbishop, assisted by +other clerics, went to fetch the Holy Sacrament from the church of Saint +Germain de l'Auxerrois in the Louvre parish. + +The princes and princesses hereupon began to argue in the little closet +as to the proper ceremony to be observed on such occasions. Madame de +Motteville, lady-in-waiting to the Queen, being asked to give an opinion, +replied that, for the late King, the nobles had gone out to meet the Holy +Sacrament as far as the outer gate of the palace, and that it would be +wise to do this on the present occasion. + +Mademoiselle de Montpensier interrupted the lady-in-waiting and those who +shared her opinion. "I cannot bring myself to establish such a +precedent," she said, in her usual haughty tone. "It is I who have to +walk first, and I shall only go half-way across the courtyard of the +Louvre. It's quite far enough for the Holy Wafer-box; what's the use of +walking any further for the Holy Sacrament?" + +The princes and princesses were of her way of thinking, and the +procession advanced only to the limits aforesaid. + +When the time came for taking the Sacred Heart to Val-de-Grace with the +funeral procession, Mademoiselle, in a long mourning cloak, said to the +Archbishop before everybody, "Pray, monsieur, put the Sacred Heart in the +best place, and sit you close beside it. I yield my rank up to you on +the present occasion." And, as the prelate protested, she added, +"I shall be very willing to ride in front on account of the malady from +which she died." And, without altering her resolution, she actually took +her seat in front. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +Cardinal Mazarin.--Regency of Anne of Austria.--Her Perseverance in +Retaining Her Minister.--Mazarin Gives His Nieces in Marriage.-- +M. de la Meilleraye.--The Cardinal's Festivities.--Madame de Montespan's +Luck at a Lottery. + +Before taking holy orders, Cardinal Mazarin had served as an officer in +the Spanish army, where he had even won distinction. + +Coming to France in the train of a Roman cardinal, he took service with +Richelieu, who, remarking in him all the qualities of a supple, +insinuating, artificial nature,--that is to say, the nature of a good +politician,--appointed him his private secretary, and entrusted him with +all his secrets, as if he had singled him out as his successor. + +Upon the death of Richelieu, Mazarin did not scruple to avow that the +great Armand's sceptre had been a tyrant's sceptre and of bronze. By +such an admission he crept into the good graces of Louis XIII., who, +himself almost moribund, had shown how pleased he was to see his chief +minister go before him to the grave. + +Louis XIII. being dead, his widow, Anne of Austria, in open Parliament +cancelled the monarch's testamentary depositions and constituted herself +Regent with absolute authority. Mazarin was her Richelieu. + +In France, where men affect to be so gallant and so courteous, how is it +that when women rule their reign is always stormy and troublous? Anne of +Austria--comely, amiable, and gracious as she was--met with the same +brutal discourtesy which her sister-in-law, Marie de Medici, had been +obliged to bear. But gifted with greater force of intellect than that +queen, she never yielded aught of her just rights; and it was her strong +will which more than once astounded her enemies and saved the crown for +the young King. + +They lampooned her, hissed her, and burlesqued her publicly at the +theatres, cruelly defaming her intentions and her private life. Strong +in the knowledge of her own rectitude, she faced the tempest without +flinching; yet inwardly her soul was torn to pieces. The barricading of +Paris, the insolence of M. le Prince, the bravado and treachery of +Cardinal de Retz, burnt up the very blood in her veins, and brought on +her fatal malady, which took the form of a hideous cancer. + +Our nobility (who are only too glad to go and reign in Naples, Portugal, +or Poland) openly declared that no foreigner ought to hold the post of +minister in Paris. Despite his Roman purple, Mazarin was condemned to be +hanged. + +The motive for this was some trifling tax which he had ordered to be +collected before this had been ratified by the magistrates and registered +in the usual way. + +But the Queen knew how to win over the nobles. Her cardinal was +recalled, and the apathy of the Parisians put an end to these +dissensions, from which, one must admit, the people and the bourgeoisie +got all the ills and the nobility all the profits. + +As comptroller of the list of benefices, M. le Cardinal allotted the +wealthiest abbeys of the realm to himself. + +Having made himself an absolute master of finance, like M. Fouquet, he +amassed great wealth. He built a magnificent palace in Rome, and an +equally brilliant one in Paris, conferring upon himself the wealthy +governorships of various towns or provinces. He had a guard of honour +attached to his person, and a captain of the guard in attendance, just as +Richelieu had. + +He married one of his nieces to the Prince of Mantua, another to the +Prince de Conti, a third to the Comte de Soissons, a fourth to the +Constable Colonna (an Italian prince), a fifth to the Duc de Mercoeur +(a blood relation of Henri IV.), and a sixth to the Duc de Bouillon. +As to Hortense, the youngest, loveliest of them all,--Hortense, the +beauteous-eyed, his charming favourite,--he appointed her his sole +heiress, and having given her jewelry and innumerable other presents, he +married her to the agreeable Duc de la Meilleraye, son of the marshal of +that name. + +Society was much astonished when it came out that M. le Cardinal had +disinherited his own nephew, + + [De Mancini, Duc de Nevers, a relative of the last Duc de Nivernois. + He married, soon after, Madame de Montespan's niece.--Editor's Note] + +a man of merit, handing over his name, his fortune, and his arms to a +stranger. This was an error; in taking the name and arms of Mazarin, +young De la Meilleraye was giving up those which he ought to have given +up, and assuming those which it behove him to assume. + +Nor did he retain the great possessions of the La Meilleraye family. +Herein, certainly, he did not consult his devotion; since the secret and +fatherly avowal of M. le Cardinal he had no right whatever to the estates +of this family. + +Beneath the waving folds of his large scarlet robe, the Cardinal showed +such ease and certainty of address, that he never put one in mind of a +cardinal and a bishop. To such manners, however, one was accustomed; in +a leading statesman they were not unpleasant. + +He often gave magnificent balls, at which he displayed all the +accomplishments of his nieces and the sumptuous splendour of his +furniture. At such entertainments, always followed by a grand banquet, +he was wont to show a liberality worthy of crowned heads. One day, after +the feast, he announced that a lottery would be held in his palace. + +Accordingly, all the guests repaired to his superb gallery, which had +just been brilliantly decorated with paintings by Romanelli, and here, +spread out upon countless tables, we saw pieces of rare porcelain, scent- +bottles of foreign make, watches of every size and shape, chains of +pearls or of coral, diamond buckles and rings, gold boxes adorned by +portraits set in pearls or in emeralds, fans of matchless elegance,-- +in a word, all the rarest and most costly things that luxury and fashion +could invent. + +The Queens distributed the tickets with every appearance of honesty and +good faith. But I had reason to remark, by what happened to myself, that +the tickets had been registered beforehand. The young Queen, who felt +her garter slipping off, came to me in order to tighten it. She handed +me her ticket to hold for a moment, and when she had fastened her garter, +I gave her back my ticket instead of her own. When the Cardinal from his +dais read out the numbers in succession, my number won a portrait of the +King set in brilliants, much to the surprise of the Queen-mother and his +Eminence; they could not get over it. + +To me this lottery of the Rue Neuve-des-Petits-Changes + + [The gallery to which the Marquise alludes is to-day called the + Manuscript Gallery. It belongs to the Royal Library in the Rue de + Richelieu. Mazarin's house is now the Treasury.] + +I brought good luck, and we often talked about it afterwards with the +King, regarding it as a sort of prediction or horoscope. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +Marriage of Monsieur, the King's Brother.--His Hope of Mounting a Throne. +--His High-heeled Shoes.--His Dead Child.--Saint Denis. + +Monsieur would seem to have been created in order to set off his brother, +the King, and to give him the advantage of such relief. He is small in +stature and in character, being ceaselessly busied about trifles, +details, nothings. To his toilet and his mirror, he devotes far more +time than a pretty woman; he covers himself with scents, with laces, with +diamonds. + +He is passionately fond of fetes, large assemblies, and spectacular +displays. It was in order to figure as the hero of some such +entertainment that he suddenly resolved to get married. + +Mademoiselle--the Grande Mademoiselle--Mademoiselle d'Eu, Mademoiselle de +Dombes, Mademoiselle de Montpensier, Mademoiselle de Saint-Fargeau, +Mademoiselle de la Roche-sur-Yon, Mademoiselle d'Orleans--had come into +the world twelve or thirteen years before he had, and they could not +abide each other. Despite such trifling differences, however, he +proposed marriage to her. The princess, than whom no one more determined +exists, answered, "You ought to have some respect for me; I refused two +crowned husbands the very day you were born." + +So the Prince begged the Queen of England to give him her charming +daughter Henrietta, who, having come to France during her unfortunate +father's captivity, had been educated in Paris. + +The Princess possessed an admirable admixture of grace and beauty, wit +being allied to great affability and good-nature; to all these natural +gifts she added a capacity and intelligence such as one might desire +sovereigns to possess. Her coquetry was mere amiability; of that I am +convinced. Being naturally vain, the Prince, her husband, made great use +at first of his consort's royal coat-of-arms. It was displayed on his +equipages and stamped all over his furniture. + +"Do you know, madame," quoth he gallantly, one day, "what made me +absolutely desire to marry you? It was because you are a daughter and a +sister of the Kings of England. In your country women succeed to the +throne, and if Charles the Second and my cousin York were to die without +children (which is very likely), you would be Queen and I should be +King." + +"Oh, Sire, how wrong of you to imagine such a thing!" replied his wife; +"it brings tears to my eyes. I love my brothers more than I do myself. +I trust that they may have issue, as they desire, and that I may not have +to go back and live with those cruel English who slew my father-in-law." + +The Prince sought to persuade her that a sceptre and a crown are always +nice things to have. "Yes," replied Henrietta slyly, "but one must know +how to wear them." + +Soon after this, he again talked of his expectations, saying every +minute, "If ever I am King, I shall do so; if ever I am King, I shall +order this; if ever I am King," etc., etc. + +"Let us hope, my good friend," replied the Princess, "that you won't be +King in England, where your gewgaws would make people call out after you; +nor yet in France, where they would think you too little, after the +King." + +At this last snub, Monsieur was much mortified. The very next day he +summoned his old bootmaker, Lambertin, and ordered him to put extra heels +two inches high to his shoes. Madame having told this piece of childish +folly to the King, he was greatly amused, and with a view to perplex his +brother, he had his own shoe-heels heightened, so that, beside his +Majesty, Monsieur still looked quite a little man. + +The Princess gave premature birth to a child that was scarcely +recognisable; it had been dead in its mother's womb for at least ten +days, so the doctors averred. Monsieur le Duc d'Orleans, however, +insisted upon having this species of monstrosity baptised. + +My sister, De Thianges, who is raillery personified, seeing how +embarrassed was the cure of Saint Cloud by the Prince's repeated requests +for baptism, gravely said to the cleric in an irresistibly comic fashion, +"Do you know, sir, that your refusal is contrary to all good sense and +good breeding, and that to infants of such quality baptism is never +denied?" + +When this species of miscarriage had to be buried, as there was urgent +need to get rid of it, Monsieur uttered loud cries, and said that he had +written to his brother so that there might be a grand funeral service at +Saint Denis. + +Of so absurd a proposal as this no notice was taken, which served to +amaze Monsieur for one whole month. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +M. Colbert.--His Origin.--He Unveils and Displays Mazarin's Wealth.--The +Monarch's Liberality.--Resentment of the Cardinal's Heirs. + +A few moments before he died, Cardinal Mazarin, through strategy, not +through repentance, besought the King to accept a deed of gift whereby he +was appointed his universal legatee. Touched by so noble a resolve, the +King gave back the deed to his Eminence, who shed tears of emotion. + +"Sire, I owe all to you," said the dying man to the young prince, "but I +believe that I shall pay off my debt by giving Colbert, my secretary, to +your Majesty. Faithful as he has been to me, so will he be to you; and +while he keeps watch, you may sleep. He comes from the noble family of +Coodber, of Scottish origin, and his sentiments are worthy of his +ancestors." + +A few moments later the death-agony began, and M. Colbert begged the King +to listen to him in an embrasure. There, taking a pencil, he made out a +list of all the millions which the Cardinal had hidden away in various +places. The monarch bewailed his minister, his tutor, his friend, but so +astounding a revelation dried his tears. He affectionately thanked M. +Colbert, and from that day forward gave him his entire consideration and +esteem. + +M. Colbert was diligent enough to seize upon the millions hidden at +Vincennes, the millions secreted in the old Louvre, at Courbevoie and the +other country seats. But the millions in gold, hidden in the bastions of +La Fere, fell into the hands of heirs, who, a few moments after the +commencement of the Cardinal's death-agony, sent off a valet post-haste. + +The Cardinal's family pretended to know nothing of this affair; but they +could never bear M. Colbert nor any of his kinsfolk. The King, being of +a generous nature, distributed all this wealth in the best and most +liberal manner possible. M. Colbert told him to what use Mazarin meant +to put all these riches; he hoped to have prevailed upon the Conclave to +elect him Pope, with the concurrence of Spain, France, and the Holy +Ghost. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +The Young Queen.--Her Portrait.--Her Whims.--Her Love for the King.--Her +Chagrin. + +MARIA THERESA, the King's new consort, was the daughter of the King of +Spain and Elizabeth of France, daughter of Henri IV. At the time of her +marriage she had lost her mother, and it was King Philip, Anne of +Austria's brother, who himself presented her to us at Saint Jean de Luz, +where he signed the peace-contract. The Spanish monarch admired his +nephew, the King, whose stalwart figure, comely face, and polished +manners, were, indeed, well calculated to excite surprise. + +Anne of Austria had said to him, "My brother, my one fear during your +journey was lest your ailments and the hardships of travel should hinder +you from getting back here again." + +"Was such your thought, sister?" replied the good man. "I would +willingly have come on foot, so as to behold with my own eyes the superb +cavalier that you and I are going to give to my daughter." + +After the oath of peace had been sworn upon the Gospels, there was a +general presentation before the two Kings. Cantocarrero, the Castilian +secretary of state, presented the Spanish notabilities, while Cardinal +Mazarin, in his pontifical robes, presented the French. As he announced +M. de Turenne, the old King looked at him repeatedly. "There's one," +quoth he, "who has given me many a sleepless night." + +M. de Turenne bowed respectfully, and both courts could perceive in his +simple bearing his unaffected modesty. + +On leaving Spain and the King, young princess was moved to tears. Next +day she thought nothing of it at all. She was wholly engrossed by the +possession of such a King, nor was she at any pains to hide her glee from +us. + +Of all her Court ladies I was the most youthful and, perhaps, the most +conspicuous. At the outset the Queen showed a wish to take me into her +confidence but it was the lady-in-waiting who would never consent to +this. + +When, at that lottery of the Cardinal's, I won the King's portrait, the +Queen-mother called me into her closet and desired to know how such a +thing could possibly have happened. I replied that, during the garter- +incident, the two tickets had got mixed. "Ah, in that case," said the +princess, "the occurrence was quite a natural one. So keep this +portrait, since it has fallen into your hands; but, for God's sake, don't +try and make yourself pleasant to my son; for you're only too fascinating +as it is. Look at that little La Valliere, what a mess she has got into, +and what chagrin she has caused my poor Maria Theresa!" + +I replied to her Majesty that I would rather let myself be buried alive +than ever imitate La Valliere, and I said so then because that was really +what I thought. + +The Queen-mother softened, and gave me her hand to kiss, now addressing +me as "madame," and anon as "my daughter." A few days afterwards she +wished to walk in the gallery with me, and said to me, "If God suffers me +to live, I will make you lady-in-waiting; be sure of that." + +Anne of Austria was a tall, fine, dark woman, with brown eyes, like those +of the King. The Infanta, her niece, is a very pretty blonde, blue-eyed, +but short in stature. + +To her slightest words the Queen-mother gives sense and wit; her +daughter-in-law's speeches and actions are of the simplest, most +commonplace kind. Were it not for the King, she would pass her life in a +dressing-gown, night-cap, and slippers. At Court ceremonies and on gala- +days, she never appears to be in a good humour; everything seems to weigh +her down, notably her diamonds. + +However, she has no remarkable defect, and one may say that she is devoid +of goodness, just as she is devoid of badness. When coming among us, she +contrived to bring with her Molina, the daughter of her nurse, a sort of +comedy confidante, who soon gave herself Court airs, and who managed to +form a regular little Court of her own. Without her sanction nothing can +be obtained of the Queen. My lady Molina is the great, the small, and +the unique counsellor of the princess, and the King, like the others, +remains submissive to her decisions and her inspection. + +French cookery, by common consent, is held to be well-nigh perfect in its +excellence; yet the Infanta could never get used to our dishes. The +Senora Molina, well furnished with silver kitchen utensils, has a sort of +private kitchen or scullery reserved for her own use, and there it is +that the manufacture takes place of clove-scented chocolate, brown soups +and gravies, stews redolent with garlic, capsicums, and nutmeg, and all +that nauseous pastry in which the young Infanta revels. + +Ever since La Valliere's lasting triumph, the Queen seems to have got it +into her head that she is despised; and at table I have often heard her +say, "They will help themselves to everything, and won't leave me +anything." + +I am not unjust, and I admit that a husband's public attachments are not +exactly calculated to fill his legitimate consort with joy. But, +fortunately for the Infanta, the King abounds in rectitude and good- +nature. This very good-nature it is which prompts him to use all the +consideration of which a noble nature is capable, and the more his amours +give the Queen just cause for anxiety, the more does he redouble his +kindness and consideration towards her. Of this she is sensible. Thus +she acquiesces, and, as much through tenderness as social tact, she never +reproaches or upbraids him with anything. Nor does the King scruple to +admit that, to secure so good-natured a partner, it is well worth the +trouble of going to fetch her from the other end of the world. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +Madame de la Valliere Becomes Duchess.--Her Family is Resigned.-- +Her Children Recognised by the King.--Madame Colbert Their Governess.-- +The King's Passion Grows More Serious.--Love and Friendship. + +Out of affection and respect for the Queen-mother, the King had until +then sought to conceal the ardour of his attachment for Mademoiselle de +la Valliere. It was after the six months of mourning that he shook off +all restraint, showing that, like any private person, he felt himself +master of his actions and his inclinations. + +He gave the Vaujours estate to his mistress, after formally constituting +it a duchy, and, owing to the two children of his duchy, Mademoiselle de +la Valliere assumed the title of Duchess. What a fuss she made at this +time! All that was styled disinterestedness, modesty. Not a bit of it. +It was pusillanimity and a sense of servile fear. La Valliere would have +liked to enjoy her handsome lover in the shade and security of mystery, +without exposing herself to the satire of courtiers and of the public, +and, above all, to the reproaches of her family and relatives, who nearly +all were very devout. + +On this head, however, she soon saw that such fears were exaggerated. +The Marquise de Saint-Remy was but slightly scandalised at what was going +on. She and the Marquis de Saint-Remy, her second husband, strictly +proper though they were, came to greet their daughter when proclaimed +duchess. And when, a few days afterwards, the King declared the rank of +the two children to the whole of assembled Parliament, the two families +of Saint-Remy and La Valliere offered congratulations to the Duchess, and +received those of all Paris. + +M. Colbert, who owed everything to the King, entrusted Madame Colbert +with the education of the new prince and princess; they were brought up +under the eyes of this statesman, who for everything found time and +obligingness. The girl, lovely as love itself, took the name of +Mademoiselle de Blois, while to her little brother was given the title of +Comte de Vermandois. + +It was just about this time that I noticed the beginning of the monarch's +serious attachment for me. Till then it had been only playful badinage, +good-humoured teasing, a sort of society play, in which the King was +rehearsing his part as a lover. I was at length bound to admit that +chaff of this sort might end in something serious, and his Majesty begged +me to let him have La Valliere for some time longer. + +I have already said that, while becoming her rival, I still remained her +friend. Of this she had countless proofs, and when, at long intervals, +I saw her again in her dismal retreat, her good-nature, unchanging as +this was, caused her to receive and welcome me as one welcomes those one +loves. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +First Vocation of Mademoiselle de la Valliere.--The King Surprises His +Mistress.--She is Forced to Retire to a Convent.--The King Hastens to +Take Her Back.--She Was Not Made for Court Life.--Her Farewell to the +King.--Sacrifice.--The Abbe de Bossuet. + +What I am now about to relate, I have from her own lips, nor am I the +only one to whom she made such recitals and avowals. + +Her father died when she was quite young, and, when dying, foresaw that +his widow, being without fortune or constancy, would ere long marry +again. To little Louise he was devotedly attached. Ardently embracing +her, he addressed her thus: + +"In losing me, my poor little Louise, you lose all. What little there is +of my inheritance ought, undoubtedly, to belong to you; but I know your +mother; she will dispose of it. If my relatives do not show the interest +in you which your fatherless state should inspire, renounce this world +soon, where, separated from your father, there exists for you but danger +and misfortune. Two of my ancestors left their property to the nuns of +Saint Bernard at Gomer-Fontaines, as they are perfectly well aware. +Go to them in all confidence; they will receive you without a dowry even; +it is their duty to do so. If, disregarding my last counsel, you go +astray in the world, from the eternal abodes on high I will watch over +you; I will appear to you, if God empower me to do so; and, at any rate, +from time to time I will knock at the door of your heart to rouse you +from your baleful slumber and draw your attention to the sweet paths of +light that lead to God." + +This speech of a dying father was graven upon the heart of a young girl +both timid and sensitive. She never forgot it; and it needed the fierce, +inexplicable passion which took possession of her soul to captivate her +and carry her away so far. + +Before becoming attached to the King, she opened out her heart to me with +natural candour; and whenever in the country she observed the turrets or +the spire of a monastery, she sighed, and I saw her beautiful blue eyes +fill with tears. + +She was maid of honour to the Princess Henrietta of England, and I filled +a like office. Our two companions, being the most quick-witted, durst +not talk about their love-affairs before Louise, so convinced were we of +her modesty, and almost of her piety. + +In spite of that, as she was gentle, intelligent, and well-bred, the +Princess plainly preferred her to the other three. In temperament they +suited each other to perfection. + +The King frequently came to the Palais Royal, where the bright, pleasant +conversation of his sister-in-law made amends for the inevitable boredom +which one suffered when with the Queen. + +Being brought in such close contact with the King, who in private life is +irresistibly attractive, Mademoiselle de la Valliere conceived a violent +passion for him; yet, owing to modesty or natural timidity, it was plain +that she carefully sought to hide her secret. One fine night she and two +young persons of her own age were seated under a large oak-tree in the +grounds of Saint Germain. The Marquis de Wringhen, seeing them in the +moonlight, said to the King, who was walking with him, "Let us turn +aside, Sire, in this direction; yonder there are three solitary nymphs, +who seem waiting for fairies or lovers." Then they noiselessly +approached the tree that I have mentioned, and lost not a word of all the +talk in which the fair ladies were engaged. + +They were discussing the last ball at the chateau. One extolled the +charms of the Marquis d'Alincour, son of Villeroi; the second mentioned +another young nobleman; while the third frankly expressed herself in +these terms: + +"The Marquis d'Alincour and the Prince de Marcillac are most charming, no +doubt, but, in all conscience, who could be interested in their merits +when once the King appeared in their midst? + +"Oh, oh!" cried the two others, laughing, "it's strange to hear you talk +like that; so, one has to be a king in order to merit your attention?" + +"His rank as king," replied Mademoiselle de la Valliere, "is not the +astonishing part about him; I should have recognised it even in the +simple dress of a herdsman." + +The three chatterers then rose and went back to the chateau. Next day, +the King, wholly occupied with what he had overheard on the previous +evening, sat musing on a sofa at his sister-in-law's, when all at once +the voice of Mademoiselle de la Beaume-le-Blanc smote his ear and brought +trouble to his heart. He saw her, noticed her melancholy look, thought +her lovelier than the loveliest, and at once fell passionately in love. + +They soon got to understand one another, yet for a long while merely +communicated by means of notes at fetes, or during the performance of +allegorical ballets and operettas, the airs in which sufficiently +expressed the nature of such missives. + +In order to put the Queen-mother off the scent and screen La Valliere, +the King pretended to be in love with Mademoiselle de la Mothe- +Houdancour, one of the Queen's maids of honour. He used to talk across +to her out of one of the top-story windows, and even wished her to accept +a present of diamonds. But Madame de Navailles, who took charge of the +maids of honour, had gratings put over the top-story windows, and La +Mothe-Houdancour was so chagrined by the Queen's icy manner towards her +that she withdrew to a convent. As to the Duchesse de Navailles and her +husband, they got rid of their charges and retired to their estates, +where great wealth and freedom were their recompense after such pompous +Court slavery. + +The Queen-mother was still living; unlike her niece, she was not +blindfold. The adventure of Mademoiselle de la Mothe-Houdancour seemed +to her just what it actually was,--a subterfuge; as she surmised, it +could only be La Valliere. Having discovered the name of her confessor, +the Queen herself went in disguise to the Theatin Church, flung herself +into the confessional where this man officiated, and promised him the sum +of thirty thousand francs for their new church if he would help her to +save the King. + +The Theatin promised to do what the Queen thus earnestly desired, and +when his fair penitent came to confess, he ordered her at once to break +off her connection with the Court as with the world, and to shut herself +up in a convent. + +Mademoiselle de la Valliere shed tears, and sought to make certain +remarks, but the confessor, a man of inflexible character, threatened her +with eternal damnation, and he was obeyed. + +Beside herself with grief, La Valliere left by another door, so as to +avoid her servants and her coach. She recollected seeing a little +convent of hospitalieres at Saint Cloud; she went thither on foot, and +was cordially welcomed by these dames. + +Next day it was noised abroad in the chateau that she had been carried +off by order of the Queen-mother. During vespers the King seemed greatly +agitated, and no sooner had the preacher ascended the pulpit than he rose +and disappeared. + +The confusion of the two Queens was manifest; no one paid any heed to the +preacher; he scarcely knew where he was. + +Meanwhile the conquering King had started upon his quest. Followed by a +page and a carriage and pair, he first went to Chaillot, and then to +Saint Cloud, where he rang at the entrance of the modest abode which +harboured his friend. The nun at the turnstile answered him harshly, and +denied him an audience. It is true, he only told her he was a cousin or +a relative. + +Seeing that this nun was devoid of sense and of humanity, he bethought +himself of endeavouring to persuade the gardener, who lived close to the +monastery. He slipped several gold pieces into his hand, and most +politely requested him to go and tell the Lady Superior that he had come +thither on behalf of the King. + +The Lady Superior came down into the parlour, and recognising the King +from a superb miniature, besought him of his grandeur to interest himself +in this young lady of quality, devoid of means and fatherless, and +consented, moreover, to give her up to him, since as King he so +commanded. + +Louise de la Beaume-le-Blanc obeyed the King, or in other words, the +dictates of her own heart, imprudently embarking upon a career of +passion, for which a temperament wholly different from hers was needed. +It is not simple-minded maidens that one wants at Court to share the +confidence of princes. No doubt natures of that sort--simple, +disinterested souls are pleasant and agreeable to them, as therein they +find contentment such as they greedily prize; but for these unsullied, +romantic natures, disillusion, trickery alone is in store. And if +Mademoiselle de la Beaumele-Blanc had listened to me, she might have +turned matters to far better account; nor, after yielding up her youth to +a monarch, would she have been obliged to end, her days in a prison. + +The King no longer visited her as his mistress, but trusted and esteemed +her as a friend and as the mother of his two pretty children. + +One day, in the month of April, 1674, his Majesty, while in the gardens, +received the following letter, which one of La Valliere's pages proffered +him on bended knee: + + SIRE:--To-day I am leaving forever this palace, whither the + cruellest of fatalities summoned my youth and inexperience. Had I + not met you, my heart would have loved seclusion, a laborious life, + and my kinsfolk. An imperious inclination, which I could not + conquer, gave me to you, and, simple, docile as I was by nature, + I believed that my passion would always prove to me delicious, + and that your love would never die. In this world nothing endures. + My fond attachment has ceased to have any charm for you, and my + heart is filled with dismay. This trial has come from God; of this + my reason and my faith are convinced. God has felt compassion for + my unspeakable grief. That which for long past I have suffered is + greater than human force can bear; He is going to receive me into + His home of mercy. He promises me both healing and peace. + + In this theatre of pomp and perfidy I have only stayed until such a + moment as my daughter and her youthful brother might more easily do + without me. You will cherish them both; of that I have no doubt. + Guide them, I beseech you, for the sake of your own glory and their + well-being. May your watchful care sustain them, while their + mother, humbled and prostrate in a cloister, shall commend them to + Him who pardons all. + + After my departure, show some kindness to those who were my servants + and faithful domestics, and deign to take back the estates and + residences which served to support me in my frivolous grandeur, and + maintain the celebrity that I deplore. + + Adieu, Sire! Think no more about me, lest such a feeling, to which + my imagination might but all too readily lend itself, only beget + links of sympathy in my heart which conscience and repentance would + fain destroy. + + If God call me to himself, young though yet I am, He will have + granted my prayers; if He ordain me to live for a while longer in + this desert of penitence, it will never compensate for the duration + of my error, nor for the scandal of which I have been the cause. + + Your subject from this time forth, + LOUISE DE LA VALLIERE. + + +The King had not been expecting so desperate a resolve as this, nor did +he feel inclined to hinder her from making it. He left the Portuguese +ambassador, who witnessed his agitation, and hastened to Madame de la +Valliere's, who had left her apartments in the castle at daybreak. He +shed tears, being kind of heart and convinced that a body so graceful and +so delicate would never be able to resist the rigours and hardships of so +terrible a life. + +The Carmelite nuns of the Rue Saint Jacques loudly proclaimed this +conversion, and in their vanity gladly received into their midst so +modest and distinguished a victim, driven thither through sheer despair. + +The ceremony which these dames call "taking the dress" attracted the +entire Court to their church. The Queen herself desired to be present at +so harrowing a spectacle, and by a curious contradiction, of which her +capricious nature is capable, she shed floods of tears. La Valliere +seemed gentler, lovelier, more modest and more seductive than ever. In +the midst of the grief and tears which her courageous sacrifice provoked, +she never uttered a single sigh, nor did she change colour once. Hers +was a nature made for extremes; like Caesar, she said to herself, "Either +Rome or nothing!" + +The Abbe de Bossuet, who had been charged to preach the sermon of +investiture, showed a good deal of wit by exhibiting none at all. The +King must have felt indebted to him for such reserve. Into his discourse +he had put mere vague commonplaces, which neither touch nor wound any +one; honeyed anathemas such as these may even pass for compliments. + +This prelate has won for himself a great name and great wealth by words. +A proof of his cleverness exists in his having lived in grandeur, +opulence, and worldly happiness, while making people believe that he +condemned such things. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +Story of the Queen-mother's Marriage with Cardinal Mazarin Published in +Holland. + +Despite the endeavours made by the ministers concerning the pamphlet or +volume about which I am going to speak, neither they nor the King +succeeded in quashing a sinister rumour and an opinion which had taken +deep root among the people. Ever since this calumny it believes--and +will always believe--in the twin brother of Louis XIV., suppressed, one +knows not why, by his mother, just as one believes in fairy-tales and +novels. This false rumour, invented by far-seeing folk, is that which +has most affected the King. I will recount the manner in which it +reached him. + +Since the disorder and insolence of the Fronde, this prince did not like +to reside in the capital; he soon invented pretexts for getting away from +it. The chateau of the Tuileries, built by Catherine de Medici at some +distance from the Louvre, was, really speaking, only a little country- +house and Trianon. The King conceived the plan of uniting this structure +with his palace at the Louvre, extending it on the Saint Roch side and +also on the side of the river, and this being settled, the Louvre gallery +would be carried on as far as the southern angle of the new building, so +as to form one whole edifice, as it now appears. + +While these alterations were in progress, the Court quitted the Louvre +and the capital, and took up its permanent residence at Saint Germain. + +Though ceasing to make a royal residence and home of Paris, his Majesty +did not omit to pay occasional visits to the centre of the capital. He +came incognito, sometimes on horseback, sometimes in a coach, and usually +went about the streets on foot. On these occasions he was dressed +carelessly, like any ordinary young man, and the better to ensure a +complete disguise, he kept continually changing either the colour of his +moustache or the colour and cut of his clothes. One evening, on leaving +the opera, just as he was about to open his carriage door, a man +approached him with a great air of mystery, and tendering a pamphlet, +begged him to buy it. To get rid of the importunate fellow, his Majesty +purchased the book, and never glanced at its contents until the following +day. + +Imagine his surprise and indignation! The following was the title of his +purchase: + + "Secret and Circumstantial Account of the Marriage of Anne of + Austria, Queen of France, with the Abbe Jules Simon Mazarin, + Cardinal of the Holy Roman Church. A new edition, carefully + revised. Amsterdam." + +Grave and phlegmatic by nature, the King was always master of his +feelings, a sign, this, of the noble-minded. He shut himself up in his +apartment, so as to be quite alone, and hastily perused the libellous +pamphlet. + +According to the author of it, King Louis XIII., being weak and languid, +and sapped moreover by secret poison, had not been able to beget any +heirs. The Queen, who secretly was Mazarin's mistress, had had twins by +the Abbe, only the prettier of the two being declared legitimate. The +other twin had been entrusted to obscure teachers, who, when it was time, +would give him up. + +The princess, so the writer added, stung by qualms of conscience, had +insisted upon having her guilty intimacy purified by the sacrament of +marriage, to which the prime minister agreed. Then, mentioning the names +of such and such persons as witnesses, the book stated that "this +marriage was solemnised on a night in February, 1643, by Cardinal de +Sainte-Suzanne, a brother and servile creature of Mazarin's." + +"This explains," added the vile print, "the zeal, perseverance, and +foolish ardour of the Queen Regent in defending her Italian against the +just opposition of the nobles, against the formal charges of the +magistrates, against the clamorous outcry, not only of Parisians, but of +all France. This explains the indifference, or rather the firm resolve, +on Mazarin's part; never to take orders, but to remain simply 'tonsure' +or 'minore',--he who controls at least forty abbeys, as well as a +bishopric. + +"Look at the young monarch," it continued, "and consider how closely he +resembles his Eminence, the same haughty glance; the same uncontrolled +passion for pompous buildings, luxurious dress and equipages; the same +deference and devotion to the Queen-mother; the same independent customs, +precepts, and laws; the same aversion for the Parisians; the same +resentment against the honest folk of the Fronde." + +This final phrase easily disclosed its origin; nor upon this point had +his Majesty the slightest shadow of a doubt. + +The same evening he sent full instructions to the lieutenant-general of +police, and two days afterwards the nocturnal vendor of pamphlets found +himself caught in a trap. + +The King wished him to be brought to Saint Germain, so that he might +identify him personally; and, as he pretended to be half-witted or an +idiot, he was thrown half naked into a dungeon. His allowance of dry +bread diminished day by day, at which he complained, and it was decided +to make him undergo this grim ordeal. + +Under the pressure of hunger and thirst, the prisoner at length made a +confession, and mentioned a bookseller of the Quartier Latin, who, under +the Fronde, had made his shop a meeting-place for rebels. + +The bookseller, having been put in the Bastille, and upon the same diet +as his salesman, stated the name of the Dutch printer who had published +the pamphlet. They sought to extract more from him, and reduced his diet +with such severity that he disclosed the entire secret. + +This bookseller, used to a good square meal at home, found it impossible +to tolerate the Bastille fare much longer. Bound hand and foot, at his +final cross-examination he confessed that the work had emanated from the +Cardinal de Retz, or certain of his party. + +He was condemned to three years' imprisonment, and was obliged to sell +his shop and retire to the provinces. + +I once heard M. de Louvois tell this tale, and use it as a means of +silencing those who regretted the absence of the exiled Cardinal- +archbishop. + +As to the libellous pamphlet itself, the clumsy nature of it was only too +plain, for the King is no more like Mazarin than he is like the King of +Ethiopia. On the contrary, one can easily distinguish in the general +effect of his features a very close resemblance to King Louis XIII. + +The libellous pamphlet stated that, on the occasion of the Infanta's +first confinement, twins were born, and that the prettier of the two had +been adopted, another blunder, this, of the grossest kind. A book of +this sort could deceive only the working class and the Parisian lower +orders, for folk about the Court, and even the bourgeoisie, know that it +is impossible for a queen to be brought to bed in secret. Unfortunately +for her, she has to comply with the most embarrassing rules of etiquette. +She has to bear her final birth-pangs under an open canopy, surrounded at +no great distance by all the princes of the blood; they are summoned +thither, and they have this right so as to prevent all frauds, +subterfuges, or impositions. + +When the King found the seditious book in question, the Queen, his +mother, was ill and in pain; every possible precaution was taken to +prevent her from hearing the news, and the lieutenant-general of police, +having informed the King that two-thirds of the edition had been seized +close to the Archbishop's palace, orders were given to burn all these +horrible books by night, in the presence of the Marquis de Beringhen, +appointed commissioner on this occasion. + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + +Monsieur le Duc d'Orleans Wishes to be Governor of a Province.--The +King's Reply.--He Requires a Fauteuil for His Wife.--Another Excellent +Answer of the King's. + +In marrying Monsieur, the King consulted only his well-known generosity, +and the richly equipped household which he granted to this prince should +assuredly have made him satisfied and content. The Chevalier de Lorraine +and the Chevalier de Remecourt, two pleasant and baneful vampires whom +Monsieur could refuse nothing, put it into his head that he should make +himself feared, so as to lead his Majesty on to greater concessions, +which they were perfectly able to turn to their own enjoyment and profit. + +Monsieur began by asking for the governorship of a province; in reply he +was told that this could not be, seeing that such appointments were never +given to French princes, brothers of the King. + +Monsieur le Duc d'Orleans hastened to point out that Gaston, son of Henri +IV., had had such a post, and that the Duc de Verneuil, natural son of +the same Henri, had one at the present time. + +"That is true," replied the King, "but from my youth upward you have +always heard me condemn such innovations, and you cannot expect me to do +the very thing that I have blamed others for doing. If ever you were +minded, brother, to rebel against my authority, your first care would, +undoubtedly, be to withdraw to your province, where, like Gaston, your +uncle, you would have to raise troops and money. Pray do not weary me +with indiscretions of this sort; and tell those people who influence you +to give you better advice for the future." + +Somewhat abashed, the Duc d'Orleans affirmed that what he had said and +done was entirely of his own accord. + +"Did you speak of your own accord," said the King, "when insisting upon +being admitted to the privy council? Such a thing can no longer be +allowed. You inconsiderately expressed two different opinions, and since +you cannot control your tongue, which is most undoubtedly your own, +I have no power over it,--I, to whom it does not want to belong." + +Then Monsieur le Duc d'Orleans added that these two refusals would seem +less harsh, less painful to him, if the King would grant a seat in his +own apartments, and in those of the Queen, to the Princess, his wife, who +was a king's daughter. + +"No, that cannot be," replied his Majesty, "and pray do not insist upon +it. It is not I who have established the present customs; they existed +long before you or me. It is in your interest, brother, that the majesty +of the throne should not be weakened or altered; and if, from Duc +d'Orleans, you one day become King of France, I know you well enough to +believe that you would never be lax in this matter. Before God, you and +I are exactly the same as other creatures that live and breathe; before +men we are seemingly extraordinary beings, greater, more refined, more +perfect. The day that people, abandoning this respect and veneration +which is the support and mainstay of monarchies,--the day that they +regard us as their equals,--all the prestige of our position will be +destroyed. Bereft of beings superior to the mass, who act as their +leaders and supports, the laws will only be as so many black lines on +white paper, and your armless chair and my fauteuil will be two pieces of +furniture of the selfsame importance. Personally, I should like to +gratify you in every respect, for the same blood flows in our veins, and +we have loved each other from the cradle upwards. Ask of me things that +are practicable, and you shall see that I will forestall your wishes. +Personally, I daresay I care less about honorary distinctions than you +do, and in Cabinet matters I am always considered to be simpler and more +easy to deal with than such and such a one. One word more, and I have +done. I will nominate you to the governorship of any province you +choose, if you will now consent in writing to let proceedings be taken +against you, just as against any ordinary gentleman, in case there should +be sedition in your province, or any kind of disorder during your +administration." + +Hereupon young Philippe began to smile, and he begged the King to embrace +him. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + +Arms and Livery of Madame de Montespan.--Duchess or Princess.--Fresh +Scandal Caused by the Marquis.--The Rue Saint Honore Affair.--M. de +Ronancour.--Separation of Body and Estate. + +When leaving, despite himself, for the provinces, M. de Montespan wrote +me a letter full of bitter insults, in which he ordered me to give up his +coat-of-arms, his livery, and even his name. + +This letter I showed to the King. For a while he was lost in thought, as +usual on such occasions, and then he said to me: + +"There's nothing extraordinary about the fellow's livery. Put your +servants into pale orange with silver lace. Assume your old crest of +Mortemart, and as regards name, I will buy you an estate with a pretty +title." + +"But I don't like pale orange," I instantly replied; "if I may, I should +like to choose dark blue, and gold lace, and as regards crest, I cannot +adopt my father's crest, except in lozenge form, which could not +seriously be done. As it is your gracious intention to give me the name +of an estate, give me (for to you everything is easy) a duchy like La +Valliere, or, better still, a principality." + +The King smiled, and answered, "It shall be done, madame, as you wish." + +The very, next day I went into Paris to acquaint my, lawyer with my +intentions. Several magnificent estates were just then in the market, +but only marquisates, counties, or baronies! Nothing illustrious, +nothing remarkable! Duhamel assured me that the estate of Chabrillant, +belonging to a spendthrift, was up for sale. + +"That," said he, "is a sonorous name, the brilliant renown of which would +only be enhanced by the title of princess." + +Duhamel promised to see all his colleagues in this matter, and to find me +what I wanted without delay. + +I quitted Paris without having met or recognised anybody, when, about +twenty paces at the most beyond the Porte Saint Honor, certain sergeants +or officials of some sort roughly stopped my carriage and seized my +horses' bridles "in the King's name." + +"In the King's name?" I cried, showing myself at the coach door. + +"Insolent fellows! How dare you thus take the King's name in vain?" At +the same time I told my coachman to whip up his horses with the reins and +to drive over these vagabonds. At a word from me the three footmen +jumped down and did their duty by dealing out lusty thwacks to the +sergeants. A crowd collected, and townsfolk and passers-by joined in the +fray. + +A tall, fine-looking man, wrapped in a dressing-gown, surveyed the tumult +like a philosopher from his balcony overhead. I bowed graciously to him +and besought him to come down. He came, and in sonorous accents +exclaimed: + +"Ho, there! serving-men of my lady, stop fighting, will you? And pray, +sergeants, what is your business?" + +"It is a disgrace," cried they all, as with one breath. "Madame lets her +scoundrelly footmen murder us, despite the name of his Majesty, which we +were careful to utter at the outset of things. Madame is a person (as +everybody in France now knows) who is in open revolt against her husband; +she has deserted him in order to cohabit publicly with some one else. +Her husband claims his coach, with his own crest and armorial bearings +thereon, and we are here for the purpose of carrying out the order of one +of the judges of the High Court." + +"If that be so," replied the man in the dressing-gown, "I have no +objection to offer, and though madame is loveliness itself, she must +suffer me to pity her, and I have the honour of saluting her." + +So saying, he made me a bow and left me, without help of any sort, in the +midst of this crazy rabble. + +I was inconsolable. My coachman, the best fellow in the world, called +out to him from the top of his bog, "Monsieur, pray procure help for my +mistress,--for Madame la Marquise de Montespan." + +No sooner had he uttered these words than the gentleman came back again, +while, among the lookers-on, some hissing was heard. He raised both +hands with an air of authority, and speaking with quite incredible +vehemence and fire, he successfully harangued the crowd. + +"Madame does not refuse to comply with the requirements of justice," he +added firmly; "but madame, a member of the Queen's household, is +returning to Versailles, and cannot go thither on foot, or in some +tumbledown vehicle. So I must beg these constables or sergeants (no +matter which) to defer their arrest until to-morrow, and to accept me as +surety. The French people is the friend of fair ladies; and true +Parisians are incapable of harming or of persecuting aught that is +gracious and beautiful." + +All those present, who at first had hissed, replied to this speech by +cries of "Bravo!" One of my men, who had been wounded in the scuffle, +had his hand all bloody. A young woman brought some lavender-water, +and bound up the wound with her white handkerchief, amid loud applause +from the crowd, while I bowed my acknowledgments and thanks. + +The King listened with interest to the account of the adventure that I +have just described, and wished to know the name of the worthy man who +had acted as my support and protector. His name was De Tarcy-Ronancour. +The King granted him a pension of six thousand francs, and gave the Abbey +of Bauvoir to his daughter. + +As for me, I kept insisting with might and main for a separation of body +and estate, which alone could put an end to all my anxiety. When a +decree for such separation was pronounced at the Chatelet, and registered +according to the rules, I set about arranging an appanage which, from the +very first day, had seemed to me absolutely necessary for my position. + +As ill-luck would have it, the judges left me the name of Montespan, +which to my husband was so irksome, and to myself also; and the King, +despite repeated promises, never relieved me of a name that it was very +difficult to bear. + + + + +ETEXT EDITOR'S BOOKMARKS: + +Armed with beauty and sarcasm +Conduct of the sort which cements and revives attachments +Console me on the morrow for what had troubled me to-day +Depicting other figures she really portrays her own +In England a man is the absolute proprietor of his wife +In Rome justice and religion always rank second to politics +Kings only desire to be obeyed when they command +Laws will only be as so many black lines on white paper +Love-affair between Mademoiselle de la Valliere and the King +Madame de Montespan had died of an attack of coquetry +Not show it off was as if one only possessed a kennel +That Which Often It is Best to Ignore +Violent passion had changed to mere friendship +When women rule their reign is always stormy and troublous +Wife: property or of furniture, useful to his house +Won for himself a great name and great wealth by words + + + + +End of this Project Gutenberg Etext of Memoirs of Madame de Montespan, v1 +by Madame La Marquise De Montespan + + + + + + +MEMOIRS OF MADAME LA MARQUISE DE MONTESPAN, v2 + +Written by Herself + +Being the Historic Memoirs of the Court of Louis XIV. + + + + +BOOK 2. + + +CHAPTER XVII. + +Monsieur's Jealousy.--Diplomacy.--Discretion.--The Chevalier de +Lorraine's Revenge.--The King's Suspicions.--His Indignation.--Public +Version of the Matter.--The Funeral Sermon. + +After six months of wedlock, Henrietta of England had become so beautiful +that the King drew every one's attention to this change, as if he were +not unmindful of the fact that he had given this charming person to his +brother instead of reserving her for himself by marrying her. + +Between cousins german attentions are permissible. The Court, however, +was not slow to notice the attentions paid by the King to this young +English princess, and Monsieur, wholly indifferent though he was as +regarded his wife, deemed it a point of honour to appear offended +thereat. Ever a slave to the laws of good breeding, the King showed much +self-sacrifice in curbing this violent infatuation of his. (I was +Madame's maid of honour at the time.) As he contemplated a Dutch +expedition, in which the help of England would have counted for much, he +resolved to send a negotiator to King Charles. The young Princess was +her brother's pet; it was upon her that the King's choice fell. + +She crossed the Channel under the pretext of paying a flying visit to her +native country and her brother, but, in reality, it was to treat of +matters of the utmost importance. + +Upon her return, Monsieur, the most curious and inquisitive of mortals, +importuned her in a thousand ways, seeking to discover her secret; but +she was a person both faithful and discreet. Of her interview and +journey he got only such news as was already published on the housetops. +At such reticence he took umbrage; he grumbled, sulked, and would not +speak to his wife. + +The Chevalier de Lorraine, who in that illustrious and luckless household +was omnipotent, insulted the Princess in the most outrageous manner. +Finding such daily slights and affronts unbearable, Madame complained to +the Kings of France and England, who both exiled the Chevalier. + +Monsieur de Lorraine d'Armagnac, before leaving, gave instructions to +Morel, one of Monsieur's kitchen officials, to poison the Princess, and +this monster promptly executed the order by rubbing poison on her silver +goblet. + +I no longer belonged to Madame's household,--my marriage had caused a +change in my duties; but ever feeling deep attachment for this adorable +princess, I hastened to Saint Cloud directly news reached me of her +illness. To my horror, I saw the sudden change which had come over her +countenance; her horrible agony drew tears from the most callous, and +approaching her I kissed her hand, in spite of her confessor, who sought +to constrain her to be silent. She then repeatedly told me that she was +dying from the effects of poison. + +This she also told the King, whom she perceived shed tears of +consternation and distress. + +That evening, at Versailles, the King said to me, "If this crime is my +brother's handiwork, his head shall fall on the scaffold." + +When the body was opened, proof of poison was obtained, and poison of the +most corrosive sort, for the stomach was eaten into in three places, and +there was general inflammation. + +The King summoned his brother, in order to force him to explain so +heinous a crime. On perceiving his mien, Monsieur became pale and +confused. Rushing upon him sword in hand, the King was for demolishing +him on the spot. The captain of the guard hastened thither, and Monsieur +swore by the Holy Ghost that he was guiltless of the death of his dear +wife. + +Leaving him a prey to remorse, if guilty he were, the King commanded him +to withdraw, and then shut himself up in his closet to prepare a +consolatory message to the English Court. According to the written +statement, which was also published in the newspapers, Madame had been +carried off by an attack of bilious colic. Five or six bribed physicians +certified to that effect, and a lying set of depositions, made for mere +form's sake, bore out their statements in due course. + +The Abbe de Bossuet, charged to preach the funeral sermon, was apparently +desirous of being as obliging as the doctors. His homily led off with +such fulsome praise of Monsieur, that, from that day forward, he lost all +his credit, and sensible people thereafter only looked upon him as a vile +sycophant, a mere dealer in flattery and fairy-tales. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + +Madame Scarron.--Her Petition.--The King's Aversion to Her.--She is +Presented to Madame de Montespan.--The Queen of Portugal Thinks of +Engaging Her.--Madame de Montespan Keeps Her Back.--The Pension +Continued.--The King's Graciousness.--Rage of Mademoiselle d'Aumale. + +As all the pensions granted by the Queen-mother had ceased at her demise, +the pensioners began to solicit the ministers anew, and all the +petitions, as is customary, were sent direct to the King. + +One day his Majesty said to me, "Have you ever met in society a young +widow, said to be very pretty, but, at the same time, extremely affected? +It is to Madame Scarron that I allude, who, both before and after +widowhood, has resided at the Marais." + +I replied that Madame Scarron was an extremely pleasant person, and not +at all affected. I had met her at the Richelieus' or the Albrets', where +her charm of manner and agreeable wit had made her in universal request. +I added a few words of recommendation concerning her petition, which, +unfortunately, had just been torn up, and the King curtly rejoined, "You +surprise me, madame; the portrait I had given to me of her was a totally +different one." + +That same evening, when the young Marquis d'Alincour spoke to me about +this petition which had never obtained any answer, I requested him to go +and see Madame Scarron as soon as possible, and tell her that, in her own +interest, I should be pleased to receive her. + +She lost no time in paying me a visit. Her black attire served only to +heighten the astounding whiteness of her complexion. Effusively thanking +me for interesting myself in her most painful case, she added: + +"There is, apparently, some obstacle against me. I have presented two +petitions and two memoranda; being unsupported, both have been left +unanswered, and I have now just made the following resolve, madame, of +which you will not disapprove. M. Scarron, apparently well off, had only +a life interest in his property. Upon his death, his debts proved in +excess of his capital, and I, deeming it my duty to respect his +intentions and his memory, paid off everybody, and left myself nothing. +To-day, Madame la Princesse de Nemours wishes me to accompany her to +Lisbon as her secretary, or rather as her friend. + +"Being about to acquire supreme power as a sovereign, she intends, by some +grand marriage, to keep me there, and then appoint me her lady-in- +waiting." + +"And you submit without a murmur to such appalling exile?" I said to +Madame Scarron. "Is such a pretty, charming person as yourself fitted +for a Court of that kind, and for such an odd sort of climate?" + +"Madame, I have sought to shut my eyes to many things, being solely +conscious of the horribly forlorn condition in which I find myself in my +native country." + +"Have you reckoned the distance? Did the Princess confess that she was +going to carry you off to the other end of the world? For her city of +Lisbon, surrounded by precipices, is more than three hundred leagues from +Paris." + +"At the age of three I voyaged to America, returning hither when I was +eleven." + +"I am vexed with Mademoiselle d'Aumale-- + + [Mademoiselle d'Aumale, daughter of the Duc de Nemours, of the House + of Savoy. She was a blonde, pleasant-mannered enough, but short of + stature. Her head was too big for her body; and this head of hers + was full of conspiracies and coups d'etat. She dethroned her + husband in order to marry his brother.--EDITOR'S NOTE.] + +for wanting to rob us of so charming a treasure. But has she any right +to act in this way? Do you think her capable of contributing to your +pleasure or your happiness? This young Queen of Portugal, under the +guise of good-humour, hides a violent and irascible temperament. I +believe her to be thoroughly selfish; suppose that she neglects and +despises you, after having profited by your company to while away the +tedium of her journey? Take my word for it, madame, you had better stay +here with us; for there is no real society but in France, no wit but in +our great world, no real happiness but in Paris. Draw up another +petition as quickly as possible, and send it to me. I will present it +myself, and to tell you this is tantamount to a promise that your plea +shall succeed." + +Mademoiselle d'Aubigne, all flushed with emotion, assured me of her +gratitude with the ingenuous eloquence peculiar to herself. We embraced +as two friends of the Albret set should do, and three days later, the +King received a new petition, not signed with the name of Scarron, but +with that of D'Aubigne. + +The pension of two thousand francs, granted three years before her death +by the Queen-mother, was renewed. Madame Scarron had the honour of +making her courtesy to the King, who thought her handsome, but grave in +demeanour, and in a loud, clear voice, he said to her, "Madame, I kept +you waiting; I was jealous of your friends." + +The Queen of Portugal knew that I had deprived her of her secretary, +fellow-gossip, reader, Spanish teacher, stewardess, confidante, and lady- +in-waiting. She wrote to me complaining about this, and on taking leave +of the King to go and reign in Portugal, she said, with rather a forced +air of raillery: + +"I shall hate you as long as I live, and if ever you do me the honour of +paying me a visit some day at Lisbon, I'll have you burned for your +pains." + +Then she wanted to embrace me, as if we were equals, but this I +deprecated as much from aversion as from respect. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX. + +La Fontaine.--Boileau.--Moliere.--Corneille.--Louis XIV.'s Opinion of +Each of Them. + +The King's studies with his preceptor, Perefixe, had been of only a +superficial sort, as, in accordance with the express order of the Queen- +mother, this prelate had been mainly concerned about the health of his +pupil, the Queen being, above all, desirous that he should have a good +constitution. "The rest comes easily enough, if a prince have but +nobility of soul and a sense of duty," as the Queen often used to say. +Her words came true. + +I came across several Spanish and Italian books in the library of the +little apartments. The "Pastor Fido," "Aminta," and the "Gerusalemme " +seemed to me, at first, to be the favourite works. Then came Voiture's +letters, the writings of Malherbe and De Balzac, the Fables of La +Fontaine, the Satires of Boileau, and the delightful comedies of Moliere. +Corneille's tragedies had been read, but not often. + +Until I came to Court, I had always looked upon Corneille as the greatest +tragic dramatist in the world, and as the foremost of our poets and men +of letters. The King saved me from this error. + +Book in hand, he pointed out to me numberless faults of style, incoherent +and fantastic imagery, sentiment alike exaggerated and a thousand leagues +removed from nature. He considered, and still considers, Pierre +Corneille to be a blind enthusiast of the ancients, whom we deem great +since we do not know them. In his eyes, this declamatory poet was a +republican more by virtue of his head than his heart or his intention,-- +one of those men more capricious than morose, who cannot reconcile +themselves to what exists, and prefer to fall back upon bygone +generations, not knowing how to live like friendly folk among their +contemporaries. + +He liked La Fontaine better, by reason of his extreme naturalness, but +his unbecoming conduct at the time of the Fouquet trial proved painful to +his Majesty, who considered the following verses passing strange: + + ". . . . Trust not in kings + Their favour is but slippery; worse than that, + It costs one dear, and errors such as these + Full oft bring shame and scandal in their wake." + +"Long live Moliere!" added his Majesty; "there you have talent without +artifice, poetry without rhapsody, satire without bitterness, pleasantry +that is always apt, great knowledge of the human heart, and perpetual +raillery that yet is not devoid of delicacy and compassion. Moliere is a +most charming man in every respect; I gave him a few hints for his +'Tartuffe,' and such is his gratitude that he wants to make out that, +without me, he would never have written that masterpiece." + +"You helped him, Sire, to produce it, and above all things, to carry out +his main idea; and Moliere is right in thinking that, without a mind free +from error, such as is yours, his masterpiece would never have been +created." + +"It struck me," continued the King, "that some such thing was +indispensable as a counterbalance in the vast machinery of my government, +and I shall ever be the friend and supporter, not of Tartuffes, but of +the 'Tartuffe,' as long as I live." + +"And Boileau, Sire?" I continued; "what place among your favourites does +he fill?" + +"I like Boileau," replied the prince, "as a necessary scourge, which one +can pit against the bad taste of second-rate authors. His satires, of +too personal, a nature, and consequently iniquitous, do not please me. +He knows it, and, despite himself, he will amend this. He is at work +upon an 'Ars Poetica,' after the manner of Horace. The little that he +has read to me of this poem leads me to expect that it will be an +important work. The French language will continue to perfect itself by +the help of literature like this, and Boileau, cruel though he be, is +going to confer a great benefit upon all those who have to do with +letters." + + + + +CHAPTER XX. + +Birth of the Comte de Vegin.--Madame Scarron as Governess.--The King's +Continued Dislike of Her.--Birth of the Duc du Maine.--Marriage of the +Nun. + +The King became ever more attached to me personally, as also to the +peculiarities of my temperament. He had witnessed with satisfaction the +birth of Madame de la Valliere's two children, and I thought that he +would have the same affection for mine. But I was wrong. It was with +feelings of trepidation and alarm that be contemplated my approaching +confinement. Had I given birth to a daughter, I am perfectly certain +that, in his eyes, I should have been done for. + +I gave birth to the first Comte de Vegin, and, grasping my hand +affectionately, the King said to me, "Be of good courage, madame; present +princes to the Crown, and let those be scandalised who will!" A few +moments later he came back, and gave me a million for my expenses. + +It was, however, mutually arranged that the newborn Infant should be +recognised later on, and that, for the time being, I was to have him +brought up in secrecy and mystery. + +When dissuading Madame Scarron from undertaking a journey to Lisbon, I +had my own private ends in view. I considered her peculiarly fitted to +superintend the education of the King's children, and to maintain with +success the air of mysterious reserve which for a while was indispensable +to me. I deputed my brother, M. de Vivonne, to acquaint her with my +proposals,--proposals which came from the King as well,--nor did I doubt +for one moment as regarded her consent and complacency, being, as she +was, alone in Paris. + +"Madame," said M. de Vivonne to her, "the Marquise is overjoyed at being +able to offer you an important position of trust, which will change your +life once for all." + +"The gentle, quiet life which, thanks to the kindness of the King, I now +lead, is all that my ambition can desire," replied the widow, concealing +her trouble from my brother; "but since the King wishes and commands it, +I will renounce the liberty so dear to me, and will not hesitate to +obey." + +Accordingly she came. The King had a few moments' parley with her, in +order to explain to her all his intentions relative to the new life upon +which she was about to enter, and M. Bontems--[First Groom of the +Chamber, and Keeper of the Privy Purse.]--furnished her with the +necessary funds for establishing her household in suitable style. + +A month afterwards, I went incognito to her lonely residence, situate +amid vast kitchen-gardens between Vaugirard and the Luxembourg. The +house was clean, commodious, thoroughly well appointed, and, not being +overlooked by neighbours, the secret could but be safely kept. Madame +Scarron's domestics included two nurses, a waiting-maid, a physician, a +courier, two footmen, a coachman, a postilion, and two cooks. + +Being provided with an excellent coach, she came to Saint Germain every +week, to bring me my son, or else news of his welfare. + +Her habitually sad expression somewhat pained the King. As I soon +noticed their mutual embarrassment, I used to let Madame Scarron stay in +an inner room all the time that his Majesty remained with me. + +In the following year, I gave birth to the Duc du Maine. Mademoiselle +d'Aubigne, who was waiting in the drawing-room, wrapped the child up +carefully, and took it away from Paris with all speed. + +On her way she met with an adventure, comic in itself, and which +mortified her much. When told of it, I laughed not a little; and, in +spite of all my excuses and expressions of regret, she always felt +somewhat sore about this; in fact, she never quite got over it. + +Between Marly and Ruel, two mounted police officers, in pursuit of a nun +who had escaped from a convent, bethought themselves of looking inside +Madame Scarron's carriage. Such inquisitiveness surprised her, and she +put on her mask, and drew down the blinds. Observing that she was +closely followed by these soldiers, she gave a signal to her coachman, +who instantly whipped up his horses, and drove at a furious rate. + +At Nanterre the gendarmes, being reinforced, cried out to the coachman to +stop, and obliged Madame Scarron to get out. She was taken to a tavern +close by, where they asked her to remove her mask. She made various +excuses for not doing so, but at the mention of the lieutenant-general of +police, she had to give in. + +"Madame," inquired the brigadier, "have you not been in a nunnery?" + +"Pray, monsieur, why do you ask?" + +"Be good enough to answer me, madame; repeat my question, and I insist +upon a reply. I have received instructions that I shall not hesitate to +carry out." + +"I have lived with nuns, but that, monsieur, was a long while ago." + +"It is not a question of time. What was your motive for leaving these +ladies, and who enabled you to do so?" + +"I left the convent after my first communion. I left it openly, and of +my own free will. Pray be good enough to allow me to continue my +journey." + +"On leaving the convent, where did you go?" + +"First to one of my relatives, then to another, and at last to Paris, +where I got married." + +"Married? What, madame, are you married? Oh, young lady, what behaviour +is this? Your simple, modest mien plainly shows what you were before +this marriage. But why did you want to get married?" + +As he said this, the little Duc du Maine, suffering, perhaps, from a +twinge of colic, began to cry. The brigadier, more amazed than ever, +ordered the infant to be shown as well. + +Seeing that she could make no defence, Madame Scarron began to shed +tears, and the officer, touched to pity, said: + +"Madame, I am sorry for your fault, for, as I see, you are a good mother. +My orders are to take you to prison, and thence to the convent specified +by the archbishop, but I warn you that if we catch the father of your +child, he will hang. As for you, who have been seduced, and who belong +to a good family, tell me one of your relatives with whom you are on +friendly terms, and I will undertake to inform them of your predicament." + +Madame Scarron, busy in soothing the Duc du Maine, durst not explain for +fear of aggravating matters, but begged the brigadier to take her back to +Saint Germain. + +At this juncture my brother arrived on his way back to Paris. He +recognised the carriage, which stood before the inn, with a crowd of +peasants round it, and hastened to rescue the governess, for he soon +succeeded in persuading these worthy police officers that the sobbing +dame was not a runaway nun, and that the new-born infant came of a good +stock. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI. + +The Saint Denis View.--Superstitions, Apparitions.--Projected Enlargement +of Versailles.--Fresh Victims for Saint Denis. + +One evening I was walking at the far end of the long terrace of Saint +Germain. The King soon came thither, and pointing to Saint Denis, said, +"That, madame, is a gloomy, funereal view, which makes me displeased and +disgusted with this residence, fine though it be." + +"Sire," I replied, "in no other spot could a more magnificent view be +found. Yonder river winding afar through the vast plain, that noble +forest divided by hunting roads into squares, that Calvary poised high in +air, those bridges placed here and there to add to the attractiveness of +the landscape, those flowery meadows set in the foreground as a rest to +the eye, the broad stream of the Seine, which seemingly is fain to flow +at a slower rate below your palace windows,--I do not think that any more +charming combination of objects could be met with elsewhere, unless one +went a long way from the capital." + +"The chateau of Saint Germain no longer pleases me," replied the King. +"I shall enlarge Versailles and withdraw thither. What I am going to say +may astonish you, perhaps, as it comes from me, who am neither a +whimsical female nor a prey to superstition. A few days before the +Queen, my mother, had her final seizure, I was walking here alone in this +very spot. A reddish light appeared above the monastery of Saint Denis, +and a cloud which rose out of the ruddy glare assumed the shape of a +hearse bearing the arms of Austria. A few days afterwards my poor mother +was removed to Saint Denis. Four or five days before the horrible death +of our adorable Henrietta, the arrows of Saint Denis appeared to me in a +dream covered in dusky flames, and amid them I saw the spectre of Death, +holding in his hand the necklaces and bracelets of a young lady. The +appalling death of my cousin followed close upon this presage. +Henceforth, the view of Saint Denis spoils all these pleasant landscapes +for me. At Versailles fewer objects confront the eye; a park of that +sort has its own wealth of natural beauty, which suffices. I shall make +Versailles a delightful resort, for which France will be grateful to me, +and which my successors can neither neglect nor destroy without bringing +to themselves dishonour." + +I sympathised with the reasons which made Saint Germain disagreeable to +his Majesty. Next summer the causes for such aversion became more +numerous, as the King had the misfortune to lose the daughters which the +Queen bore him, and they were carried to Saint Denis. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII. + +M. de Lauzun.--His Pretensions.--Erroneous Ideas of the Public.--The War +in Candia.--M. de Lauzun Thinks He Will Secure a Throne for Himself.-- +The King Does Not Wish This. + +The Marquis de Guilain de Lauzun was, and still is, one of the handsomest +men at Court. Before my marriage, vanity prompted him to belong to the +list of my suitors, but as his reputation in Paris was that of a man who +had great success with the ladies, my family requested him either to come +to the point or to retire, and he withdrew, though unwilling to break +matters off altogether. + +When he saw me in the bonds of matrimony, and enjoying its liberty, he +recommenced his somewhat equivocal pursuit of me, and managed to get +himself talked about at my expense. Society was unjust; M. de Lauzun +only dared to pay me homage of an insipid sort. He had success enough in +other quarters, and I knew what I owed to some one as well as what I owed +to myself. + +Ambition is the Marquis's ruling passion. The simple role of a fine +gentleman is, in his eyes, but a secondary one; his Magnificency requires +a far more exalted platform than that. + +When he knew that war in Candia had broken out, and which side the kings +of Christendom would necessarily take, his ideas became more exalted +still. He bethought himself of the strange fortunes of certain valiant +warriors in the time of the Crusades. He saw that the Lorraines, the +Bouillons, and the Lusignans had won sceptres and crowns, and he +flattered himself that the name of Lauzun might in this vast adventurous +career gain glory too. + +He begged me to get him a command in this army of Candia, wherein the +King had just permitted his own kinsmen to go and win laurels for +themselves. He was already a full colonel of dragoons, and one of the +captains of the guard. The King, who till then liked him well enough, +considered such a proposition indecent, and, gauging or not gauging his +intentions, he postponed until a later period these aspirations of Lauzun +to the post of prince or sovereign. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII. + +The Abbe d'Estrees.--Singular Offers of Service.--Madame de Montespan +Declines His Offer of Intercession at the Vatican.--He Revenges Himself +upon the King of Portugal.--Difference between a Fair Man and a Dark. + +Since the reign of Gabrielle d'Estrees, who died just as she was about to +espouse her King, the D'Estrees family were treated at Court more with +conventional favour than with esteem. The first of that name was +lieutenant-general, destined to wield the baton of a French marshal, +on account of his ancestry as well as his own personal merit. The Abbe +d'Estrees passed for being in the Church what M. de Lauzun was in +society,--a man who always met with success, and who also was madly +ambitious. + +While still very young, he had been appointed to the bishopric of Laon, +which, in conjunction with two splendid abbeys, brought him in a handsome +revenue. The Duc and Duchesse de Vendome were as fond of him as one of +their own kin, doing nothing without first consulting him, everywhere +praising and extolling his abilities, which were worthy of a ministry. + +This prelate desired above all things to be made a cardinal. Under +Henri IV. he could easily have had his wish, but at that time he was not +yet born. He imagined that on the strength of my credit he could procure +the biretta for himself. + +As soon as he saw me recognised as a mistress, he paid assiduous court to +me, never losing an opportunity of everywhere sounding my praise. +One day he said to me: "Madame, every one pities you on account of the +vexation and grief which the Marquis de Montespan has caused you. If you +will confide in me,--that is, if you will let me represent your interests +with the Cardinals and the Holy Father,--I heartily offer you my services +as mediator and advocate with regard to the question of nullity. At an +early age I studied theology and ecclesiastical law. Your marriage may +be considered null and void, according to this or that point of view. +You know that upon the death of the Princesse de Nemours, Mademoiselle de +Nemours and Mademoiselle d'Aumale, her two daughters, came to reside with +Madame de Vendome, my cousin, a relative and a friend of their mother. +The eldest I first of all married to Duc Charles de Lorraine, heir to the +present Duc de Lorraine. His Majesty did not approve of this marriage, +which was contrary to his politics. His Majesty deigned to explain +himself and open out to me upon the subject. I at once consulted my +books, and found all the means necessary for dissolving such a marriage. +So true, indeed is this, that I forthwith remarried Mademoiselle de +Nemours to the Duc de Savoie. This took place under your very eyes. +Soon afterwards I married her younger sister to the King of Portugal, and +accompanied her to Lisbon, where the Portuguese gave her a fairly warm +reception. Her young husband is tall and fair, with a pleasant, +distinguished face; he loves his wife, and is only moderately beloved in +return. Is she wrong or is she right? Now, I will tell you. The +monarch is well-made, but a childish infirmity has left one whole side of +him somewhat weak, and he limps. Mademoiselle d'Aumale, or to speak more +correctly, the Queen of Portugal, writes letter upon letter to me, +describing her situation. She believed herself pregnant, and had even +announced the news to Madame de Vendome, as well as to Madame de Savoie, +her sister. Now it appears that this is not the case. She is vexed and +disgusted. I am about to join her at Lisbon. She is inclined to place +the crown upon the young brother of the King, requesting the latter to +seek the seclusion of a monastery. I can see that this new idea of the +youthful Queen's will necessitate my visiting the Vatican. Allow me, +madame, to have charge of your interests. Do not have the slightest fear +but that I shall protect them zealously and intelligently, killing thus +two birds with one stone." + +"Pray accept my humble thanks," I replied to the Bishop. "The reigning +Sovereign Pontiff has never shown me any favour whatever, and is in +nowise one of my friends. What you desire to do for me at Rome deserves +some signal mark of gratitude in return, but I cannot get you a +cardinal's hat, for a thousand reasons. + +"Mademoiselle de Nemours, when leaving us, promised to hate me as long as +she lived, and to have me burnt at an 'auto da fe' whenever she got the +chance. Do not let her know that you have any regard for me, or you +might lose her affection. + +"I hope that the weak side of her husband, the King, may get stronger, +and that you will not help to put the young monarch in a convent of +monks. + +"In any case, my lord Bishop, do not breathe it to a living soul that you +have told me of such strange resolutions as these; for my own part, I +will safely keep your secret, and pray God to have you in his holy +keeping." + +The Bishop of Laon was not a man to be rebuffed by pleasantry such as +this. He declared the King of Portugal to be impotent, after what the +Queen had expressly stated. The Pope annulled the marriage, and the +Queen courageously wedded her husband's brother, who had no congenital +weakness of any sort, and who was, as every one knew, of dark complexion. + +At the request of the Queen, the Bishop of Laon was afterwards presented +with the hat, and is, today, my lord Cardinal d'Estrees. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV. + +Mademoiselle de Valois.--Mademoiselle d'Orleans.--Mademoiselle +d'Alencon.--M. de Savoie.--His Love-letters.--His Marriage with +Mademoiselle de Valois.--M. de Guise and Mademoiselle d'Alencon.-- +Their Marriage Ceremony.--Madame de Montespan's Dog.--Mademoiselle +d'Orleans.--Her Marriage with the Duke of Tuscany.--The Bishop de Bonzy. + +By his second wife, Marguerite de Lorraine, Gaston de France had three +daughters, and being devoid of energy, ability, or greatness of +character, they did not object when the King married them to sovereigns +of the third-rate order. + +Upon these three marriages I should like to make some remarks, on account +of certain singular details connected therewith, and because of the +joking to which they gave rise. + +Mademoiselle de Montpensier had flatly refused the Duc de Savoie, because +Madame de Savoie, daughter of Henri IV., was still living, ruling her +estate like a woman of authority; and therefore, to this stepmother, a +king's daughter, Mademoiselle had to give way, she being but the daughter +of a French prince who died in disgrace and was forgotten. + +Being refused by the elder princess, M. de Savoie, still quite young, +sought the hand of her sister, Mademoiselle de Valois. He wrote her a +letter which, unfortunately, was somewhat singular in style, and which, +unfortunately too, fell into the hands of Mademoiselle de Montpensier. +Like her late father, Gaston, she plumed herself upon her wit and +eloquence; she caused several copies of the effusion to be printed and +circulated at Court. I will include it in these Memoirs, as it cannot +but prove entertaining. The heroes of Greece, and even of Troy, possibly +delivered their compliments in somewhat better fashion, if we may judge +by the version preserved for us by Homer. + + + FROM HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS THE DUC DE SAVOIE TO HIS + MOST HONOURED COUSIN, MADEMOISELLE DE VALOIS. + + MY DEAR COUSIN:--As the pen must needs perform the office of the + tongue, and as it expresses the feelings of my heart, I doubt not + but that I am at great disadvantage, since the depth of these + feelings it cannot express, nor rightly convince you that, having + given all myself to you, nothing remains either to give or to + desire, save to find such affection pleasantly reciprocated. Thus, + in these lines, I earnestly beseech you to return my love,--lines + which give you the first hints of that fire which your many lovely + qualities have lighted in my soul. They create in me an + inconceivable impatience closely to contemplate that which now I + admire at a distance, and to convince you by various proofs that, + with matchless loyalty and passion, + + I am, dear Cousin, + Your most humble slave and servant, + EMMANUEL. + + +Gentle as an angel, Mademoiselle de Valois desired just what everybody +else did. The youngest of the three princesses was named Mademoiselle +d'Alencon. With a trifle more wit and dash, she could have maintained +her position at Court, where so charming a face as hers was fitted to +make its mark; but her fine dark eyes did but express indifference and +vacuity, seemingly unconscious of the pleasure to be got in this world +when one is young, good-looking, shapely, a princess of the blood, and +cousin german of the King besides. + +Marguerite de Lorraine, her mother, married her to the Duc de Guise, +their near relative, who, without ambition or pretension, seemed almost +astonished to see that the King gave, not a dowry, but a most lovely +verdure--[Drawing-room tapestry, much in vogue at that time]--, and an +enamelled dinner-service. + +The marriage was celebrated at the chateau, without any special +ceremonies or preparations; so much so that two cushions, which had been +forgotten, had to be hastily fetched. I saw what was the matter, and +motioning the two attendants of the royal sacristy, I whispered to them +to fetch what was wanted from my own apartment. + +Not knowing to what use these cushions were to be put, my 'valet de +chambre' brought the flowered velvet ones, on which my dogs were wont to +lie. I noticed this just as their Highnesses were about to kneel down, +and I felt so irresistibly inclined to laugh that I was obliged to retire +to my room to avoid bursting out laughing before everybody. + +Fortunately the Guises did not get to know of this little detail until +long after, or they might have imagined that it was a planned piece of +malicious mockery. However, it is only fair to admit that the marriage +was treated in a very off-hand way, and it is that which always happens +to people whose modesty and candour hinder them from posing and talking +big when they get the chance. A strange delusion, truly! + +Mademoiselle d'Orleans, the eldest child of the second marriage, is +considered one of the prettiest and most graceful of blondes. Her +endowments were surely all that a princess could need, if one except +reserve in speaking, and a general dignity of deportment. + +When it was a question of giving her to Prince de Medici, Grand Duke of +Tuscany, she was all the while sincerely attached to handsome Prince +Charles de Lorraine, her maternal cousin. But the King, who, in his +heart of hearts, wanted to get hold of Lorraine for himself, could not +sanction this union; nay, he did more: he opposed it. Accordingly the +Princess, being urged to do so by her mother, consented to go to Italy, +and as we say at Court, expatriate herself. + +The Bishop of Nziers, named De Bonzy, the Tuscan charge d'afaires, came, +on behalf of the Medici family, to make formal demand of her hand, and +had undertaken to bring her to her husband with all despatch. He had +undertaken an all too difficult task. + +"Monsieur de Bonzy," said she to the prelate, "as it is you who here play +the part of interpreter and cavalier of honour as it is you, moreover, +who have to drag me away from my native country, I have to inform you +that it is my intention to leave it as slowly as possible, and to +contemplate it at my leisure before quitting it forever." + +And, indeed, the Princess desired to make a stay more or less long in +every town en route. If, on the way, she noticed a convent of any +importance, she at once asked to be taken thither, and, in default of +other pastime or pretext, she requested them to say complines with full +choral accompaniment. + +If she saw some castle or other, she inquired the name of its owner, and, +though she hardly knew the inmates, was wont to invite herself to dinner +and supper. + +The Bishop of Beziers grew disconsolate. He wrote letters to the Court, +which he sent by special courier, and I said to the King, "Pray, Sire, +let her do as she likes; she will surely have time enough to look at her +husband later on." + +Near Saint Fargeau, when the Princess heard that this estate was her +sister's, Mademoiselle sent a gentleman with her compliments, to ask if +she would give her shelter for twenty-four hours. Instead of twenty-four +hours' stay, she proceeded to take up her abode there; and, provided with +a gun and dogs, she wandered all over the fields, always accompanied by +the worthy Bishop, at whose utter exhaustion she was highly amused. + +At length she left her native land, and joined her husband, who seemed +somewhat sulky at all this delay. + +"I cannot love you just yet," quoth she, weeping; "my heart is still +another's, and it is impossible to break off such attachments without +much time and much pain. Pray treat me with gentleness, for if you are +severe, I shall not do you any harm, but I shall go back to the +Luxembourg to my mother." + + + + +CHAPTER XXV. + +Random Recollections.--Madame de Montespan Withdraws from Politics.--The +Queen's Dowry.--First Campaign in Flanders.--The Queen Meets the King.-- +Some One Else Sees Him First.--The Queen's Anger at La Valliere. + +In compiling these Memoirs, I have never pretended to keep a strictly +regular diary, where events are set down chronologically and in their +proper order. I write as I recollect; some of my recollections are +chronicled sooner, and others later. Thus it happens that the King's +first conquests are only now mentioned in the present chapter, although +they occurred in the year 1667, at the beginning of my credit and my +favour. + +I was naturally inclined for politics, and should have liked the hazard +of the game; but I suppose that the King considered me more frivolous and +giddy than I really was, for, despite the strong friendship with which he +has honoured me, he has never been gracious enough to initiate me into +the secrets of the Cabinet and the State. + +If this sort of exclusion or ostracism served to wound my self-respect, +it nevertheless had its special advantage for me, for in epochs less +glorious or less brilliant (that is to say, in times of failure), they +could never cavil at advice or counsel which I had given, nor blame me +for the shortcomings of my proteges or creatures. + +The King was born ambitious. This prince will not admit it; he gives a +thousand reasons in justification of his conquests. But the desire for +conquest proves him to be a conqueror, and one is not a conqueror without +being ambitious. I think I can explain myself by mentioning the treaty +drawn up at the time of his marriage. It was stipulated that the Infanta +should have rights over the Netherlands, then possessed by Don Balthazar, +Prince of Spain. But it was agreed to give the Princess Maria Theresa a +handsome dowry, in lieu of which she signed a paper renouncing her +rights. + +Her father, King Philip IV., died at the close of the year 1665, and the +Queen-mother besought our King not to take advantage of the minority of +the young Charles II., his brother-in-law, by troubling Spain afresh with +his pretensions. + +Hardly had Anne of Austria been interred, when the King informed the +Spanish Court of his claims. In the spring of the following year, he +himself led an army into Spanish Flanders, where his appearance was not +expected. These fine provinces, badly provisioned and badly fortified, +made but a merely formal resistance to Conde, Turenne, Crequi, and all +our illustrious generals, who, led by the King in person, wrought the +troops to a wild pitch of enthusiasm. + +The King had left the Infanta, his wife, at Compiegne, and it was there +that we awaited either news of the army or orders to advance. + +From Compiegne we went to La Fere, where we heard that the King was +coming to receive us. Suddenly it was rumoured that the Duchesse de la +Valliere had just arrived, and that she was acting in accordance with +orders received. + +The Queen began to weep, and, sobbing, bewailed her destiny. She was +seized by convulsions and violent retching, much to the alarm of her +ladies and the physicians. + +Next day, after mass, the Duchesse and the Marquise de la Valliere came +to make their courtesy to the Queen, who, staring at them, said not a +word. When dinner-time came, she gave orders that no food should be +served to them, but the officials supplied this to them in secret, +fearing to be compromised. + +In the coach, the Queen complained greatly of Mademoiselle de la +Valliere, and the Princesse de Bade, one of the ladies-in-waiting, said +to me, "Could you have believed that, with such gentleness, one could +also display such impudence?" The Duchesse de Montausier, I know not +why, expressed herself to me in the same terms of amazement. I replied +that, "Were I in that fair lady's place, I should dare to show myself +least of all to the Queen, for fear of grieving her Majesty." I was +often rebuked afterwards for this speech, which, I admit, I delivered +somewhat thoughtlessly. + +On leaving La Fere, the Queen gave particular orders to let the Duchess +have no relays, so that she could not follow; but the Master of the Horse +had caused these to be brought to her from Versailles, so nothing was +wanting. + +On putting my head out of window, when we turned a corner of the road, I +saw that La Valliere's coach, with six horses, was following quite close +behind; but I took care not to tell the Queen, who believed those ladies +were a long way off. + +All at once, on a height, we saw a body of horsemen approaching. The +King could be plainly distinguished, riding at their head. La Valliere's +coach immediately left the main road, and drove across country, while the +Queen called out to have it stopped; but the King embraced its occupants, +and then it drove off at a gallop to a chateau already fixed upon for its +reception. + +I like to be just, and it is my duty to be so. This mark of irreverence +towards the Queen is the only one for which Mademoiselle de la Valliere +can be blamed; but she would never have done such a thing of her own +accord; it was all the fault of the Marquise, blinded as she was by +ambition. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI. + +The King Contemplates the Conquest of Holland.--The Grand Seignior's +Embassy.--Madame de Montespan's Chance of Becoming First Lady of the +Harem.--Anxiety to Conclude Negotiations with so Passionate an +Ambassador.--Help Sent to Candia.--With Disastrous Results.--Death of the +Duc de Beaufort.--Why It Is Good to Carry About the Picture of One's +Lady-love. + +Having gained possession of the Netherlands in the name of the Infanta, +his consort, the King seriously contemplated the subjugation of the +Dutch, and possibly also the invasion of these rich countries. +Meanwhile, he privately intimated as much to the princes of Europe, +promising to each of them some personal and particular advantage in +exchange for a guarantee of assistance or neutrality in this matter. + +The Grand Seignior, hearing that the Pope and the Venetians were urging +our Cabinet to come to the help of Candia, + + [This important island of Candia, the last powerful bulwark of + Christendom against the Turk, belonged at that time to Venice. + EDITOR'S NOTE.] + +lost no time in sending a splendid embassy to Paris, to congratulate the +young King upon his conquest of Flanders, and to predict for him all +success in the paths along which ambition might lead him. + +Being naturally fond of show and display, the King left nothing undone +which might give brilliance to the reception of so renowned an embassy. +The Court wore an air of such splendour and magnificence that these +Mussulmans, used though they were to Asiatic pomp, seemed surprised and +amazed at so brilliant a reception, at which nothing, indeed, had been +forgotten. + +The ambassador-in-chief was a pleasant young man, tall, shapely, and +almost as good-looking as the King. This Turk had splendidly shaped +hands, and eyes that shone with extraordinary brilliance. He conceived +an ardent passion for me, a passion that went to such lengths that he +sacrificed thereto all his gravity, all his stately Ottoman demeanour. + +When I passed by, he saluted me, placing his hand to his heart, stopping +to gaze at me intently, and watch me as long as possible. Being +introduced (either by chance or design) to my Paris jeweller, he seized a +gold box upon which he saw my portrait, and, giving the jeweller a +considerable sum, refused to part with the picture, however much they +begged him to do so. + +One fine morning, in spite of his turban, he got into the large chapel of +the chateau during mass, and while the Court of France was adoring the +true God, Ibrahim knelt down in front of me, which made every one laugh, +including the King. + +All such absurdities caused the ministers to give him the required reply +with all speed, and they were not backward in granting him a farewell +audience. + +When the time came for him to go, Ibrahim burst into tears, exclaiming +that, in his country, I should be in the first rank, whereas at Saint +Germain I was only in the second; and he charged his interpreter to tell +the King of France that the unhappy Ibrahim would never get over this +visit to his Court. + +The King replied, with a smile, that he had "better become a Christian, +and stay with us." + +At these words the ambassador turned pale, and glancing downwards, +withdrew, forgetting to salute his Majesty. + +Then he returned, and made all his bows quite nicely; nor would he quit +the capital before he had sent me his portrait, some pretty verses in +Italian, which he had caused to be composed, and besides this, a set of +amber ornaments, the most beautiful of any worn by ladies of the harem. + +Despite this imposing and costly embassy, despite the ambassador's +compliment, who referred to the King as "Eldest Son of the Sun," this +same Son of the Sun despatched seven thousand picked troops to help +Venice against the Turks. To this detachment. the Venetian Republic +sent fourteen vessels laden with their own soldiers, under the leadership +of our Duc de Beaufort, Grand Admiral of France, and Lieutenant-General +Duc de Navailles. + +Had these troops arrived in the nick of time, they would have saved +Candia, but by a sudden accident all was lost, and after so terrible a +reverse, the Isle of Candia, wrested from the potentates of Europe and +Christendom, fell a prey to the infidels. + +A pistol-shot fired at a Turk blew up several barrels of gunpowder +belonging to a large magazine captured from the enemy. Our troops, +thinking that a mine had been sprung, fled in headlong confusion, never +even caring to save their muskets. The Turks butchered them in the most +frightful manner. In this huge massacre, some of our most promising +officers perished, and the Duc de Beaufort was never found either among +the wounded or the slain. + +The young Comte de Guiche, of whom I shall presently speak, had his hand +smashed, and if on his breast he had not worn a portrait of Madame,--[The +ill-fated Duchesse d'Orleans.]--the sword of a Turk would have struck +him to the heart. + +The King felt sorry that he had only despatched seven thousand men +thither. But when M. de Louvois informed him that the whole detachment +had been almost annihilated, he regretted having sent so many. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII. + +Danger of Harbouring a Malcontent.--The King's Policy with Regard to +Lorraine.--Advice of Madame de Thianges.--Conquest of Lorraine.--The +Lorraines Surrender to the Emperor. + +The petty princes placed too near a great potentate are just like the +shrubs that grow beside an old oak tree, whose broad shade blights them, +while its roots undermine and sap them, till at last they are weakened +and destroyed. + +When young Gaston, son of Henri IV., seeking to get free from Richelieu's +insolent despotism, withdrew to the Duc de Lorraine, the Cardinal uttered +a cry of joy, and remarked to Louis XIII., that vindictive, jealous +prince, "Oh, what a good turn the Duc d'Orleans has just done you to-day! +By going to stay with M. de Lorraine, he will oust him!" + +The Court soon got to know that M. de Lorraine had given Monsieur a most +cordial reception, and that the latter, who, like his father, was very +susceptible, had proposed for the hand of the Princesse Marguerite, a +charming person, and sister to the reigning Duke. + +King Louis XIII. openly opposed this marriage, which nevertheless was +arranged for, and celebrated partly at Nancy and partly at Luneville. + +Such complacence earned for M. de Lorraine the indignation of the King +and his minister, the Cardinal. They waged against him a war of revenge, +or rather of spoliation, and as the prince, being unable then to offer +any serious resistance, was sensible enough to surrender, he got off with +the sacrifice of certain portions of his territory. He also had to +witness the demolition by France of the fine fortifications of Nancy. + +Things were at this juncture when our young King assumed the management +of affairs. The policy pursued by Louis XIII. and his Cardinal seemed to +him an advantageous one, also; he lured to his capital M. de Lorraine, +who was still young and a widower, and by every conceivable pretext he +was prevented from marrying again. Lorraine had a nephew,--[Prince +Charles.]--a young man of great promise, to whom the uncle there and +then offered to make over all his property and rights, if the King would +honour him with his protection and marry him to whomsoever he fancied. +The King would not consent to a marriage of any kind, having a firm, +persistent desire in this way to make the line of these two princes +extinct. + +I was talking about this one day in the King's chamber, when my sister De +Thianges had the hardihood to say: + +"I hear that the Messieurs de Lorraine are about to take their departure, +and that, having lost all hope of making themselves beloved, they have +resolved to make themselves feared." + +The King looked impassively at my sister, showing not a sign of emotion, +and he said to her: + +"Do you visit there?" + +"Sire," replied Madame de Thianges, unabashed, "augment the number, not +of your enemies, but of your friends; of all policies that is the best." +The King never said a word. + +Soon afterwards, the Lorraines appealed secretly to the Empire and the +Emperor. The King was only waiting for such an opportunity; he forthwith +sent Marshal de Crequi at the head of twenty thousand men, who invaded +Lorraine, which had already been ravaged, and the Duchy of Bar, which had +not. + +The manifesto stated the motives for such complaint, alleging that the +Duke had not been at the pains to observe the Treaty of Metz with regard +to the surrender of Harsal, and, as a punishment, his entire sovereignty +would be confiscated. + +A large army then marched upon Peronne; it had been formed at Saint +Germain, and was divided into two columns. The first went to join the +Duc de Crequi, who occupied Lorraine; the other took up its position near +Sedan, to keep the Flemish and Dutch in check in case of any attempted +rebellion. + +The Lorraines, in despair, gave themselves up to the Emperor, who, aware +of their fine soldierly qualities, bestowed upon both high posts of +command. They caused great losses to France and keen anxiety to her +King. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII. + +Embassy of the King of Arda.--Political Influence Exercised by the Good +Looks of Madame de Montespan.--Gifts of the Envoys.--What the Comte de +Vegin Takes for a Horse.--Madame de Montespan Entertains Them in Her Own +House.--Three Missionaries Recommend Her to Them. + +From the wilds of Africa, the King of Arda sent an embassy no less +brilliant and far more singular than that of the Turks. This African +prince, hearing of the French King's noble character and of his recent +conquests, proposed to form with him a political and commercial alliance, +and sought his support against the English and the Dutch, his near +neighbours. + +The King said to me; "Madame, I believe Ibrahim has proclaimed your +charms even to the Africans; you bring embassies to me from the other end +of the globe. For Heaven's sake, don't show yourself, or these new +envoys will utterly lose their heads, too." + +The envoys referred to were notable for their rich, semibarbaric dress, +but not one of them was like Ibrahim. They brought the King a present, +in the shape of a tiger, a panther, and two splendid lions. To the Queen +they gave a sort of pheasant covered with gold and blue feathers, which +burst out laughing while looking intensely grave, to the great diversion +of every one. They also brought to the princess a little blackamoor, +extremely well-made, who could never grow any bigger, and of which she, +unfortunately, grew very fond.--[Later on the writer explains herself +more fully.--EDITOR'S NOTE.] + +These Africans also came in ceremonious fashion to present their respects +to me. They greeted me as the "second spouse of the King" (which greatly +offended the Queen), and in the name of the King of Arda, they presented +me with a necklace of large pearls, and two bracelets of priceless +value,--splendid Oriental sapphires, the finest in the world. + +I gave orders for my children to be brought to them. On seeing these, +they prostrated themselves. The little Comte de Vein, profiting by their +attitude, began to ride pick-a-back on one of them, who did not seem +offended at this, but carried the child about for a little while. + +The ceremony of their presentation will, doubtless, have been described +in various other books; but I cannot forbear mentioning one incident. As +soon as the curtains of the throne were drawn aside, and they saw the +King wearing all his decorations and ablaze with jewels, they put their +hands up to their eyes, pretending to be dazzled by the splendour of his +presence, and then they flung themselves down at full length upon the +ground, the better to express their adoration. + +I invited them to visit me at the Chateau de Clagny, my favourite +country-seat, and there I caused a sumptuous collation to be served to +them in accordance with their tastes. Plain roast meat they ate with +avidity; other dishes seemed to inspire them with distrust,--they looked +closely at them, and then went off to something else. + +I do not interfere in affairs of State, but I wanted to know from what +source in so remote a country they could have obtained any positive +information as to the secrets of the Court of France. Through the +interpreter, they replied that three travellers--missionaries--had stayed +for a couple of months with their master, the King of Arda, and the good +fathers had told them "that Madame de Montespan was the second spouse of +the great King." These same missionaries had chosen the sort of presents +which they were to give me. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIX. + +Comte de Vegin, Abbe of Saint Germain des Pres.--Revenues Required, but +Not the Cowl.--Discussion between the King and the Marquise.--Madame +Scarron Chosen as Arbiter.--An Unanswerable Argument. + +The wealthy abbey of Saint Germain des Pres--[Yielding a revenue of five +hundred thousand livres.]--was vacant; the King appointed thereto his +son, the Comte de Vegin, and as the Benedictine monks secretly complained +that they should have given to them as chief a child almost still in its +cradle, the King instructed the grand almoner to remind them that they +had had as abbes in preceding reigns princes who were married and of +warlike tastes. "Such abuses," said the prelate, "were more than +reprehensible; his Majesty is incapable of wishing to renew them. +As to the Prince's extreme youth, that is in no way prejudicial to you, +my brethren, as monseigneur will be suitably represented by his vicar- +general until such time as he is able to assume the governorship +himself." + +"Is it your intention to condemn my son to be an ecclesiastic?" I asked +the King, in amazement. + +"Madame, these are my views," he answered: "If the Comte de Vegin as he +grows up should continue to show pluck and a taste for things military, +as by birth he is bound to do, we will relieve him of the abbey on the +eve of his marriage, while he will have profited thereby up to that time. +If, on the contrary, my son should show but inferior mental capacity, and +a pusillanimous character, there will be no harm in his remaining among +the Church folk; he will be far better off there than elsewhere. The +essential thing for a parent is to study carefully and in good time the +proper vocation for his children; the essential thing for the ruler of an +Empire is to employ the right people to do the work in hand." + +"Will my son, on receiving this abbey, have to wear the dress of his +office?" I asked. "Imagine the Comte de Vegin an abbe!" + +"Do not feel the slightest repugnance on that score," added the King. +"The Electors of the German Empire are nearly all of them ecclesiastics; +our own history of France will show you that the sons of kings were +bishops or mere abbes; the grandson of the Duc de Savoie is a cardinal +and an archbishop, and King Charles X., my grandfather's paternal uncle, +nearly became King of France and cardinal at one and the same time." + +At this moment Madame Scarron came in. "Madame, we will make you our +judge in the argument that we are now having," said his Majesty. "Do you +think there is any objection to our giving to little Vegin the dress of +an abbe?" + +"On the contrary, Sire," replied the governess, smiling, "such a dress +will inspire him betimes with reserve and modesty, strengthening his +principles, and making far more profitable to him the excellent education +which he is now receiving." + +"I am obliged to you for your opinion," said the King, "and I flatter +myself, madame, that you see things in the same light that I do." + +When the King had gone, Madame Scarron asked me why I disapproved of this +abbey. + +"I do not wish to deny so rich a benefice to my son," I replied, "but it +seems to me that he might enjoy the revenues therefrom, without being +obliged to wear the livery. Is not the King powerful enough to effect +this?" + +"You are hardly just, madame," replied the governess, in a serious tone. +"If our religion be a true one, God himself is at the head of it, and for +so supreme a Chief the sons of kings are but of small account." + +With an argument such as this she closed my mouth, leaving me quite +amazed, and next day she smiled with delight when she presented the +little Comte de Vegin dressed as a little abbe. + +She was careful to see that the crozier, mitre, and cross were painted on +the panels of his carriage, and let the post of vicar-general be given to +one of her pious friends who was presented to me. + + + + +CHAPTER XXX. + +Once a Queen, Always a Queen.--An Anonymous Letter.--The Queen's +Confidence.--She Has a Sermon Preached against Madame de Montespan.-- +Who the Preacher was.--One Scandal May Avert Another. + +I related how, near La Fere, at the time of the Flanders campaign, Madame +de la Valliere's coach, at the risk of offending the Queen, left the main +road and took a short cut across country, so as to get on ahead, and +arrive before anybody else. By this the Duchess thought to give her +royal friend a great mark of her attachment. On the contrary, it was the +first cause for that coolness which the King afterwards displayed. + + "Fain would he be beloved, yet loved with tact." + +The very next day his Majesty, prevailed upon La Valliere to say that +such a style of travelling was too fatiguing for her. She had the honour +of dining with the Queen, and then she returned to the little chateau of +Versailles, so as to be near her children. + +The King arranged with Madame de Montausier, lady-in-waiting to the +Queen, that I should use her rooms to dress and write in, and that his +Majesty should be free to come there when he liked, and have a quiet chat +with me about matters of interest. + +The Queen, whom I had managed to please by my amusing talk, always kept +me close to her side, both when taking long walks or playing cards. +At a given signal, a knock overhead, I used to leave the Queen, excusing +myself on the score of a headache, or arrears of correspondence; in +short, I managed to get away as best I could. + +The King left us in order to capture Douai, then Tournay, and finally the +whole of Flanders; while the Queen continued to show me every sign of her +sincere and trustful friendship. + +In August, on the Day of Our Lady, while the King was besieging Lille, +a letter came to the Queen, informing her that her husband had forsaken +Madame de la Valliere for her Majesty's lady-in-waiting, the Marquise de +Montespan. Moreover, the anonymous missive named "the prudent Duchesse +de Montausier" as confidante and accomplice. + +"It is horrible--it is infamous!" cried the Queen, as she flung aside the +letter. "I shall never be persuaded that such is the case. My dear +little Montespan enjoys my friendship and my esteem; others are jealous +of her, but they shall not succeed. Perhaps the King may know the +handwriting; he shall see it at once!" And that same evening she +forwarded the letter to him. + +The Comte de Vegin had been born, and the Queen was absolutely ignorant +of his existence. My pregnancy with the Duc du Maine had likewise +escaped her notice, owing to the large paniers which I took to wearing, +and thus made the fashion. But the Court is a place where the best of +friends are traitors. The Queen was at length convinced, after long +refusing to be so, and from that day forward she cordially detested me. + +While the King was conquering Holland, she instructed her chief almoner +to have a sermon of a scandalous sort to be preached, which, delivered +with all due solemnity in her presence, should grieve and wound me as +much as possible. + +On the day appointed, a preacher, totally unknown to us, gets into the +pulpit, makes a long prayer for the guidance of the Holy Ghost, and then, +rising gracefully, bows low to the Queen. Raising his eyes to heaven, he +makes the sign of the cross and gives out the following text: "Woman, +arise and sin no more. Go hence; I forgive thee." + +As he uttered these words, he looked hard at my pew, and soon made me +understand by his egordium how interesting his discourse would be to me. +Written with rare grace of style, it was merely a piece of satire from +beginning to end,--of satire so audacious that it was constantly levelled +at the King. + +The orator brought before us in succession lifelike portraits of the +Queen, of her august spouse, of my children, of M. de Montespan, and of +myself. Upon some he lavished praise; others he vehemently rebuked; +while to others he gave tender pity. Anon he caused the lips of his +hearers to curl in irony, and again, roused their indignation or touched +them to tears. + +Any one else would have been bored by such a rigmarole; it rather amused +me. + +That evening, and for a week afterwards, nothing else but this sermon was +talked of at Versailles. The Queen had received complete satisfaction. +Before me she was at pains not to laugh, and I was pleased to see that +her resentment had almost disappeared. + +Upon his return, the King was for punishing such an offence as this. +Things are not easily hidden from him; his Majesty desired to know the +name and rank of the ecclesiastic. The entire Court replied that he was +a good-looking young Franciscan. + +The chief almoner, being forced to state the monastery from which the +preacher came, mentioned the Cordeliers of Paris. There it transpired +that the monk told off by the prior for this enterprise had been too +frightened to execute it, and had sent, as his deputy, a young actor from +Orleans,--a brother of his, who thus could not say no. + +So, as it happened, Queen Maria Theresa and her chief almoner (an +exemplary person) had caused virtue to be preached to me by a young play- +actor! The King dared not take further proceedings in so strange a +matter, for fear lest one scandal might beget a far greater one. It was +this that caused Madame Cornuel to remark, "The pulpit is in want of +comedians; they work wonders there!" + + + + +CHAPTER XXXI. + +The King Alters His Opinion about Madame Scarron.--He Wants Her to Assume +Another Name.--He Gives Her the Maintenon Estates.--She and Madame de +Montespan Visit These.--A Strange Story. + +At first the King used to feel afraid of Madame Scarron, and seemingly +laughed at me when I endeavoured to persuade him that there was nothing +affected or singular about her. The Marquis de Beringhen, for some +reason or other, had prejudiced his Majesty against her, so that very +often, when the King heard that she was visiting me, he never got beyond +the vestibule, but at once withdrew. One day she was telling me, in her +pleasant, original way, a funny tale about the famous Brancas, and I +laughed till I cried again,--in fact, until I nearly made myself quite +ill. + +The King, who was listening at the door, was greatly tickled by the +story. He came in smiling and thoroughly self-possessed. Then, +addressing the governess, he said, "Madame, allow me to compliment you +and to thank you at the same time. I thought you were of a serious, +melancholy disposition, but as I listened to you through the keyhole, +I am no longer surprised that you have such long talks with the Marquise. +Will you do me the favour of being as amusing some other time, if I +venture to make one of the party?" + +The governess, courtesying, blushed somewhat; and the King continued, +"Madame, I am aware of your affection for my children; that is a great +recommendation to me; banish all restraint; I take the greatest pleasure +in your company." + +She replied, "It was the fear of displeasing you which, despite myself, +caused me to incur your displeasure." + +The King continued, "Madame, I know that the late M. de Scarron was a man +of much wit and also of agreeable manners. My cousin, De Beaufort, used +to rave about him, but on account of his somewhat free poems, his name +lacks weight and dignity. In fact, his name in no way fits so charming a +personality as yours; would it grieve you to change it?" + +The governess cleverly replied that all that she owed to the memory of +her defunct husband was gratitude and esteem. + +"Allow me, then, to arrange matters," added the King. "I am fond of +sonorous names; in this I agree with Boileau." + +A few days afterwards we heard that the splendid Maintenon estates were +for sale. The King himself came to inform the widow of this, and, giving +her in advance the fee for education, he counted out a hundred thousand +crowns wherewith instantly to purchase the property. + +Forthwith the King compelled her to discard this truly ridiculous +author's name, and styled her before everybody Madame de Maintenon. + +I must do her the justice to state that her gratitude for the King's +liberality was well-nigh exaggerated, while no change was perceptible in +her manners and bearing. She had, naturally, a grand, dignified air, +which was in strange contrast to the grotesque buffoonery of her poet- +husband. Now she is exactly in her proper place, representing to +perfection the governess of a king's children. + +Spiteful persons were wont to say that I appeared jealous on seeing her +made a marquise like myself. Good gracious, no! On the contrary, I was +delighted; her parentage was well known to me. The Duchesse de +Navailles, my protectress, was a near relative of hers, and M. d'Aubigne, +her grandfather, was one of King Henri's two Chief Gentlemen of the +Chamber. + +Madame de Maintenon's father was, in many respects, greatly to blame. +Without being actually dishonest, he squandered a good deal of his +fortune, the greater part being pounced upon by his family; and had the +King forced these harpies to disgorge, Madame de Maintenon could have +lived in opulence, eclipsing several of the personages at Court. + +I am glad to be able to do her justice in these Memoirs, to the +satisfaction of my own self-respect. I look upon her as my own +handiwork, and everything assures me that this is her conviction also, +and that she will always bear it in mind. + +The King said to us, "Go and see the Chateau de Maintenon, and then you +can tell me all about it. According to an old book, I find that it was +built in the reign of Henri II. by Nicolas de Cointerot, the King's +minister of finance; a 'surintendant's' castle ought to form a noteworthy +feature of the landscape." + +Madame de Maintenon hereupon told us a most extraordinary story. The +lady who sold this marquisate had retired two years previously to the +island of Martinique, where she, at the present moment, owned the +residence of Constant d'Aubigne, the same house where the new Marquise de +Maintenon had spent her childhood with her parents, so that while one of +these ladies had quitted the Chateau de Maintenon in order to live in +Martinique, the other had come from Martinique in order to reside at the +Chateau de Maintenon. Truly, the destinies of some are strange in this +world. + +The chateau appeared to be large, of solid proportions, and built in a +grandly simple style, befitting a minister of dignity and position. The +governess shed tears of emotion when setting foot there for the first +time. The six priests, whom the surintendant had appointed, officiated +in the large chapel or little church attached to the castle. + +They approached us in regular procession, presenting holy water, baskets +of flowers and fruit, an old man, a child, and two little lambs to the +Marquise. The villagers, dressed out with flowers and ribbons, also came +to pay, their respects to her. They danced in the castle courtyard, +under our balcony, to the sound of hautbois and bagpipes. + +We gave them money, said pleasant things to everybody, and invited all +the six clerics to sup with us. These gentry spoke with great respect of +the other Madame de Maintenon, who had become disgusted with her +property, and with France generally, because, for two winters running, +her orange-groves and fig-trees had been frost-bitten. She herself, +being a most chilly, person, never left off her furs until August, and in +order to avoid looking at or walking upon snow and ice, she fled to the +other end of the world. + +"The other extreme will bring her back to us," observed Madame de +Maintenon to the priests. "Though his Majesty were to give me Martinique +or Saint Domingo, I certainly would never go and live there myself." + +When we returned, all these little details greatly amused the King. He, +too, wanted to go and see the castle of another Fouquet, but, as we +complained of the bad roads, he ordered these to be mended along the +entire route. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXII. + +The Second Comte de Vexin.--He is made Abbe of Saint Denis.--Priests or +Devils?--The Coronation Diadem.--Royalty Jokes with the Monks. + +My poor little Comte de Vegin died. We all mourned for him as he +deserved; his pretty face would have made every one love him; his extreme +gentleness had nothing of the savage warrior about it, but at any rate, +he was the best-looking cardinal in Christendom. He made such funny +speeches that one could not help recollecting them. He was more of a +Mortemart than a Bourbon, but that did not prevent the King from +idolising him. + +The King thought of conferring the Abbey of Saint Germain des Pres upon +his younger brother; to this I was opposed, imagining, perhaps without +reason, that such succession would bring bad luck. So the King presented +him to the Abbey of Saint Denis, the revenue of which was equally +considerable, and he conferred upon him the title of Comte de Vexin, +caring nothing for the remarks I made concerning the similarities of such +names and distinctions. + +The second Comte de Vegin bid fair to be a man of reflection and of +genius. He obviously disliked his little abbe's dress, and we always +kept saying, "It's only for the time being, my little fellow." + +When, after his nomination, the monks of Saint Denis came to make their +obeisance to him, he asked if they were devils, and continually covered +his face so as not to see them. + +The King arrived, and with a few flattering words managed to soothe the +priests' outraged dignity, and when they asked the little prince if he +would honour them by a visit of inspection to Suger's room, + + [Suger was Abbe of Saint Denis, and a famous minister of Queen + Blanche. Editor's Note.] + +which had just been restored, he replied with a sulky smile, "I'll come +and see you, but with my eyes shut." + +Then the priests mildly remonstrated because the coronation diadem had +not been brought back to their store of treasures, but was still missing. + +"So, in your treasure-house at Saint Denis you keep all the crowns of all +the reigns?" asked the prince. + +"Yes, Sire, and where could they be better guarded than with us? Who has +most may have least." + +"With all their rubies, diamonds, sapphires, and emeralds?" + +"Yes, Sire; and hence the name treasure." + +The King replied, "If this be the case, I will send you my coronation +crown. At that time my brow was not so big; you will find the crown +small, I tell you." + +Then one of the monks, in the most serious manner, said, "It's not as +small as it was; your Majesty has enlarged it a good deal." + +Madame de Maintenon burst out laughing, and I was not slow to follow her +example; we saw that the King could hardly maintain his gravity. He said +to the priest, "My father, you turn a pretty compliment in a most +praiseworthy manner; you ought to have belonged to the Jesuits, not to +the Benedictines." + +We burst out laughing anew, and this convent-deputation, the gloomiest- +looking, most funereal one in the world, managed to cause us some +diversion, after all. + +To make amends for our apparent frivolity, his Majesty himself took them +to see his splendid cabinet of medals and coins, and sent them back to +their abbey in Court carriages. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIII. + +M. de Lauzun Proposes for the Hand of Mademoiselle de Thianges.--Letter +from the Duc de Lorraine.--Madame de Thianges Thinks that Her Daughter +Has Married a Reigning Prince.--The King Disposes Otherwise.--The Duc de +Nevers. + +The brilliant Marquis de Lauzun, after paying court to myself, suddenly, +turned his attention to Mademoiselle de Thianges,--my sister's child. +If a fine figure and a handsome face, as well as the polished manners of +a great gentleman, constitute a good match, M. de Lauzun was, in all +respects, worthy of my niece. But this presumptuous nobleman had but a +slender fortune. Extravagant, without the means to be so, his debts grew +daily greater, and in society one talked of nothing but his lavish +expenditure and his creditors. I know that the purses of forty women +were at his disposal. I know, moreover, that he used to gamble like a +prince, and I would never marry my waiting-maid to a gambler and a rake. + +Both Madame de Thianges and myself rejected his proposals, and though +resolved to let him have continued proofs of our good-will, we were +equally determined never to accept such a man as son-in-law and nephew. + +Hereupon the letter which I am about to transcribe was sent to me by a +messenger: + + + PRINCE CHARLES DE LORRAINE TO MADAME LA MARQUISE DE MONTESPAN. + + MADAME:--My unfortunate uncle and I have always loved France, but + France has forced us both to break off all relations with her and to + become exiles!!! Despite the kindness and generosity wherewith the + Imperial Court seeks to comfort us in our misfortune, the perpetual + cry of our hearts calls us back to our fatherland,--to that + matchless land where my ancestors have ever been beloved. + + My uncle is guilty of no crime but that of having formerly received + in his palace a son of good King Henri IV., after his humiliation by + a shameless minister. My dear uncle proposed to resign all his + property in my favour, and to meet the wishes of his Majesty as to + the wife that should be mine. + + When my uncle asked for the hand of Mademoiselle de Montpensier, on + my behalf, my cousin replied that a ruined and dismantled throne did + not augur well for a dowry, and she further remarked that we were + not on good terms with the King. + + When I begged Cardinal Mazarin to grant me the hand of the present + Madame de Mazarin, his Eminence replied, "Would you like to be a + cardinal? I can manage that; but as regards my niece, the Queen is + going to get her married immediately." + + When, before God and man, I wedded Mademoiselle de Nemours, whose + worthy mother led her to the altar, his Majesty refused to sign the + marriage contract, and told Madame de Nemours that it would never be + considered valid. + + Soon afterwards the Bishop of Laon, who has complete influence over + Madame de Vendome, declared as null and void--a marriage negotiated + and consecrated by himself, and thus a bond made in heaven has been + broken on earth. + + Such treatment as this, I confess, seemed to us to exceed the bounds + of humanity and of justice. My uncle and I quitted France,--the + France that persecutes and harasses us, that desires the destruction + of our family and the forcible union of our territory with her own. + + The late Queen, of illustrious and glorious memory, disapproved of + Richelieu's injustice towards us. Under the ministry of the + Cardinal, his successor, she often, in noble fashion, held out to us + a helping hand. How comes it that the King, who in face is her + living image, does not desire to be like her in heart? + + I address myself to you, madame, who by your beauty and Spiritual + charm hold such imperious sway over his decisions, and I implore you + to undertake our defence. My uncle and I, his rightful and duteous + heir, offer the King devoted homage and unswerving fealty. We offer + to forget the past, to put our hearts and our swords at his service. + Let him withdraw his troops and those standards of his that have + brought terror and grief to our unhappy Lorraine. I offer to marry + Mademoiselle de Thianges, your beautiful and charming niece, and to + make her happy, and to surrender all any estates to the King of + France, if I die without male issue or heirs of any sort. + + I know your kind-heartedness, madame, by a niece who is your + picture. In your hands I place her interests and my fate. I await + your message with impatience, and I shall receive it with courage if + you fail to obtain that which you ought to obtain. + + Be assured, madame, of my unbounded admiration and respect. + + CHARLES + + +I at once went to my house at Clagny, whither I privately summoned Madame +de Thianges. On reading this letter, my sister was moved to tears, for +she had always deeply felt how unjustly this family had been treated. +She was also personally attached to this same Prince Charles, whom to see +was to love. + +We read this letter through thrice, and each time we found it more +admirable; the embarrassing thing was how to dare to let his Majesty know +its contents. However temperate the allusions to himself, there was +still the reproach of injustice and barbarity, set against the clemency +of Anne of Austria, and her generous compassion. + +My sister said to me, "Go boldly to work in the matter. Despite your +three children, the King leaves you merely a marquise; and for my own +part, if my daughter becomes Duchesse do Lorraine, I promise you the +Principality of Vaudemont." + +"It is quite true," I replied; "his conduct is inexplicable. To Madame +Scarron, who was only the governess of his children, he gives one of the +first marquisates of France, while to me, who have borne these three +children (with infinite pain), I admit he has only given some jewelry, +some money, and this pretty castle of Clagny." + +"You are as clever as can be, my dear Athenais," said Madame de Thianges, +"but, as a matter of fact, your cleverness is not of a business kind. +You don't look after yourself, but let yourself be neglected; you don't +push yourself forward enough, nor stand upon your dignity as you ought to +do. + +"The little lame woman had hardly been brought to bed of Mademoiselle de +Blois, when she was made Duchesse de Vaujours and de la Valliere. + +"Gabrielle d'Estrees, directly she appeared, was proclaimed Duchesse de +Beaufort. + +"Diane de Poitiers was Duchesse de Valentinois and a princess. It's only +you who are nobody, and your relations also are about the same! Make the +most of this grand opportunity; help the Prince of Lorraine, and the +Prince of Lorraine will help you." + +On our return from the chateau, while our resolution was yet firm, we +went laughing to the King. He asked the reason of our gaiety. My sister +said with her wonted ease, "Sire, I have come to invite you to my +daughter's wedding." + +"Your daughter? Don't you think I am able to get her properly married?" +cried the King. + +"Sire, you cannot do it better than I can myself. I am giving her a +sovereign as husband, a sovereign in every sense of the term." + +It seemed to me the King flushed slightly as he rejoined, "A sovereign on +his feet, or a sovereign overthrown?" + +"How do you mean, Sire?" said my sister. + +"Madame de Thianges," replied the King, "pray, let us be friends. I was +informed two days ago of the proposals of the Messieurs de Lorraine; it +is not, yet time to give them a definite reply. It behoves, me to give +your daughter in marriage, and I have destined her for the Duc de Nevers, +who is wealthy, and my friend." + +"The Duc de Nevers!" cried my sister; "why, he's cracked for six months +in the year." + +"Those who are cracked for a whole twelvemonth deserve far more pity," +replied the King. + +Then, turning to me, he observed, "You make no remark, madame? Does your +niece's coronation provide you also with illusions?" + +I easily perceived that we had been cherishing an utterly fantastic +scheme, and I counselled Madamede Thianges to prefer to please the King; +and, as she was never able to control her feelings, she sharply replied, +"Madame la Marquise, good day or good night!" + +The King, however, did not relax his persistence in giving us the Duc de +Nevers as son-in-law and nephew; and as this young gentleman's one fault +is to require perpetual amusement, partly derived from poetry and partly +from incessant travelling, my niece is as happy with him as a woman who +takes her husband's place well can be. As soon as he gets to Paris, he +wants to return to Rome, and hardly has he reached Rome, when he has the +horses put to for Paris. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIV. + +Mademoiselle de Mortemart, Abbess of Fontevrault.--She Comes to Court.-- +The Cloister.--Her Success at Court.--Her Opinion Respecting Madame de +Montespan's Intimacy with the King. + +My second sister, Mademoiselle de Mortemart, was so unfortunate as to +fall in love with a young Knight of Malta, doomed from his birth and by +his family to celibacy. Having set out upon his caravans,--[Sea-fights +against the Turks and the pirates of the Mediterranean.]--he was killed +in combat by the Algerians. + +Such was Mademoiselle de Mortemart's grief that life became unbearable to +her. Beautiful, witty, and accomplished, she quitted the world where she +was beloved, and, at the, age of seventeen, took the veil at Fontevrault. + +So severely had she blamed the conduct of Mademoiselle de la Valliere, +while often vehemently denouncing that which she termed the disorder at +Court, that, since the birth of the Duc du Maine, I had not gone to the +convent to see her. We were like unto persons both most anxious to break +off an intimacy and yet who had not done so. + +The Duc de Lorraine was known to her. He wrote to her, begging her to +make it up with me, so as to further his own ends. To gratify him, and +mainly because of her attachment to Prince Charles, my sister actually +wrote to me, asking for my intervention and what she termed my support. + +Nuns always profess to be, and think that they are, cut off from the +world. But the fact is, they care far more for mundane grandeur than we +do. Madame de Thianges and her sister would have given their very +heart's blood to see my niece the bride of a royal prince. + +One day the King said to me, "The Marquise de Thianges complains that I +have as yet done nothing for your family; there is a wealthy abbey that +has just become vacant; I am going to give it to your sister, the nun; +since last night she is the Abbess of Fontevrault." + +I thanked the King, as it behoved me to do, and he added, "Your brother +shall be made a duke at once. I am going to appoint him general of Royal +Galleys, and after one or two campaigns he will have a marshal's baton." + +"And what about me, Sire?" said I. "What, may it please your Majesty, +shall I get from the distribution of all these favours and emoluments?" +I laughingly asked the question. + +"You, madame?" he replied. "To you I made a present of my heart, which +is not altogether worthless; yet, as it is possible that, when this heart +shall have ceased to beat, you may have to maintain your rank, I will +give you the charming retreat of Petit-Bourg, near Fontainebleau." + +Saying this, his face wore a sad look, and I was sorry that I asked him +for anything. He is fond of giving, and of giving generously, but of his +own accord, without the least prompting. Had I refrained from committing +this indiscretion, be might, possibly, have made me a duchess there and +then, renaming Petit-Bourg Royal-Bourg. + +The new abbess of Fontevrault, caring less now for claustral seclusion, +equipped her new residence in very sumptuous style. In a splendid +carriage she came to thank the King and kiss hands. With much tact and +dignity she encountered the scrutiny of the royal family and of the +Court. Her manners showed her to have been a person brought up in the +great world, and possessed of all the tact and delicacy which her +position as well as mine required. + +As she embraced me, she sighed; yet, instantly recovering herself, she +made the excuse that so many ceremonious greetings and compliments had +fatigued her. + +It was not long before the King joined us, who said, "Madame, I never +thought that there was much amusement to be got by wearing the veil. +Now, you must admit that days in a convent seem very long to any one who +has wit and intelligence." + +"Sire," replied my sister, "the first fifteen or twenty months are +wearisome, I readily confess. Then comes discouragement; after that, +habit; and then one grows resigned to one's fetters from the mere +pleasure of existence." + +"Did you meet with any good friends among your associates?" + +"In such assemblies," rejoined the Abbess, "one can form no attachment or +durable friendship. The reason for this is simple. If the companion you +choose is religious in all sincerity, she is perforce a slave to every +little rule and regulation, and to her it would seem like defrauding the +Deity to give affection to any one but to Him. If, by mischance, you +meet with some one of sensitive temperament, with a bright intellect that +matches your own, you lay yourself open to be the mournful sharer of her +griefs, doubts, and regrets, and her depression reacts upon you; her +sorrow makes your melancholy return. Privation conjures up countless +illusions and every chimera imaginable, so that the peaceful retreat of +virgins of the Lord becomes a veritable hell, peopled by phantoms that +groan in torture!" + +"Oh, madame!" exclaimed the King. "What a picture is this! What a +spectacle you present to our view!" + +"Fortunately," continued Mademoiselle de Mortemart, "in convents girls of +intelligence are all too rare. The greater number of them are colourless +persons, devoid of imagination or fire. To exiles like these, any +country, any climate would seem good; to flaccid, crushed natures of this +type, every belief would seem authoritative, every religion holy and +divine. Fifteen hundred years ago these nuns would have made excellent +vestal virgins, watchful and resigned. What they need is abstinence, +prohibitions, thwartings, things contrary to nature. By conforming to +most rigorous rules, they consider themselves suffering beings who +deserve heavy recompense; and the Carmelite or Trappist sister, who +macerates herself by the hair-shirt or the cilex, would look upon God as +a false or wicked Being, if, after such cruel torment, He did not +promptly open to her the gates of Paradise. + +"Sire," added the Abbess de Fontevrault, "I have three nuns in my convent +who take the Holy Communion every other day, and whom my predecessor +could never bring herself to absolve for some old piece of nonsense of +twenty years back." + +"Do you think you will be able to manage them, madame?" asked the King, +laughing. + +"I am afraid not," replied my sister. "Those are three whom one could +never manage, and your Majesty on the throne may possibly have fewer +difficulties to deal with than the abbess or the prior of a convent." + +The King was obliged to quit us to go and see one of the ministers, but +he honoured the Abbess by telling her that she was excellent company, of +which he could never have too much. + +My sister wished to see Madame de Maintenon and the Duc du Maine; so we +visited that lady, who took a great liking to the Abbess, which was +reciprocated. + +When my sister saw the young Duc du Maine, she exclaimed, "How handsome +he is! Oh, sister, how fond I shall be of such a nephew!" + +"Then," said I, "you will forgive me, won't you, for having given birth +to him?" + +"When I reproached you," she answered, "I had not yet seen the King. +When one has seen him, everything is excusable and everything is right. +Embrace me, my dear sister, and do not let us forget that I owe my abbey +to you, as well as my independence, fortune, and liberty." + + + +ETEXT EDITOR'S BOOKMARKS: + +Cannot reconcile themselves to what exists +Domestics included two nurses, a waiting-maid, a physician +Extravagant, without the means to be so +Happy with him as a woman who takes her husband's place can be +Poetry without rhapsody +Present princes and let those be scandalised who will! +Satire without bitterness +Talent without artifice +The pulpit is in want of comedians; they work wonders there +Then comes discouragement; after that, habit +Trust not in kings +What they need is abstinence, prohibitions, thwartings +When one has seen him, everything is excusable +Would you like to be a cardinal? I can manage that + + + + +End of this Project Gutenberg Etext of Memoirs of Madame de Montespan, v2 +by Madame La Marquise De Montespan + + + + + + +MEMOIRS OF MADAME LA MARQUISE DE MONTESPAN, v3 + +Written by Herself + +Being the Historic Memoirs of the Court of Louis XIV. + + + + +BOOK 3. + + +CHAPTER XXXV. + +M. de Lauzun and Mademoiselle de Montpensier.--Marriage of the One and +Passion of the Other.--The King Settles a Match.--A Secret Union.-- +The King Sends M. de Lauzun to Pignerol.--The Life He Leads There.-- +Mademoiselle's Liberality.--Strange Way of Acknowledging It. + +They are forever talking about the coquetry of women; men also have their +coquetry, but as they show less grace and finesse than we do, they do not +get half as much attention. + +The Marquis de Lauzun, having one day, noticed a certain kindly feeling +for him in the glances of Mademoiselle, endeavoured to seem to her every +day more fascinating and agreeable. The foolish Princess completely fell +into the snare, and suddenly giving up her air of noble indifference, +which till then had made her life happy, she fell madly in love with a +schemer who despised and detested her. + +Held back for some months by her pride, as also by the exigencies of +etiquette, she only disclosed her sentimental passion by glances and a +mutual exchange of signs of approval; but at last she was tired of self- +restraint and martyrdom, and, detaining M. de Lauzun one day in a recess, +she placed her written offer of marriage in his hand. + +The cunning Marquis feigned astonishment, pretending humbly to renounce +such honour, while increasing his wiles and fascinations; he even went so +far as to shed tears, his most difficult feat of all. + +Mademoiselle de Montpensier, older than he by twelve or fourteen years, +never suspected that such a disparity of years was visible in her face. +When one has been pretty, one imagines that one is still so, and will +forever remain so. Plastered up and powdered, consumed by passion, and +above all, blinded by vanity, she fancied that Nature had to obey +princes, and that, to favour her, Time would stay his flight. + +Though tired and bored with everything, Lauzun, the better to excite her +passion, put on timid, languid airs, like those of some lad fresh from +school. Quitting the embraces of some other woman, he played the lonely, +pensive, melancholy bachelor, the man absorbed by this sweet, new mystery +of love. + +Having made mutual avowal of their passion, which was fill of esteem, +Lauzun inquired, merely from motives of caution, as to the Princess's +fortune; and she did not fail to tell him everything, even about her +plate and jewels. Lauzun's love grew even more ardent now, for she had +at least forty millions, not counting her palace. + +He asked if, by the marriage, he would become a prince, and she replied +that she, herself, had not sufficient power to do this; that she was most +anxious to arrange this, if she could; but anyhow, that she could make +him Duc de Montpensier, with a private uncontrolled income of five +hundred thousand livres. + +He asked if, on the family coat-of-arms, the husband's coronet was to +figure, or the wife's; but, as she would not change her name, her arms, +she decided, could remain as heretofore,--the crown, the fleur-de-lis, +and so forth. + +He inquired if the children of the marriage would rank as princes, and +she said that she saw nothing to prevent this. He also asked if he would +be raised higher in the peerage, and might look to being made a prince at +last, and styled Highness as soon as the contract had been signed. + +This caused some doubt and reflection. "The King, my cousin," said +Mademoiselle, "is somewhat strict in matters of this sort. He seems to +think that the royal family is a new arch-saint, at whom one may look +only when prostrate in adoration; all contract therewith is absolutely +forbidden. I begin to feel uneasy about this; yes, Lauzun, I have fears +for our love and marriage." + +"Are you, then, afraid?" asked Lauzun, quite crestfallen. + +"I knew how to point the Bastille cannon at the troops of the King," she +replied; "but he was very young then. No matter, I will go and see him; +if he is my King, I am his cousin; if he has his crotchets, I have my +love and my will. He can't do anything, my dear Lauzun; I love you as +once he loved La Valliere, as to-day he loves Montespan; I am not afraid +of him. As for the permission, I know our history by heart, and I will +prove to him by a hundred examples that, from the time of Charlemagne up +to the present time, widows and daughters of kings have married mere +noblemen. These nobleman may have been most meritorious,--I only know +them from history,--but not one of them was as worthy as you." + +So saying, she asked for her fan, her gloves, and her horses, and +attended by her grooms-in-waiting, she went to the King in person. + +The King listened to her from beginning to end, and then remarked, "You +refused the Kings of Denmark, Portugal, Spain, and England, and you wish +to marry my captain of the guard, the Marquis de Lauzun?" + +"Yes, Sire, for I place him above all monarchs,--yourself alone +excepted." + +"Do you love him immensely?" + +"More than I can possibly say; a thousand, a hundred thousand times more +than myself." + +"Do you think he is equally devoted to you?"--"That would be impossible," +she tranquilly answered; "but his love for me is delicate, tender; and +such friendship suffices me." + +"My cousin, in all that there is self-interest. I entreat you to +reflect. The world, as you know, is a mocking world; you want to excite +universal derision and injure the respect which is due to the place that +I fill." + +"Ah, Sire, do not wound me! I fling myself at your feet. Have +compassion upon M. de Lauzun, and pity my tears. Do not exercise your +power; let him be the consolation of my life; let me marry him." + +The King, no longer able to hide his disgust and impatience, said, +"Cousin, you are now a good forty-four years old; at that age you ought +to be able to take care of yourself. Spare me all your grievances, and +do what pleases you." + +On leaving Mademoiselle, he came to my apartment and told me about all +this nonsense. I then informed him of what I had heard by letter the day +before. Lauzun, while still carrying on with the fastest ladies of the +Court and the town, had just wheedled the Princess into making him a +present of twenty millions,--a most extravagant gift. + +"This is too much!" exclaimed the King; and he at once caused a letter +to be despatched to Mademoiselle and her lover, telling them that their +intimacy must cease, and that things must go no farther. + +But the audacious Lauzun found means to suborn a well-meaning simpleton +of a priest, who married them secretly the very same day. + +The King's indignation and resentment may well be imagined. He had his +captain of the guard arrested and sent as a prisoner to Pignerol. + +On this occasion, M. de Lauzun complained bitterly of me; he invented the +most absurd tales about me, even saying that he had struck me in my own +apartments, after taunting me to my face with "our old intimacy." + +That is false; he reproached me with nothing, for there was nothing to +reproach. Shortly after the Princess's grand scene, he came and begged +me to intercede on his behalf. I only made a sort of vague promise, and +he knew well enough that, in the great world, a vague promise is the same +as a refusal. + +For more than six months I had to stanch the tears and assuage the grief +of Mademoiselle. So tiresome to me did this prove, that she alone well- +nigh sufficed to make me quit the Court. + +Such sorrowing and chagrin made her lose the little beauty that still +remained to her; nothing seemed more incongruous and ridiculous than to +hear this elderly grand lady talking perpetually about "her dearest +darling, the prisoner." + +At the time I write he is at Pignerol; his bad disposition is forever +getting him into trouble. She sends him lots of money unknown to the +King, who generally knows everything. All this money he squanders or +gambles away, and when funds are low, says, "The old lady will send us +some." + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVI. + +Hyde, the Chancellor.--Misfortune Not Always Misfortune.--Prince +Comnenus.--The King at Petit-Bourg.--His Incognito.--Who M. de Vivonne +Really Was. + +The castle of Petit-Bourg, of which the King made me a present, is +situate on a height overlooking the Seine, whence one may get the +loveliest of views. So pleasant did I find this charming abode, that I +repaired thither as often as possible, and stayed for five or six days. +One balmy summer night, I sat in my dressing-gown at the central balcony, +watching the stars, as was my wont, asking myself whether I should not be +a thousand times happier if I should pass my life in a retreat like this, +and so have time to contemplate the glorious works of Nature, and to +prepare myself for that separation which sooner or later awaited me. +Reason bade me encourage such thoughts, yet my heart offered opposition +thereto, urging that there was something terrifying in solitude, most of +all here, amid vast fields and meadows, and that, away from the Court and +all my friends, I should grow old, and death would take me before my, +time. While plunged in such thoughts, I suddenly heard the sound of a +tocsin, and scanning the horizon, I saw flames and smoke rising from some +hamlet or country-house. I rang for my servants, and told them instantly +to despatch horsemen to the scene of the catastrophe, and bring back +news. + +The messengers started off, and soon came back to say that the fire had +broken out at the residence of my lord Hyde, Chancellor of England, who +was but lately convalescent. They had seen him lying upon a rug on the +grass, some little distance from the burning mansion. I forthwith +ordered my carriage to be sent for him, and charged my surgeon and +secretary to invite him to take shelter at my castle. + +My lord gratefully accepted the invitation; he entered my room as the +clock struck twelve. As yet he could not tell the cause of the disaster, +and in a calm, patriarchal manner observed, "I am a man marked out for +great misfortune. God forbid, madame, that the mischance which dogs my +footsteps touch you also!" + +"I cannot bear to see a fire," said I, in reply to the English nobleman, +"for some dreadful accident always results therefrom. Yet, on the whole, +they are of good augury, and I am sure, my lord, that your health or your +affairs will benefit by this accident." + +Hearing me talk thus, my lord smiled. He only took some slight +refreshment,--a little soup,--and heard me give orders for all my +available servants to be sent to the scene of disaster, in order to save +all his furniture, and protect it as well. + +After repeated expressions of his gratitude, he desired to withdraw, and +retired to rest. Next day we learnt that the fire had been got under +about one o'clock in the morning; one wing only of the chateau had been +destroyed, and the library, together with all the linen and plate, was +well-nigh intact. Lord Hyde was very glad to hear the news. They told +him that all the labourers living near had gladly come to the help of his +servants and mine. As his private cashbox had been saved, owing to their +vigilance and honesty, he promised to distribute its contents among them +when he returned. + +Hardly had he got the words out, when they came to tell me that, on the +highroad, just in front of my gates, a carriage, bound for Paris, had the +traces broken, and the travellers persons of distinction begged the +favour of my hospitality for a short while. I consented with pleasure, +and they went back to take the travellers my answer. + +"You see, madame," said the Chancellor, "my bad luck is contagious; no +sooner have I set foot in this enchanting abode than its atmosphere +deteriorates. A travelling-carriage passes rapidly by in front of the +gates, when lo! some invisible hand breaks it to pieces, and stops it +from proceeding any further." + +Then I replied, "But how do you know, monsieur, that this mishap may not +prove a most agreeable adventure for the travellers to whom we are about +to give shelter? To begin with, they will have the honour of making your +acquaintance, and to meet with an illustrious person is no common or +frivolous event." + +The servants announced the Princes Comnenus, who immediately entered the +salon. Though dressed in travelling-costume, with embroidered gaiters, +in the Greek fashion, it was easy to see what they were. The son, a lad +of fourteen, was presented to me by his father, and when both were +seated, I introduced them to the Chancellor. + +"The name is well known," observed the Prince, "even in Greece. My lord +married his daughter to the heir-presumptive to the English throne, and +England, being by nature ungrateful, has distressed this worthy parent, +while robbing him of all his possessions." + +At these words Lord Hyde became greatly affected; he could not restrain +his tears, and fearing at first to compromise himself, he told us that +his exile was voluntary and self-imposed, or very nearly so. + +After complimenting the Chancellor of a great kingdom, Prince Comnenus +thought that he ought to say something courteous and flattering to +myself. + +"Madame," quoth he, "it is only now, after asking for hospitality and +generously obtaining it, that I and my son have learnt the name of the +lady who has so graciously granted us admission to this most lovely +place. For a moment we hesitated in awe. But now our eyes behold her +whom all Europe admires, whom a great King favours with his friendship +and confidence. What strange chances befall one in life! Could I ever +have foreseen so fortunate a mishap!" + +I briefly replied to this amiable speech, and invited the travellers to +spend, at least, one day with us. They gladly accepted, and each retired +to his apartment until the time came for driving out. Dinner was laid, +and on the point of being served, when the King, who was on his way from +Fontainebleau, suddenly entered my room. He had heard something about a +fire, and came to see what had happened. I at once informed him, telling +him, moreover, that I had the Duke of York's father-in-law staying with +me at the moment. + +"Lord Hyde, the Chancellor?" exclaimed the King. "I have never seen +him, and have always been desirous to make his acquaintance. The +opportunity is an easy and favourable one." + +"But that is not all, Sire; I have other guests to meet you," said I. + +"And who may they be?" inquired the King, smiling. "Just because I have +come in rough-and-ready plight, your house is full of people." + +"But they are in rough-and-ready plight as well," I answered; "so your +Majesties must mutually excuse each other." + +"Are you in fun or in earnest?" asked his Majesty. "Have you really got +some king stowed away in one of your rooms?" + +"Not a king, Sire, but an emperor,--the Emperor of Constantinople and +Trebizond, accompanied by the Prince Imperial, his son. You shall see +two Greek profiles of the best sort, two finely cut noses, albeit hooked, +and almond-shaped eyes, like those of Achilles and Agamemnon." + +Then the King said, "Send for your groom of the chambers at once, and +tell him to give orders that my incognito be strictly observed. You must +introduce me to these dignitaries as your brother, M. de Vivonne. Under +these conditions, I will join your party at table; otherwise, I should be +obliged to leave the castle immediately." + +The King's wishes were promptly complied with; the footmen were let into +the secret, and I introduced "Monsieur de Vivonne" to my guests. + +The talk, without being sparkling, was pleasant enough until dessert. +When the men-servants left us, it assumed a very different character. +The King induced the Chancellor to converse, and asked him if his exile +were owing to the English monarch personally, or to some parliamentary +intrigue. + +"King Charles," replied his lordship, "is a prince to gauge whose +character requires long study. Apparently, he is the very soul of +candour, but no one is more deceitful than he. He fawns and smiles upon +you when in his heart of hearts he despises and loathe you. When the +Duke of York, unfortunately, became violently enamoured of my daughter, +he did not conceal his attachment from his brother, the King, and at last +asked for his approval to join his fortunes to my daughter's, when the +King, without offering opposition, contented himself by pointing out the +relative distance between their rank and position; to which the Duke +replied, 'But at one time you did everything you possibly could to get +Olympia Mancini, who was merely Mazarin's niece!' And King Charles, who +could not deny this, left his brother complete liberty of action. + +"As my daughter was far dearer and more precious to me than social +grandeur, I begged the Duke of York to find for himself a partner of +exalted rank. He gave way to despair, and spoke of putting an end to his +existence; in fact, he behaved as all lovers do whom passion touches to +madness; so this baleful marriage took place. God is my witness that I +opposed it, urged thereto by wisdom, by modesty, and by foresight. Now, +as you see, from that cruel moment I have been exiled to alien lands, +robbed of the sight of my beloved child, who has been raised to the rank +of a princess, and whom I shall never see again. Why did my sovereign +not say to me frankly, I do not like this marriage; you must oppose it, +Chancellor, to please me? + +"How different was his conduct from that of his cousin, the French King! +Mademoiselle d'Orleans wanted to make an unsuitable match; the King +opposed it, as he had a right to do, and the marriage did not take +place." + +My "brother," the King, smiled as he told his lordship he was right. + +Prince Comnenus was of the same opinion, and, being expressly invited to +do so, he briefly recounted his adventures, and stated the object of his +journey to Paris. + +"The whole world," said he, "is aware of the great misfortunes of my +family. The Emperors Andronicus and Michael Comnenus, driven from the +throne of Constantinople, left their names within the heart and memory of +Greece; they had ruled the West with a gentle sceptre, and in a people's +grateful remembrance they had their reward. My ancestors, their +descendants, held sway in Trebizond, a quicksand which gave way beneath +their tread. From adversity to adversity, from country to country, we +were finally driven to seclusion in the Isle of Candia, part of the +quondam Minos territory. Venice had allowed Candia to fall before +Mahomet's bloody sword. Europe lost her bulwark, the Cross of the +Saviour was thrown down, and the Candian Christians have been massacred +or forced to flee. I have left in the hands of the conqueror my fields +and forests, my summer palace, my winter palace, and my gardens filled +with the produce of America, Asia, and Europe. From this overwhelming +disaster I managed to save my son; and as my sole fortune I brought away +with me the large jewels of Andronicus, his ivory and sapphire sceptre, +his scimitar of Lemnos, and his ancient gold crown, which once encircled +Theseus's brow. + +"These noble relics I shall present to the King of France. They say that +he is humane, generous, fond of glory, and zealous in the cause of +justice. When before his now immovable throne he sees laid down these +last relics of an ancient race, perhaps he will be touched by so +lamentable a downfall, and will not suffer distress to trouble my last +days, and darken the early years of this my child." + +During this speech I kept watching the King's face. I saw that he was +interested, then touched, and at last was on the point of forgetting his +incognito and of appearing in his true character. + +"Prince," said he to the Greek traveller, "my duties and my devotion make +it easy for me to approach the King of France's person very closely. +In four or five days he will be leaving Fontainebleau for his palace at +Saint Germain. I will tell him without modification all that I have just +heard from you. Without being either prophet or seer, I can guarantee +that you will be well received and cordially welcomed, receiving such +benefits as kings are bound to yield to kings. + +"Madame, who respects and is interested in you, is desirous, I feel +certain, for me to persuade you to stay here until her departure; she +enjoys royal favour, and it is my sister herself who shall present you at +Court. You shall show her, you shall show us all, the golden crown of +Theseus, the sceptre of Adronicus, and this brow which I gaze upon and +revere, for it deserves a kingly diamond. + +"As for you, my lord," said his Majesty to the English nobleman, "if the +misfortune of last night prove disastrous in more ways than one, pray +wait for a while before you go back to the smouldering ashes of a half- +extinguished fire. My sister takes pleasure in your company; indeed, +the Marquise is charmed to be able to entertain three such distinguished +guests, and begs to place her chateau at your disposal until such time as +your own shall be restored. We shall speak of you to the King, and he +will certainly endeavour to induce King Charles, his cousin, to recall +you to your native country." + +Then, after saying one or two words to me in private, he bowed to the +gentlemen and withdrew. We went out on to the balcony to see him get +into his coach, when, to the surprise and astonishment of my guests, as +the carriage passed along the avenue, about a hundred peasants, grouped +near the gateway, threw off their hats and cried, "Long live the King!" + +Prince Comnenus and his son were inconsolable; I excused myself by saying +that it was at the express desire of our royal visitor, and my lord +admitted that at last he recollected his features, and recognised him by +his grand and courtly address. + +Before I end my tale, do not let me forget to say that the King strongly +recommended Prince Comnenus to the Republic of Genoa, and obtained for +him considerable property in Corsica and a handsome residence at Ajaccio. +He accepted five or six beautiful jewels that had belonged to Andronicus, +and caused the sum of twelve hundred thousand francs to be paid to the +young Comnenus from his treasury. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVII + +The Universal Jubilee.--Court Preachers.--King David.--Madame de +Montespan is Obliged to go to Clagny.--Bossuet's Mission.--Mademoiselle +de Mauleon.--An Enemy's Good Faith. + +I do not desire to hold up to ridicule the rites of that religion in +which I was born and bred. Neither would I disparage its ancient usages, +nor its far more modern laws. All religions, as I know, have their +peculiarities, all nations their contradictions, but I must be suffered +to complain of the abuse sometimes made in our country of clerical and +priestly authority. + +A general jubilee was held soon after the birth of my second son, and +among Christian nations like ours, a jubilee is as if one said, "Now all +statutes, divine and earthly, are repealed; by means of certain formula +recited, certain visits paid to the temples, certain acts of abstinence +practised here and there, all sins, misdemeanours, and crimes are +forgiven, and their punishment cancelled." It is generally on the +occasion of the proclamation of a new pontificate at Rome that such great +papal absolutions are extended over the whole universe. + +The jubilee having been proclaimed in Paris, the Court preachers worked +miracles. They denounced all social irregularities and friendships of +which the Church disapproved. The opening sermon showed plainly that the +orator's eloquence was pointed at myself. The second preacher showed +even less restraint; he almost mentioned me by name. The third +ecclesiastic went beyond all bounds, actually uttering the following +words: + +"Sire, when King David was still but a shepherd, a heifer was stolen from +his flocks; David made complaint to the patriarch of the land, when his +heifer was restored to him, and the thief was punished. + +"When David came to the throne, he carried off his servant's wife, and as +an excuse for such an odious deed, he pleaded the young woman's extreme +beauty. The wretched servant besought him to obey the voice, not of +passion, but of justice, and the servant was disgraced and perished +miserably. Oh, David, unhappy David!" + +The King, who had found it hard to sit quiet and hear such insults, said +to me that evening: + +"Go to Clagny. Let this stormy weather pass by. When it is fine again, +you must come back." + +Having never run counter to the wishes of the father of my children, I +acquiesced, and without further delay gladly departed. + +Next day, Madame de Montausier came to see me at my country-house; she +told me of the general rumour that was afloat at Court. The news, said +she, of my retirement had begun to get about; three bishops had gone to +congratulate the King, and these gentlemen had despatched couriers to +Paris to inform the heads of the various parishes, inviting them to write +to the prince sympathising references touching an event which God and all +Christendom viewed with complete satisfaction. + +Madame de Montausier assured me that the King's bearing was fairly calm +on the whole, and she also added that he had granted an interview of half +an hour at least to the Abbe Bossuet, who had discoursed to him about me +in a strain similar to that of the other clerics. + +She was my sincere friend; she promised to come to Clagny every evening, +driving thither incognito. + +She had hardly been gone an hour, when my footman announced "Monsieur +Bossuet, Bishop of Condom." + +At the mention of this name, I felt momentarily inclined to refuse to see +its owner; but I conquered my disgust, and I did well. The prelate, with +his semi-clerical, semi-courtly air, made me a low bow. I calmly waited, +so as to give him time to deliver his message. The famous rhetorician +proceeded as follows: + +"You know, madame, with what health-giving sacrifices the Church is now +engaged. The merits of our Lord doubtless protect Christians at all +times, but the Church has appointed times more efficacious, ceremonies +more useful, springs yet more abounding. Thus it is that we now +celebrate the grand nine days of the jubilee. + +"To this mystic pool herdsman and monarchs alike receive summons and +admission. The most Christian King must, for his own sake, accomplish +his own sanctification; his sanctification provides for that of his +subjects. + +"Chosen by God to this royal priesthood, he comprehends the duties +imposed upon him by such noble office. The passions of the heart are +maladies from which man may recover, just as he recovers from physical +disease. The physicians of the soul have lifted up their voice, have +taken sage counsel together; and I come to inform you of the monarch's +miraculous recovery, and at his request, I bring you this important and +welcome news. + +"For convalescents, greater care is required than for others; the King, +and the whole of France, beseech you, with my voice, to have respect and +care for the convalescence of our monarch, and I beg you, madame, to +leave at once for Fontevrault." + +"For Fontevrault?" I cried, without betraying my emotion. "Fontevrault +is near Poitiers; it is too far away. No, I would rather go to Petit- +Bourg, near the forest of Fontainebleau." + +"Fontainebleau is but eighteen leagues from the capital," he answered; +"such proximity would be dangerous. I must insist upon Fontevrault, +madame." + +"But I cannot take my children to Fontevrault," I retorted; "the nuns, +and the Abbess herself, would never admit them. You know better than I +do that it is a nunnery." + +"Your children," said he, "are not necessary to you; Madame de la +Valliere managed to leave here for good and all." + +"Yes; and in forsaking them she committed a crime," I answered; "only +ferocious-hearted persons could have counselled her or commanded her to +do so." And saying this, I rose, and gave him a glance of disdain. + +He grew somewhat gentler in manner as he slowly went on, "His Majesty +will take care of your children; it behoves you to save their mother. +And, in order to prove to you that I have not come here of my own accord, +but that, on the contrary, I am executing a formal command, here is a +letter of farewell addressed to you by the King." + +I took the letter, which was couched in the following terms: + + It is but right, madame, that on so solemn an occasion I should set + an example myself. I must ask you henceforth to consider our + intimacy entirely at an end. You must retire to Fontevrault, where + Madame de Montemart will take care of you and afford you distraction + by her charming society. Your children are in good hands; do not be + in the least uneasy about them. Farewell. I wish you all the + firmness and well-being possible. + LOUISON + +In the first flush of my indignation I was about to trample under foot so +offensive a communication. But the final phrase shocked me less than the +others. + +I read it over again, and understood that if the King recommended me to +be firm, it was because he needed to be firm himself. I soon mastered my +emotion, and looked at things in their real light. It was easy to see +that sanctimonious fanatics had forced the King to act. Bossuet was not +sanctimonious, but, to serve his own ends, proffered himself as spokesman +and emissary, being anxious to prove to his old colleagues that he was on +the side of what they styled moral conduct and good example. + +For a while I walked up and down my salon; but the least exertion +fatigues me. I resumed my armchair or my settee, leaving the man there +like a sort of messenger, whom it was not necessary to treat with any +respect. He was bold, and asked me for a definite answer which he could +take back to his Majesty. I stared hard at him for about a minute, and +then said: "My Lord Bishop of Condom, the clerics who have been advising +the King are very pleased that he should set an example to his people of +self-sacrifice. I am of their opinion; I think as they do, as you do, as +the Pope does; but feeling convinced that to us, the innocent sheep, the +shepherds ought first to show an example, I will consent to break off my +relationship with his Majesty when you, M. de Condom, shall have broken +off your intimacy with Mademoiselle de Mauleon des Vieux!" + +By a retort of this kind I admit that I hoped greatly to embarrass the +Bishop, and enjoy seeing his face redden with confusion. But he was +nowise disconcerted, and I confess to-day that this circumstance proved +to me that there was but little truth in the rumours that were current +with regard to this subject. + +"Mademoiselle de Mauleon!" said he, smiling half-bitterly, half- +pityingly. "Surely, madame, your grief makes you forget what you say. +Everybody knows that she is an acquaintance of my youth, and that, since +that time, having confidence in my doctrines and my counsel, she wished +to have me as spiritual monitor and guide. How can you institute a +comparison between such a relationship and your own?" Then, after +walking up and down for a moment, as if endeavouring to regain his self- +possession, he continued: + +"However, I shall not insist further; it was signally foolish of me to +speak in the name of an earthly king, when I should have invoked that of +the King of Heaven. I have received an insulting answer. So be it. + +"Farewell, madame. I leave you to your own conscience, which, seemingly, +is so tranquil that I blame myself for having sought to disturb it." + +With these words he departed, leaving me much amazed at the patience with +which a man, known to be so arrogant and haughty, had received such an +onslaught upon his private life and reputation. + +I need scarcely say that, next day, the species of pastoral letter which +my lords the Bishops of Aleth, Orleans, Soissons, and Condom had dictated +to the King was succeeded by another letter, which he had dictated +himself, and by which my love for him was solaced and assured. + +He begged me to wait patiently for a few days, and this arrangement +served my purpose very well. I thought it most amusing that the King +should have commissioned M. de Bossuet to deliver this second missive, +and I believe I said as much to certain persons, which perhaps gave rise +to a rumour that he actually brought me love-letters from the King. +But the purveyors of such gossip could surely know nothing of Bossuet's +inflexible principles, and of the subtlety of his policy. He was well +aware that by lending himself to such amenities he would lose caste +morally with the King, and that if by his loyalty he had won royal +attachment and regard, all this would have been irretrievably lost. +Thus M. de Bossuet was of those who say, "Hate me, but fear me," rather +than of those who strive to be loved. Such people know that friendships +are generally frail and transient, and that esteem lasts longer and leads +further. He never interfered again with my affairs, nor did I with his; +I got my way, and he is still where he was. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVIII. + +Madame de Montespan Back at Court.--Her Friends.--Her Enemies.-- +Edifying Conversions.--The Archbishop of Paris. + +Eight days after the conclusion of the jubilee I returned to Versailles. +The King received me with every mark of sincere friendship; my friends +came in crowds to my apartments; my enemies left their names with my +Swiss servant, and in chapel they put back my seat, chairs, and +footstools in their usual place. + +Madame de Maintenon had twice sent my children to Clagny + + [The splendid Chateau de Clagny (since demolished) was situated on + the beautiful country surrounding Versailles, near the wood of + Millers d'Avrai.--EDITOR's NOTE.] + +with the under-governess; but she did not come herself, which greatly +inconvenienced me. I complained to her about this, and she assured me +the King had dissuaded her from visiting me, "so as to put curious folk +off the scent;" and when I told her of my interview with M. de Bossuet, +she neatly avoided being mixed up in the matter by omitting to blame +anybody. The most licentious women, so she told me, had distinguished +themselves by pious exercises during the observance of the jubilee. +She informed me that the Comtesse de Soissons, the Princesse de Monaco, +Madame de Soubise, and five or six virtuous dames of this type, had given +gold, silver, and enamelled lamps to the most notable churches of the +capital. The notorious Duchesse de Longueville talked of having her own +tomb constructed in a Carmelite chapel. Six leaders of fashion had +forsworn rouge, and Madame d'Humieres had given up gambling. As for my +lord the Archbishop of Paris, he had not changed his way of life a jot, +either for the better or for the worse. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIX. + +Attempted Abduction.--The Marquise Procures a Bodyguard.-- +Her Reasons for So Doing.--Geography and Morals. + +The youthful Marquis d'Antin--my son--was growing up; the King showed him +the most flattering signs of his attachment, and as the child had lived +only with me, he dreaded his father's violent temper, of which he had +often heard me speak. In order to have the custody of his son, the +Marquis de Montespan had appealed to Parliament; but partisans of the +King had shelved the matter, which, though ever in abeyance, was still +pending. I had my son educated under my care, being sure of the tender +attachment that would spring up between himself and the princes, his +brothers. At the Montespan chateau, I admit, he would have learned to +ride an unbroken horse, as well as to shoot hares, partridges, and big +game; he would also have learned to talk loud, to use bad language, to +babble about his pedigree, while ignorant of its history or its crest; in +fine, he would have learned to despise his mother, and probably to hate +her. Educated under my eyes, almost on the King's lap, he soon learned +the customs of the Court and all that a well-born gentleman should know. +He will be made Duc d'Antin, I have the King's word for it,--and his mien +and address, which fortunately sort well with that which Fate holds in +store for him, entitle him to rank with all that is most exalted at +Court. + +The Procureur-General caused a man from Barn to be arrested, who had come +to abduct my son. This individual, half-Spanish and half-French, was +detained in the Paris prisons, and I was left in ignorance of the matter. +It was imprudent not to tell me, and almost occasioned a serious mishap. + +One day I was returning from the neighbourhood of Etampes with only my +son, his tutor, and my physician in the carriage. On reaching a steep +incline, where the brake should be put on, my servants imprudently +neglected to do this, and I felt that we were burning the roadway in our +descent. Such recklessness made me uneasy, when suddenly twelve horsemen +rode headlong at us, and sought to stop the postilions. My six horses +were new ones and very fresh; they galloped along at breakneck speed. +Our pursuers fired at the coachman, but missed him, and the report of a +pistol terrified the horses yet further. They redoubled their speed. We +gave ourselves up for lost, as an accident of some sort seemed bound to +ensue, when suddenly my carriage reached the courtyard of an inn, where +we obtained help. + +Baulked of their prey, the horsemen turned about and rode away. They had +been noticed the day before, hanging about and asking for Madame de +Montespan. + +We stayed that night at the inn, and next day, provided with a stout +escort, we reached Saint Germain. + +The King regretted not having provided against similar attempts. He +rewarded my postilions for their neglect to use the brake (a neglect +which, at first, I was going to punish), saying to me, "If they had put +the brake on, you would have been captured and whisked off to the +Pyrenees. Your husband is never going to give in!" + +"Such a disagreeable surprise," added he, "shall not occur again. +Henceforth you shall not travel without an adequate escort. In future, +you shall have a guard of honour, like the Queen and myself." I had long +wished for this privilege, and I warmly thanked his Majesty. + +Nevertheless, people chose to put a completely false construction upon so +simple an innovation, and my sentiments in the matter were wholly +misunderstood. It was thought that vanity had prompted me to endeavour +to put myself on a level with the Queen, and this worthy princess was +herself somewhat nettled thereat. God is my witness that, from mere +motives of prudence, this unusual arrangement had to be made, and I +entirely agreed to it. After all, if the Infanta of Spain gave birth to +the Dauphin, Athenais de Mortemart is the mother of several princes. + +In France, a Catholic realm, for the King to have a second wife is +considered superfluous by the timorous and shrivelled-brained. In +Constantinople, Alexandria, and Ispahan, I should have met with only +homage, veneration, respect. Errors of a purely geographical nature are +not those which cause me alarm; to have brought into the world so perfect +a being as the Duc du Maine will never, as I take it, incur blame at the +tribunal of Almighty God. + +Mademoiselle de Nantes, his charming sister, has from her cradle been +destined to belong to one of the royal branches. Mademoiselle de Blois +will also become the mother of several Bourbon princes; I have good +grounds for cherishing such flattering hopes. + +The little Comte de Toulouse already bids fair to be a worthy successor +to M. du Maine. He has the same grace of manner, and frank, +distinguished mien. + +When all these princes possess their several escorts, it will seem +passing strange that their mother alone should not have any. That is my +opinion, and it is shared by all people of sense. + + + + +CHAPTER XL. + +Osmin, the Little Moor.--He Sets the Fashion.--The Queen Has a Black +Baby.--Osmin is Dismissed. + +I have already told how the envoys of the King of Arda, an African +prince, gave to the Queen a nice little blackamoor, as a toy and pet. +This Moor, aged about ten or twelve years, was only twenty-seven inches +in height, and the King of Arda declared that, being quite unique, the +boy would never grow to be taller than three feet. + +The Queen instantly took a great fancy to this black creature. Sometimes +he gambolled about and turned somersaults on her carpet like a kitten, or +frolicked about on the bureau, the sofa, and even on the Queen's lap. + +As she passed from one room to another, he used to hold up her train, and +delighted to catch hold of it and so make the Queen stop short suddenly, +or else to cover his head and face with it, for mischief, to make the +courtiers laugh. + +He was arrayed in regular African costume, wearing handsome bracelets, +armlets, a necklace ablaze with jewels, and a splendid turban. Wishing +to show myself agreeable, I gave him a superb aigrette of rubies and +diamonds; I was always sorry afterwards that I did so. + +The King could never put up with this little dwarf, albeit his features +were comely enough. To begin with, he thought him too familiar, and +never even answered him when the dwarf dared to address him. + +Following the fashion set by her Majesty, all the Court ladies wanted to +have little blackamoors to follow them about, set off their white +complexions, and hold up their cloaks or their trains. Thus it came that +Mignard, Le Bourdon, and other painters of the aristocracy, used to +introduce negro boys into all their large portraits. It was a mode, a +mania; but so absurd a fashion soon had to disappear after the mishap of +which I am about to tell. + +The Queen being pregnant, public prayers were offered up for her +according to custom, and her Majesty was forever saying: "My pregnancy +this time is different from preceding ones. I am a prey to nausea and +strange whims; I have never felt like this before. If, for propriety's +sake, I did not restrain myself, I should now dearly like to be turning +somersaults on the carpet, like little Osmin. He eats green fruit and +raw game; that is what I should like to do, too. I should like to--" + +"Oh, madame, you frighten us!" exclaimed the King. "Don't let all those +whimsies trouble you further, or you will give birth to some monstrosity, +some freak of nature." His Majesty was a true prophet. The Queen was +delivered of a fine little girl, black as ink from head to foot. They +did not tell her this at once, fearing a catastrophe, but persuaded her +to go to sleep, saying that the child had been taken away to be +christened. + +The physicians met in one room, the bishops and chaplains in another. +One prelate was opposed to baptising the infant; another only agreed to +this upon certain conditions. The majority decided that it should be +baptised without the name of father or mother, and such suppression was +unanimously advocated. + +The little thing, despite its swarthy hue, was most beautifully made; its +features bore none of those marks peculiar to people of colour. + +It was sent away to the Gisors district to be suckled as a negro's +daughter, and the Gazette de France contained an announcement to the +effect that the royal infant had died, after having been baptised by the +chaplains. + + [This daughter of the Queen lived, and was obliged to enter a + Benedictine nunnery at Moret. Her portrait is to be seen in the + Sainte Genevieve Library of Henri IV.'s College, where it hangs in + the winter saloon.--EDITOR'S NOTE.] + +The little African was sent away, as may well be imagined; and the Queen +admitted that, one day soon after she was pregnant, he had hidden himself +behind a piece of furniture and suddenly jumped out upon her to give her +a fright. In this he was but too successful. + +The Court ladies no longer dared come near the Queen attended by their +little blackamoors. These, however, they kept for a while longer, as if +they were mere nick-hacks or ornaments; in Paris they were still to be +seen in public. But the ladies' husbands at last got wind of the tale, +when all the little negroes disappeared. + + + + +CHAPTER XLI. + +Monsieur's Second Marriage.--Princess Palatine.--The Court Turnspit.-- +A Woman's Hatred.--The King's Mistress on a Par with the First Prince of +the Blood.--She Gives His Wife a Lesson. + +In order to keep up appearances at his Palais Royal, Monsieur besought +the King to consent to his remarriage after the usual term of mourning +was at an end. + +"Whom have you in view?" asked his brother. He replied that he proposed +to wed Mademoiselle--the grande Mademoiselle de Montpensier--on account +of her enormous wealth! + +Just then Mademoiselle was head over ears in love with Lauzun. She sent +the Prince about his business, as I believe I have already stated. +Moreover, she remarked: "You had the loveliest wife in all Europe,-- +young, charming, a veritable picture. You might have seen to it that she +was not poisoned; in that case you would not now be a widower. As it is +not likely that I should ever come to terms with your favourites, I shall +never be anything else to you but a cousin, and I shall endeavour not to +die until the proper time; that is, when it shall please God to take me. +You can repeat this speech, word for word, to your precious Marquis +d'Effiat and Messieurs de Remecourt and de Lorraine. They have no access +to my kitchens; I am not afraid of them." + +This answer amused the King not a little, and he said to me: "I was told +that the Palatine of Bavaria's daughter is extremely ugly and ill-bred; +consequently, she is capable of keeping Monsieur in check. Through one +of my Rhenish allies, I will make proposals to her father for her hand. +As soon as a reply comes, I will show my brother a portrait of some sort; +it will be all the same to him; he will accept her." + +Soon afterwards this marriage took place. Charlotte Elizabeth of +Bavaria, though aware of the sort of death that her predecessor died, +agreed to marry Monsieur. Had she not been lucky enough to make this +grand match, her extreme ugliness would assuredly have doomed her to +celibacy, even in Bavaria and in Germany. It is surely not allowable to +come into the world with such a face and form, such a voice, such eyes, +such hands, and such feet, as this singular princess displayed. The +Court, still mindful of the sweetness, grace, and charm of Henrietta of +England, could not contemplate without horror and disgust the fearful +caricature I have just described. Young pregnant women--after the +Queen's unfortunate experience--were afraid to look at the Princess +Palatine, and wished to be confined before they reappeared at Court. + +As for herself, armed with robust, philosophical notions, and a complete +set of Northern nerves, she was in no way disconcerted at the effect her +presence produced. She even had the good sense to appear indifferent to +all the raillery she provoked, and said to the King: + +"Sire, to my mind you are one of the handsomest men in the world, and +with few exceptions, your Court appears to me perfectly fitted for you. +I have come but scantily equipped to such an assemblage. Fortunately, +I am neither jealous nor a coquette, and I shall win pardon for my +plainness, I myself being the first to make merry at it." + +"You put us completely at our ease," replied the King, who had not even +the courage to be gallant. "I must thank you on behalf of these ladies +for your candour and wit." Ten or twelve of us began to titter at this +speech of hers. The Robust Lady never forgave those who laughed. + +Directly she arrived, she singled me out as the object of her ponderous +Palatine sarcasms. She exaggerated my style of dress, my ways and +habits. She thought to make fun of my little spaniels by causing herself +to be followed, even into the King's presence-chamber, by a large +turnspit, which in mockery she called by the name of my favourite dog. + +When I had had my hair dressed, ornamented with quantities of little +curls, diamonds, and jewelled pins, she had the impertinence to appear at +Court wearing a huge wig, a grotesque travesty of my coiffure. I was +told of it. I entered the King's apartment without deigning to salute +Madame, or even to look at her. + +I had also been told that, in society, she referred to me as "the +Montespan woman." I met her one day in company with a good many other +people, and said to her: + +"Madame, you managed to give up your religion in order to marry a French +prince; you might just as well have left behind your gross Palatine +vulgarity also. I have the honour to inform you that, in the exalted +society to which you have been admitted, one can no more say 'the +Montespan woman,' than one can say 'the Orleans woman.' I have never +offended you in the slightest degree, and I fail to see why I should have +been chosen as the favoured object of your vulgar insults." + +She blushed, and ventured to inform me that this way of expressing +herself was a turn of speech taken from her own native language, and that +by saying "the," as a matter of course "Marquise" was understood. + +"No, madame," I said, without appearing irritated; "in Paris, such an +excuse as that is quite inadmissible, and since you associate with +turnspits, pray ask your cooks, and they will tell you." + +Fearing to quarrel with the King, she was obliged to be more careful, but +to change one's disposition is impossible, and she has loathed and +insulted me ever since. Her husband, who himself probably taught her to +do so, one day tried to make apologies for what he ruefully termed her +reprehensible conduct. "There, there, it doesn't matter," I said to him; +"it is easier to offend me than to deceive me. Allow me to quote to you +the speech of Mademoiselle de Montpensier, 'You had a charming and +accomplished wife, you ought to have prevented her from being poisoned, +and then we should not have had this hag at Court.'" + + + + +CHAPTER XLII. + +Madame de Montespan's Father-confessor.--He Alters His Opinion.--Madame +de Maintenon Is Consulted.--A General on Theology.--A Country Priest.-- +The Marquise Postpones Her Repentance and Her Absolution. + +My father-confessor, who since my arrival at Court had never vexed or +thwarted me, suddenly altered his whole manner towards me, from which I +readily concluded that the Queen had got hold of him. This priest, of +gentle, easy-going, kindly nature, never spoke to me except in a tone of +discontent and reproach. He sought to induce me to leave the King there +and then, and retire to some remote chateau. Seeing that he was +intriguing, and had, so to speak, taken up his position, like a woman of +experience I took up mine as well, and politely dismissed him, at which +he was somewhat surprised. In matters of religion, Madame de Maintenon, +who understands such things, was my usual mentor. I told her that I was +disheartened, and should not go to confession again for ever so long. +She was shocked at my resolve, and strove all she could to make me change +my mind and endeavour to lead me back into the right way. + +She forever kept repeating her favourite argument, saying, "Good +gracious! suppose you should die in that state!" + +I replied that it was not my fault, as I had never ceased to obey the +precepts of the Holy Church. "It was my old father-confessor," said I, +"the Canon of Saint Thomas du Louvre, who had harshly refused to confess +me." + +"What he does," replied she, "is solely for your own good." + +"But if he has only my well-being in view," I quickly retorted, "why did +not he think of this at first? It would have been far better to have +stopped me at the outset, instead of letting me calmly proceed upon my +career. He is obeying the Queen's orders, or else those of that Abbe +Bossuet de Mauleon, who no longer dares attack me to my face." + +As we thus talked, the Duc de Vivonne came into my room. Learning the +topic of our discussion, he spoke as follows: "I should not be general of +the King's Galleys and a soldier at heart and by profession if my opinion +in this matter were other than it is. I have attentively read +controversies on this point, and have seen it conclusively proved that +our kings never kept a confessor at Court. Among these kings, too, there +were most holy, most saintly people, and--" + +"Then, what do you conclude from that, Duke?" asked Madame de Maintenon. + +"Why, that Madame will do well to respect his Majesty the King as her +father-confessor." + +"Oh, Duke, you shock me! What dreadful advice, to be sure!" cried the +governess. + +"I have not the least wish to shock you, madame; but my veneration for +D'Aubigne-- + + [Theodore Agrippa, Baron d'Aubigne, lieutenant-general in the army + of Henri IV. He persevered in Calvinism after the recantation of + the King.--EDITOR'S NOTE.] + +your illustrious grandfather--is too great to let me think that he is +among the damned, and he never attended confession at all." + +"Eternity hides that secret from us," replied Madame de Maintenon. +"Each day I pray to God to have mercy upon my poor grandfather; if I +thought he were among the saved, I should never be at pains to do this." + +"Bah, madame! let's talk like sensible, straightforward people," quoth +the General. "The reverend Pere de la Chaise--one of the Jesuit oracles +--gives the King absolution every year, and authorises him to receive the +Holy Sacrament at Easter. If the King's confessor--thorough priest as he +is--pardons his intimacy with madame, here, how comes it that the other +cleric won't tolerate madame's intimacy with the King? On a point of +such importance as this, the two confessors ought really to come to some +agreement, or else, as the Jesuits have such a tremendous reputation, the +Marquise is entitled to side with them." + +Hemmed in thus, Madame de Maintenon remarked "that the morals of Jesuits +and lax casuists had never been hers," and she advised me to choose a +confessor far removed from the Court and its intrigues. + +The next day she mentioned a certain village priest to me, uninfluenced +by anybody, and whose primitive simplicity caused him to be looked upon +as a saint. + +I submitted, and ingenuously went to confess myself to this wonderful +man; his great goodness did not prevent him from rallying me about the +elegance of my costume, and the perfume of my gloves, and my hair. He +insisted upon knowing my name, and on learning it, flew into a passion. +I suppress the details of his disagreeable propositions. Seated sideways +in his confessional, he stamped on the floor, abused me, and spoke +disrespectfully of the King. I could not stand such scandalous behaviour +for long; and, wearing my veil down, I got into my coach, being +thoroughly determined that I would take a good long holiday. M. de +Vivonne soundly rated me for such cowardice, as he called it, while +Madame de Maintenon offered me her curate-in-chief, or else the Abbe +Gobelin. + +But, for the time being, I determined to keep to my plan of not going to +confession, strengthened in such resolve by my brother Vivonne's good +sense, and the attitude of the King's Jesuit confessor, who had a great +reputation and knew what he was about. + + + + +CHAPTER XLIII. + +The Comte de Guiche.--His Violent Passion for Madame.--His Despair.--He +Flees to La Trappe.--And Comes Out Again.--A Man's Heart.--Cured of His +Passion, He Takes a Wife. + +The Comte de Guiche, son of the Marechal de Grammont, was undoubtedly one +of the handsomest men in France. + +The grandeur and wealth of his family had, at an early age, inspired him +with courage and self-conceit, so that in his blind, frivolous +presumption, the only person, as he thought, who exceeded his own +fascination was possibly the King, but nobody else. + +Perceiving the wonderful charm of Monsieur's first wife, he conceived so +violent a passion for her that no counsel nor restraint could prevent him +from going to the most extravagant lengths in obedience to this rash, +this boundless passion. + +Henrietta of England, much neglected by her husband, and naturally of a +romantic disposition, allowed the young Count to declare his love for +her, either by singing pretty romances under her balcony, or by wearing +ribbons, bunched together in the form of a hieroglyphic, next his heart. +Elegantly dressed, he never failed to attend all the assemblies to which +she lent lustre by her presence. He followed her to Saint Germain, to +Versailles, to Chambord, to Saint Cloud; he only lived and had his being +in the enjoyment of contemplating her charms. + +One day, being desirous of walking alongside her sedan-chair, without +being recognised, he had a complete suit made for him of the La Valliere +livery, and thus, seeming to be one of the Duchess's pages, he was able +to converse with Madame for a short time. Another time he disguised +himself as a pretty gipsy, and came to tell the Princess her fortune. +At first she did not recognise him, but when the secret was out, and all +the ladies were in fits of laughter, a page came running in to announce +the arrival of Monsieur. Young De Guiche slipped out by a back +staircase, and in order to facilitate his exit, one of the footmen, +worthy of Moliere, caught hold of the Prince as if he were one of his +comrades, and holding a handkerchief over his face, nearly poked his eye +out. + +The Count's indiscretions were retailed in due course to Monsieur by his +favourites, and he was incensed beyond measure. He complained to +Marechal de Grammont; he complained to the King. + +Hereupon, M. de Guiche received orders to travel for two or three years. + +War with the Turks had just been declared, and together with other +officers, his friends, he set out for Candia and took part in the siege. +All did him the justice to affirm that while there he behaved like a +hero. When the fortress had to capitulate, and Candia was lost to the +Christians forever, our officers returned to France. Madame was still +alive when the young Count rejoined his family. He met the Princess once +or twice in society, without being able to approach her person, or say a +single word to her. + +Soon afterwards, she gave birth to a daughter. A few days later, certain +monsters took her life by giving her poison. This dreadful event made +such an impression upon the poor Comte de Guiche, that for a long while +he lost his gaiety, youth, good looks, and to a certain extent, his +reason. After yielding to violent despair, he was possessed with rash +ideas of vengeance. The Marechal de Grammont had to send him away to one +of his estates, for the Count talked of attacking and of killing, without +further ado, the Marquis d'Effiat, M. de Remecourt, the Prince's +intendant, named Morel, + + [Morel subsequently admitted his guilt in the matter of Madame's + death, as well as the commission of other corresponding crimes. See + the Letters of Charlotte, the Princess Palatine.--EDITOR'S NOTE.] + +and even the Duc d'Orleans himself. + +His intense agitation was succeeded by profound melancholy, stupor +closely allied to insanity or death. + +One evening, the Comte de Guiche went to the Abbey Church of Saint Denis. +He hid himself here, to avoid being watched, and when the huge nave was +closed, and all the attendants had left, he rushed forward and flung +himself at full length upon the tombstone which covers the vast royal +vault. By the flickering light of the lamps, he mourned the passing +hence of so accomplished a woman, murdered in the flower of her youth. +He called her by name, telling her once more of his deep and fervent +love. Next day, he wandered about in great pain, gloomy and +inconsolable. + +One day he came to see me at Clagny, and talked in a hopeless, desolate +way about our dear one. He told me that neither glory nor ambition nor +voluptuous pleasures could ever allure him or prove soothing to his soul. +He assured me that life was a burden to him,--a burden that religion +alone prevented him from relinquishing, and that he was determined to +shut himself up in La Trappe or in some such wild, deserted place. + +I sought to dissuade him from such a project, which could only be the +cause of grief and consternation to his relatives. He pretended to yield +to my entreaties, but the next night he left home and disappeared. + +At length he came back. Luckily, the Trappist Abbe de Ranch wished to +take away from him the portrait on enamel of Henrietta of England, so as +to break it in pieces before his eyes. So indignant was the Count that +he was upon the point of giving the hermit a thrashing. He fled in +disgust from the monastery, and this fresh annoyance served, in some +degree, to assuage his grief. Life's daily occupations, the excitements +of society, the continual care shown towards him by his relatives, youth, +above all, and Time, the irresistible healer, at last served to soothe a +sorrow which, had it lasted longer, would have been more disastrous in +its results. + +The Comte de Guiche consented to marry a wife to whom he was but slightly +attached, and who is quite content with him, praising his good qualities +and all his actions. + + + + +CHAPTER XLIV. + +Mexica.--Philippa.--Molina.--The Queen's Jester. + +In marrying Maria Theresa, Infanta of Spain, the King had made an +advantageous match from a political point of view. For through the +Infanta he had rights with regard to Flanders; she also provided him +with eventual claims upon Spain itself, together with Mexico and Peru. +But from a personal and social point of view, the King could not have +contracted a more miserable alliance. The Infanta, almost wholly +uneducated, had not even such intellectual resources as a position such +as hers certainly required, where personal risk was perpetual, where +authority had to be maintained by charming manners, and respect for power +ensured by elevation of tone and sentiment, which checks the indiscreet, +and imbues everybody with the spirit of consideration and reverence. + +Maria Theresa, though a king's daughter, made no more effect at Court +than if she had been a mere middle-class person. The King, in fact, by +his considerateness, splendour, and glory, served to support her dignity. +He hoped and even desired that she should be held in honour, partly for +her own sake, in a great measure for his. But as soon as she started +upon some argument or narration where force of intellect was needed, she +always seemed bewildered, and he soon interrupted her either by finishing +the tale himself, or by changing the conversation. This he did good- +naturedly and with much tact, so that the Queen, instead of taking +offence, was pleased to be under such an obligation to him. From such a +wife this prince could not look to have sons of remarkable talent or +intellect, for that would have been nothing short of a miracle. And thus +the little Dauphin showed none of those signs of intelligence which the +most ordinary commonplace children usually display. When the Queen heard +courtiers repeat some of the droll, witty sayings of the Comte de Vegin, +or the Duc du Maine, she reddened with jealousy, and remarked, "Everybody +goes into ecstasies about those children, while Monsieur le Dauphin is +never even mentioned." + +She had brought with her from Spain that Donna Silvia Molina, of whom I +have already spoken, and who had got complete control over her character. +Instead of tranquillising her, and so making her happy, Donna Silvia +thought to become more entertaining, and above all, more necessary to +her, by gossiping to her about the King's amours. She ferreted out all +the secret details, all the petty circumstances, and with such dangerous +material troubled the mind and destroyed the repose of her mistress, who +wept unceasingly, and became visibly changed. + +La Molina, enriched and almost wealthy, was sent back to Spain, much to +the grief of Maria Theresa, who for several days after her departure +could neither eat nor sleep. + +At the same time, the King got rid of that little she-dwarf, named +Mexica, in whose insufferable talk and insufferable presence the Queen +took delight. But the sly little wretch escaped during the journey, and +managed to get back to the princess again, hidden in some box or basket. +The Queen was highly delighted to see her again; she pampered her +secretly in her private cabinet with the utmost mystery, giving up every +moment that she could spare. + +One day, by way of a short cut, the King was passing through the Queen's +closet, when he heard the sound of coughing in one of the cupboards. +Turning back, he flung it open, where, huddled up in great confusion, he +found Mexica. + +"What!" cried his Majesty; "so you are back again? When and how did you +come?" + +In a feeble voice Mexica answered, "Sire, please don't send me away from +the Queen any more, and she will never complain again about Madame de +Montespan." + +The King laughed at this speech, and then came and repeated it to me. I +laughed heartily, too, and such a treaty of peace seemed to contain queer +compensation clauses: Madame de Montespan and Mexica were mutually bound +over to support each other; the spectacle was vastly droll, I vow. + +Besides her little dwarf, the Queen had a fool named Tricominy. This +quaint person was permitted to utter everywhere and to everybody in +incoherent fashion the pseudo home-truths that passed through his head. +One day he went up to the grande Mademoiselle de Montpensier, and said to +her before everybody, "Since you are so anxious to get married, marry me; +then that will be a man-fool and a woman-fool." The Princess tried to hit +him, and he took refuge behind the Queen's chair. + +Another time, to M. Letellier, Louvois's brother and Archbishop of +Rheims, he said, "Monseigneur, do let me ascend the pulpit in your +Cathedral, and I will preach modesty and humanity to you." When the +little Duc d'Anjou, that pretty, charming child, died of suppressed +measles, the Queen was inconsolable, and the King, good father that he +is, was weeping for the little fellow, for he promised much. Says +Tricominy, "They're weeping just as if princes had not got to die like +anybody else. M. d'Anjou was no better made than I am, nor of better +stuff." + +Tricominy was dismissed, because it was plain that his madness took a +somewhat eccentric turn; that, in fact, he was not fool enough for his +place. + +The Queen had still a Spanish girl named Philippa, to whom she was much +attached, and who deserved such flattering attachment. Born in the +Escurial Palace, Philippa had been found one night in a pretty cradle at +the base of one of the pillars. The palace guards informed King Philip, +who adopted the child and brought it up, since it had been foisted upon +him as his daughter. He grew fond of the girl, and on coming to Saint +Jean de Luz to marry the Infanta to his nephew the King, he made them a +present of Philippa, and begged them both to be very good to her. In +this amiable Spanish girl, the Infanta recognised a sister. She knew she +was an illegitimate daughter of King Philip and one of the palace ladies. + +When Molina left the Court, she did everything on earth to induce +Philippa to return with her to Spain, but the girl was sincerely attached +to the Queen, who, holding her in a long embrace, promised to find her a +wealthy husband if she would stay. However, the Queen only gave her as +husband the Chevalier de Huze, her cloak-bearer, so as to keep the girl +about her person and to be intimate with her daily. Philippa played the +mandolin and the guitar to perfection; she, also sang and danced with +consummate grace. + + + + +CHAPTER XLV. + +Le Bouthilier de Ranch, Abbe de la Trappe. + +The Abbe le Bouthilier de Rance,--son of the secretary of state, Le +Bouthilier de Chavigny,--after having scandalised Court and town by his +public gallantries, lost his mistress, a lady possessed of a very great +name and of no less great beauty. His grief bordered upon despair; he +forsook the world, gave away or sold his belongings, and went and shut +himself up in his Abbey of La Trappe, the only benefice which he had +retained. This most ancient monastery was of the Saint Bernard Order, +with white clothing. The edifice spacious, yet somewhat dilapidated was +situated on the borders of Normandy, in a wild, gloomy valley exposed to +fog and frost. + +The Abbe found in this a place exactly suitable to his plan, which was to +effect reforms of austere character and contrary to nature. He convened +his monks, who were amazed at his arrival and residence; he soundly rated +them for the scandalous laxity of their conduct, and having reminded them +of all the obligations of their office, he informed them of his new +regulations, the nature of which made them tremble. He proposed nothing +less than to condemn them to daily manual labour, the tillage of the +soil, the performance of menial household duties; and to this he added +the practices of immoderate fasting, perpetual silence, downcast glances, +veiled countenances, the renouncement of all social ties, and all +instructive or entertaining literature. In short, he advocated sleeping +all together on the bare floor of an ice-cold dormitory, the continual +contemplation of death, the dreadful obligation of digging, while alive, +one's own grave every day with one's own hands, and thus, in imagination, +burying oneself therein before being at rest there for ever. + +As laws so foolish and so tyrannical were read out to them, the worthy +monks--all of them of different character and age openly expressed their +discontent. The Abbe de Rance allowed them to go and get pleasure in +other monasteries, and contrived to collect around him youths whom it was +easy to delude, and a few elderly misanthropes; with these he formed his +doleful wailing flock. + +As he loved notoriety in everything, he had various views of his +monastery engraved, and pictures representing the daily pursuits of his +laborious community. Such pictures, hawked about everywhere by itinerant +vendors of relics and rosaries, served to create for this barbarous +reformer a reputation saintly and angelic. In towns, villages, even in +royal palaces, he formed the one topic of conversation. Several +gentlemen, disgusted either with vice or with society, retired of their +own accord to his monastery, where they remained in order that they might +the sooner die. + +Desirous of enjoying his ridiculous celebrity, the Abbe de Rance came to +Paris, under what pretext I do not remember, firmly resolved to show +himself off in all the churches, and solicit abundant alms for his +phantoms who never touched food. From all sides oblations were +forthcoming; soon he had got money enough to build a palace, if he had +liked. + +It being impossible for him to take the august Mademoiselle de +Montpensier to his colony of monks, he desired at any rate to induce her +to withdraw from the world, and counselled her to enter a Carmelite +convent. Mademoiselle's ardent passion for M. de Lauzun seemed to the +Trappist Abbe a scandal; in fact, his sour spirit could brook no scandal +of any sort. "I attended her father as he lay dying," said he, "and to +me belongs the task of training, enlightening, and sanctifying his +daughter. I would have her keep silence; she has spoken too much." + +The moment was ill chosen; just then Mademoiselle de Montpensier was +striving to break the fetters of her dear De Lauzun; she certainly did +not wish to get him out of one prison, and then put herself into another. +Every one blamed this reformer's foolish presumption, and Mademoiselle, +thoroughly exasperated, forbade her servants to admit him. It was said +that he had worked two or three miracles, and brought certain dead people +back to life. + +"I will rebuild his monastery for him in marble if he will give us back +poor little Vegin, and the Duc d'Anjou," said the King to me. + +The remark almost brought tears to my eyes, just as I was about to joke +with his Majesty about the fellow and his miracles. + +Well satisfied with his Parisian harvest, the Abbe le Bouthilier de Rance +went straight to his convent, where the inmates were persevering enough +to be silent, fast, dig, catch their death of cold, and beat themselves +for him. + +Madame Cormeil, wishing to have a good look at the man, sent to inform +him of her illness. Would-be saints are much afraid of words with a +double meaning. In no whit disconcerted, he replied that he had devoted +his entire zeal to the poor in spirit, and that Madame Cormeil was not of +their number. + + + + +CHAPTER XLVI. + +The Court Goes to Flanders.--Nancy.--Ravon.--Sainte Marie aux Mines.-- +Dancing and Death.--A German Sovereign's Respectful Visit.--The Young +Strasburg Priests.--The Good Bailiff of Chatenoi.--The Bridge at Brisach. +--The Capucin Monk Presented to the Queen. + +Before relating that which I have to say about the Queen and her +precautions against myself, I would not omit certain curious incidents +during the journey that the King caused us to take in Alsatia and +Flanders, when he captured Maestricht and Courtrai. + +The King having left us behind at Nancy, a splendid town where a large +proportion of the nobility grieved for the loss of Messieurs de Lorraine, +their legitimate sovereigns, the Queen soon saw that here she was more +honoured than beloved. It was this position which suggested to her the +idea of going to Spa, close by, and of taking the waters for some days. + +If the Infanta was anxious to escape from the frigid courtesies of the +Lorraine aristocracy, I also longed to have a short holiday, and to keep +away from the Queen, as well for the sake of her peace of mind as for my +own. My doctor forbade me to take the Spa waters, as they were too +sulphurous; he ordered me those of Pont-a-Mousson. Hardly had I moved +there, when orders came for us all to meet at Luneville, and thence we +set out to rejoin the King. + +Horrible was the first night of our journey spent at Ravon, in the Vosges +Mountains. The house in which Mademoiselle de Montpensier and I lodged +was a dilapidated cottage, full of holes, and propped up in several +places. Lying in bed, we heard the creaking of the beams and rafters. +Two days afterwards the house, so they told us, collapsed. + +From that place we went on to Sainte Marie aux Mines, a mean sort of +town, placed like a long corridor between two lofty, well-wooded +mountains, which even at noonday deprive it of sun. Close by there is a +shallow, rock-bound streamlet which divides Lorraine from Alsace. Sainte +Marie aux Mines belonged to the Prince Palatine of Birkenfeld. This +Prince offered us his castle of Reif Auvilliers, an uncommonly beautiful +residence, which he had inherited from the Comtesse de Ribaupierre, his +wife. + +This lady's father was just dead, and as, in accordance with German +etiquette, the Count's funeral obsequies could not take place for a +month, in the presence of all his relatives and friends, who came from a +great distance, the corpse, embalmed and placed in a leaden coffin, lay +in state under a canopy in the mortuary chapel. + +Our equerries, seeing that the King's chamber looked on to the mortuary +chapel, took upon themselves to blow out all the candles, and for the +time being stowed away the corpse in a cupboard. + +We knew nothing about this; and as the castle contained splendid rooms, +the ladies amused themselves by dancing and music to make them forget the +boredom of their journey. + +The King looked in upon us every now and then, saying, in a low voice, +"Ah! if you only knew what I know!" + +And then he would go off, laughing in his sleeve. We did not get to know +about this corpse until five or six days afterwards, when we were a long +way off, and the discovery greatly shocked us. + +The day we left Sainte Marie aux Mines, a little German sovereign came to +present his homage to the King. It was the Prince de Mont-Beliard, of +Wurtemberg, whom I had previously met in Paris, on the occasion of his +marriage with Marechal de Chatillon's charming daughter. The luxurious +splendour of Saint Germain and Versailles had certainly not yet succeeded +in turning the heads of these German sovereigns. This particular one +wore a large buff doublet with big copper-gilt buttons. His cravat was +without either ribbons or lace. His rather short hair was roughly combed +over his forehead; he carried no sword, and instead of gold buckles or +clasps, he had little bows of red leather on his black velvet shoes. +His coach, entirely black, was still of old-fashioned make; that is to +say, studded with quantities of gilt nails. Wearing mourning for the +Empress, his six horses were richly, caparisoned, his four lackeys +wearing yellow liveries faced with red. An escort of twenty guardsmen, +dressed similarly, was in attendance; they seemed to be well mounted, and +were handsome fellows. + +A second carriage of prodigious size followed the ducal conveyance; in +this were twelve ladies and gentlemen, who got out and made their +obeisance to the King and Queen. + +The Prince de Mont-Beliard did not get into his coach again until ours +were in motion. He spoke French fairly well, and the little he said was +said with much grace. He looked very hard at me, which shocked the Queen +greatly, but not the King. + +A little further on, their Majesties were greeted by the delegates of the +noble chapter of Strasburg. These comprised the Count of Manderhall and +two canons. What canons, too! And how astonished we were! + +The old Count was dressed in a black cassock, and his hair looked +somewhat like a cleric's, but his cravat was tied with a large flame- +coloured bow, and he wore ill-fitting hose of the same hue. As for the +two canons, they were pleasant young men, good-looking and well-made. +Their light gray dress was edged with black and gold; they wore their +hair long in wavy curls, and in their little black velvet caps they had +yellow and black feathers, and their silver-mounted swords were like +those worn by our young courtiers. Their equipment was far superior to +that of the deputation of the Prince de Mont-Beliard. It is true, they +were churchmen, and churchmen have only themselves and their personal +satisfaction to consider. + +These gentlemen accompanied us as far as Chatenoi, a little town in their +neighbourhood, and here they introduced the bailiff of the town to the +King, who was to remain constantly in attendance and act as interpreter. + +The bailiff spoke French with surprising ease. He had been formerly +tutor at President Tambonneaux's, an extremely wealthy man, who +entertained the Court, the town, and all the cleverest men of the day. +The King soon became friends with the bailiff, and kept him the whole +time close to his carriage. + +When travelling, the King is quite another man. He puts off his gravity +of demeanour, and likes to amuse his companions, or else make his +companions amuse him. Believing him to be like Henri IV. in temper, the +bailiff was for asking a thousand questions. Some of these the King +answered; to others he gave no reply. + +"Sire," said he to his Majesty, "your town of Paris has a greater +reputation than it actually deserves. They say you are fond of building; +then Paris ought to have occasion to remember your reign. Allow me to +express a hope that her principal streets will be widened, that her +temples, most of them of real beauty, may be isolated. You should add to +the number of her bridges, quays, public baths, almshouses and +infirmaries." + +The King smiled. "Come and see us in four or five years," he rejoined, +"or before that, if you like, and if your affairs permit you to do so. +You will be pleased to see what I have already done." + +Then the bailiff, approaching my carriage window, addressed a few +complimentary remarks to myself. + +"I have often met your father, M. de Mortemart," said he, "at President +Tambonneaux's. One day the little De Bouillons were there, quarrelling +about his sword, and to the younger he said, 'You, sir, shall go into the +Church, because you squint. Let my sword alone; here's my rosary.'" + +"Well," quoth the King, "M. de Mortemart was a true prophet, for that +little Bouillon fellow is to-day Cardinal de Bouillon." + +"Sire," continued the worthy German, "I am rejoiced to hear such news. +And little Peguilain de Lauzun, of whom you used to be so fond when you +were both boys,--where is he? What rank does he now hold?" + +Hereupon the King looked at Mademoiselle, who, greatly confused, shed +tears. + +"Well, M. Bailiff," said his Majesty, "did you easily recognise me at +first sight?" + +"Sire," replied the German, "your physiognomy is precisely the same; +when a boy, you looked more serious. The day you entered Parliament in +hunting-dress I saw you get into your coach; and that evening the +President said to his wife, 'Madame, we are going to have a King. I wish +you could have been there, in one of the domes, just to hear the little +he said to us.'" + +Whereupon the King laughingly inquired what reply the President's wife +made. But the bailiff, smiling in his turn, seemed afraid to repeat it, +and so his Majesty said: + +"I was told of her answer at the time, so I can let you know what it was. +'Your young King will turn out a despot.' That is what Madame la +Presidente said to her husband." + +The bailiff, somewhat confused, admitted that this was exactly the case. + +The huge bridge at Brisach, across the Rhine, had no railing; the planks +were in a rickety condition, and through fissures one caught sight of the +impetuous rush of waters below. We all got out of our coaches and +crossed over with our eyes half shut, so dangerous did it seem; while the +King rode across this wretched bridge,--one of the narrowest and loftiest +that there is, and which is always in motion. + +Next day the Bishop of Bale came to pay his respects to the Queen, and +was accompanied by delegates from the Swiss cantons, and other +notabilities. After this I heard the "General of the Capucins" +announced, who had just been to pay a visit of greeting to the German +Court. He was said to be by birth a Roman. Strange to say, for that +Capucin the same ceremony and fuss was made as for a sovereign prince, +and I heard that this was a time-honoured privilege enjoyed by his Order. +The monk himself was a fine man, wearing several decorations; his +carriage, livery, and train seemed splendid, nor did he lack ease of +manner nor readiness of conversation. He told us that, at the imperial +palace in Vienna, he had seen the Princesse d'Inspruck,--a relative of +the French Queen, and that the Emperor was bringing her up as if destined +one day to be his seventh bride, according to a prediction. He also +stated that the Emperor had made the young Princess sing to him,--a +Capucin monk; and added genially that she was comely and graceful, and +that he had been very pleased to see her. + +The King was very merry at this priest's expense. Not so the Queen, who +was Spanish, and particularly devoted to Capucin friars of all +nationalities. + + + + +CHAPTER XLVII. + +Moliere.--Racine.--Their Mutual Esteem.--Racine in Mourning. + +The King had not much leisure, yet occasionally he gave up half an hour +or an hour to the society of a chosen few,--men famous for their wit and +brilliant talents. One day he was so kind as to bring to my room the +celebrated Moliere, to whom he was particularly attached and showed +special favour. "Madame," said the King, "here you see the one man in +all France who has most wit, most talent, and most modesty and good sense +combined. I thank God for letting him be born during my reign, and I +pray that He may preserve him to us for a long while yet." + +As I hastened to add my own complimentary remarks to those of the King, +I certainly perceived that about this illustrious person there was an air +of modesty and simplicity such as one does not commonly find in Apollo's +favourites who aspire to fame. Moreover, he was most comely. + +Moliere told the King that he had just sketched out the plot of his +"Malade Imaginaire," and assured us that hypochondriacs themselves would +find something to laugh at when it was played. He spoke very little +about himself, but at great length, and with evident admiration, about +the young poet Racine. + +The King asked if he thought that Racine had strength sufficient to make +him the equal of Corneille. "Sire," said the comic poet, "Racine has +already surpassed Corneille by the harmonious elegance of his +versification, and by the natural, true sensibility of his dialogue; +his situations are never fictitious; all his words, his phrases, come +from the heart. Racine alone is a true poet, for he alone is inspired." + +The King, continuing, said: "I cannot witness his tragedy of 'Berenice' +without shedding tears. How comes it that Madame Deshoulieres and Madame +de Sevigne, who have so much mind, refuse to recognise beauties which +strike a genius such as yours?" + +"Sire," replied Moliere, "my opinion is nothing compared to that which +your Majesty has just expressed, such is your sureness of judgment and +your tact. I know by experience that those scenes of my comedies which, +at a first reading, are applauded by your Majesty, always win most +applause from the public afterwards." + +"Is Racine in easy circumstances?" asked the King. + +"He is not well off," replied Moliere, "but the tragedies which he has in +his portfolio will make a rich man of him some day; of that I have not +the least doubt." + +"Meanwhile," said the King, "take him this draft of six thousand livres +from me, nor shall this be the limit of my esteem and affection." + +Five or six months after this interview, poor Moliere broke a blood- +vessel in his chest, while playing with too great fervour the title part +in his "Malade Imaginaire." When they brought the news to the King, he +turned pale, and clasping his hands together, well-nigh burst into tears. +"France has lost her greatest genius," he said before all the nobles +present. "We shall never have any one like him again; our loss is +irreparable!" + +When they came to tell us that the Paris clergy had refused burial to +"the author of 'Tartuffe,'" his Majesty graciously sent special orders to +the Archbishop, and with a royal wish of that sort they were obliged to +comply, or else give good reasons for not doing so. + +Racine went into mourning for Moliere. The King heard this, and publicly +commended such an act of good feeling and grateful sympathy. + + + + +CHAPTER XLVIII. + +Madame de Montausier and the Phantom.--What She Exacts from the Marquise. +--Her Reproaches to the Duke.--Bossuet's Complacency. + +Those spiteful persons who told the Queen how obliging the Duchesse de +Montausier had shown herself towards me were also so extremely kind as to +write an account of the whole affair to the Marquis de Montespan. + +At that time he was still in Paris, and one day he went to the Duchess +just as she was getting out of bed. In a loud voice he proceeded to +scold her, daring to threaten her as if she were some common woman; in +fact, he caught hold of her and endeavoured to strike her. + +The King would not allow M. de Montausier to obtain redress from the +Marquis for such an insult as this. He granted a large pension to the +Duchess, and appointed her husband preceptor to the Dauphin. + +Such honours and emoluments partly recompensed the Duchess, yet they +scarcely consoled her. She considered that her good name was all but +lost, and what afflicted her still more was that she never recovered her +health. She used to visit me, as our duties brought us together, but it +was easy to see that confidence and friendship no longer existed. + +One day, when passing along one of the castle corridors, which, being so +gloomy, need lamplight at all hours, she perceived a tall white phantom, +which glared hideously at her, and then approaching, vanished. She was +utterly prostrated, and on returning to her apartments was seized with +fever and shivering. The doctors perceived that her brain was affected; +they ordered palliatives, but we soon saw that there was no counting upon +their remedies. She was gradually sinking. + +Half an hour before she died the Duchess sent for me, having given +instructions that we should be left alone, and that there should be no +witnesses. Her intense emaciation was pitiful, and yet her face kept +something of its pleasant expression. + +"It is because of you, and through you," she exclaimed in a feeble, +broken voice, "that I quit this world while yet in the prime of life. +God calls me; I must die. + +"Kings are so horribly exacting. Everything that ministers to their +passions seems feasible to them, and righteous folk must consent to do +their pleasure, or suffer the penalty of being disgraced and neglected, +and of seeing their long years of service lost and forgotten. + +"During that unlucky journey in Brabant, you sought by redoubling your +coquetry and fascinations to allure La Valliere's lover. You managed to +succeed; he became fond of you. Knowing my husband's ambitious nature, +he easily got him to make me favour this intrigue, and lend my apartments +as a meeting-place. + +"At Court nothing long remains a secret. The Queen was warned, and for a +while would not believe her informants. But your husband, with brutal +impetuousness, burst in upon me. He insulted me in outrageous fashion. +He tried to drag me out of bed and throw me out of the window. Hearing +me scream, my servants rushed in and rescued me, in a fainting state, +from his clutches. And you it is who have brought upon me such +scandalous insults. + +"Ready to appear before my God, who has already summoned me by a spectre, +I have a boon to ask of you, Madame la Marquise. I beg it of you, as I +clasp these strengthless, trembling hands. Do not deny me this favour, +or I will cherish implacable resentment, and implore my Master and my +Judge to visit you with grievous punishment. + +"Leave the King," she continued, after drying her tears. "Leave so +sensual a being; the slave of his passions, the ravisher of others' good. +The pomp and grandeur which surround you and intoxicate you would seem +but a little thing did you but look at them as now I do, upon my bed of +death. + +"The Queen hates me; she is right. She despises me, and justly, too. +I shall elude her hatred and disdain, which weigh thus heavily upon my +heart. Perhaps she may deign to pardon me when my lawyer shall have +delivered to her a document, signed by myself, containing my confession +and excuses." + +As she uttered these words, Madame de Montausier began to vomit blood, +and I had to summon her attendants. With a last movement of the head she +bade me farewell, and I heard that she called for her husband. + +Next day she was dead. Her waiting-maid came to tell me that the +Duchess, conscious to the last, had made her husband promise to resign +his appointment as governor to the Dauphin, and withdraw to his estates, +where he was to do penance. M. de Meaux, a friend of the family, read +the prayers for the dying, to which the Duchess made response, and three +minutes before the final death-throe, she consented to let him preach a +funeral sermon in eulogy of herself and her husband. + +When printed and published, this discourse was thought to be a fine piece +of eloquence. + +Over certain things the Bishop passed lightly, while exaggerating others. +Some things, again, were entirely of his own invention; and if from the +depths of her tomb the Duchess could have heard all that M. de Meaux said +about her, she never would have borne me such malice, nor would her grief +at leaving life and fortune have troubled her so keenly. + +The King thought this funeral oration excellently well composed. Of one +expression and of one whole passage, however, he disapproved, though +which these were he did not do me the honour to say. + + + + +ETEXT EDITOR'S BOOKMARKS: + +And then he would go off, laughing in his sleeve +Hate me, but fear me +He was not fool enough for his place +I myself being the first to make merry at it (my plainness) +In the great world, a vague promise is the same as a refusal +It is easier to offend me than to deceive me +Knew how to point the Bastille cannon at the troops of the King +Madame de Sevigne +Time, the irresistible healer +Weeping just as if princes had not got to die like anybody else +Went so far as to shed tears, his most difficult feat of all +When one has been pretty, one imagines that one is still so + + + + +End of this Project Gutenberg Etext of Memoirs of Madame de Montespan, v3 +by Madame La Marquise De Montespan + + + + + + +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 + + + + + + +MEMOIRS OF MADAME LA MARQUISE DE MONTESPAN, v5 + +Written by Herself + +Being the Historic Memoirs of the Court of Louis XIV. + + + +BOOK 5. + + +CHAPTER I. + +The Prince de Mont-Beliard.--He Agrees to the Propositions Made Him.-- +The King's Note.--Diplomacy of the Chancellor of England.--Letter from +the Marquis de Montespan.--The Duchy in the Air.--The Domain of Navarre, +Belonging to the Prince de Bouillon, Promised to the Marquise. + +There was but a small company this year at the Waters of Bourbonne,-- +to begin with, at any rate; for afterwards there appeared to be many +arrivals, to see me, probably, and Mademoiselle de Nantes. + +The Chancellor Hyde was already installed there, and his establishment +was one of the most agreeable and convenient; he was kind enough to +exchange it for mine. A few days afterwards he informed me of the +arrival of the Prince de Mont-Beliard, of Wurtemberg, who was anxious to +pay his respects to me, as though to the King's daughter. In effect, +this royal prince came and paid me a visit; I thought him greatly changed +for such a short lapse of years. + +We had seen each other--as, I believe, I have already told--at the time +of the King's first journey in Flanders. He recalled all the +circumstances to me, and was amiable enough to tell me that, instead of +waning, my beauty had increased. + +"It is you, Prince, who embellish everything," I answered him. "I begin +to grow like a dilapidated house; I am only here to repair myself." + +Less than a year before, M. de Mont-Billiard had lost that amiable +princess, his wife; he had a lively sense of this loss, and never spoke +of it without tears in his eyes. + +"You know, madame," he told me, "my states are, at present, not entirely +administered, but occupied throughout by the officers of the King of +France. Those persons who have my interests at heart, as well as those +who delight at my fears, seem persuaded that this provisional occupation +will shortly become permanent. I dare not question you on this subject, +knowing how much discretion is required of you; but I confess that I +should pass quieter and more tranquil nights if you could reassure me up +to a certain point." + +"Prince," I replied to him, "the King is never harsh except with those of +whom he has had reason to complain. M. le Duc de Neubourg, and certain +other of the Rhine princes, have been thick-witted enough to be disloyal +to him; he has punished them for it, as Caesar did, and as all great +princes after him will do. But you have never shown him either coldness, +or aversion, or indifference. He has commanded the Marechal de +Luxembourg to enter your territory to prevent the Prince of Orange from +reaching there before us, and your authority has been put, not under the +domination, but under the protection, of the King of France, who is +desirous of being able to pass from there into the Brisgau." + +Madame de Thianges, Madame de Nevers, and myself did all that lay in our +power to distract or relieve the sorrows of the Prince; but the loss of +Mademoiselle de Chatillon, his charming spouse, was much more present +with him than that of his states; the bitterness which he drew from it +was out of the retch of all consolation possible. The Marquise de +Thianges procured the Chancellor of England to approach the Prince, and +find out from him, to a certain extent, whether he would consent to +exchange the County of Mont-Beliard for some magnificent estates in +France, to which some millions in money would be added. + +M. de Wurtemberg asked for a few days in which to reflect, and imagining +that these suggestions emanated from Versailles, he replied that he could +refuse nothing to the greatest of kings. My sister wrote on the day +following to the Marquis de Louvois, instead of asking it of the King in +person. M. de Luvois, who, probably, wished to despoil M. de Mont- +Beliard without undoing his purse-strings, put this overture before the +King maliciously, and the King wrote me immediately the following letter: + + Leave M. de Mont-Beliard alone, and do not speak to him again of his + estates. If the matter which occupies Madame de Thianges could be + arranged, it would be of the utmost propriety that a principality of + such importance rested in the Crown, at least as far as sovereignty. + The case of the Principality of Orange is a good enough lesson to + me; there must be one ruler only in an empire. As for you, my dear + lady, feel no regret for all that. You shall be a duchess, and I am + pleased to give you this title which you desire. Let M. de + Montespan be informed that his marquisate is to be elevated into a + duchy with a peerage, and that I will add to it the number of + seigniories that is proper, as I do not wish to deviate from the + usage which has become a law, etc. + +The prince's decision was definite, and as his character was, there was +no wavering. I wrote to him immediately to express my lively gratitude, +and we considered, the Marquise and I, as to the intermediary to whom we +could entrust the unsavoury commission of approaching the Marquis de +Montespan. He hated all my family from his having obtained no +satisfaction from it for his wrath. We begged the Chancellor Hyde, a +personage of importance, to be good enough to accept this mission; he saw +no reason to refuse it, and, after ten or eleven days, he received the +following reply, with which he was moderately amused: + + CHATEAU SAINT ELIX . . . . AT THE WORLD'S END. + + I am sensible, my Lord, as I should be, of the honour which you have + wished to do me, whilst, notwithstanding, permit me to consider it + strange that a man of your importance has cared to meddle in such a + negotiation. His Majesty the King of France did not consult me when + he wished to make my wife his mistress; it is somewhat remarkable + that so great a prince expects my intervention today to recompense + conduct that I have disapproved, that I disapprove, and shall + disapprove to my last breath. His Majesty has got eight or ten + children from my wife without saying a word to me about it; this + monarch can surely, therefore, make her a present of a duchy without + summoning me to his assistance. According to all laws, human and + divine, the King ought to punish Madame de Montespan, and, instead + of censuring her, he wishes to make her a duchess! . . . Let him + make her a princess, even a highness, if he likes; he has all the + power in his hands. I am only a twig; he is an oak. + + If madame is fostering ambition, mine has been satisfied for forty + years; I was born a marquis; a marquis--apart from some unforeseen + catastrophe--I will die; and Madame la Marquise, as long as she does + not alter her conduct, has no need to alter her degree. + + I will, however, waive my severity, if M. le Duc du Maine will + intervene for his mother, and call me his father, however it may be. + I am none the less sensible, my lord, of the honour of your + acquaintance, and since you form one of the society of Madame la + Marquise, endeavour to release yourself from her charms, for she can + be an enchantress when she likes.... It is true that, from what + they tell me, you were not quite king in your England. + + I am, from out my exile (almost as voluntary as yours), the most + obliged and grateful of your servants, + + DE GONDRIN MONTESPAN. + + +The Marquise de Thianges felt a certain irritation at the reading of this +letter; she offered all our excuses for it to the English Chancellor, and +said to me: "I begin to fear that the King of Versailles is not acting +with good faith towards you, when he makes your advancement depend on the +Marquis de Montespan; it is as though he were giving you a duchy in the +moon." + +I sent word to the King that the Marquis refused to assist his generous +projects; he answered me: + +"Very well, we must look somewhere else." + +Happily, this domestic humiliation did not transpire at Bourbonne; for M. +de la Bruyere had arrived there with Monsieur le Prince, and that model +satirist would unfailingly have made merry over it at my expense. + +The best society lavished its attentions on me; Coulanges, whose +flatteries are so amusing, never left us for a moment. + +The Prince, after the States were over, had come to relax himself at +Bourbonne, which was his property. After having done all in his power +formerly to dethrone his master, he is his enthusiastic servitor now that +he sees him so strong. He was fascinated with Mademoiselle de Nantes, +and asked my permission to seek her hand for the Duc de Bourbon, his +grandson; my reply was, that the alliance was desirable on both sides, +but that these arrangements were settled only by the King. + +In spite of the insolent diatribe of M. de Montespan, the waters proved +good and favourable; my blood, little by little, grew calm; my pains, +passing from one knee to the other, insensibly faded away in both; and, +after having given a brilliant fete to the Prince de Mont-Beliard, the +English Chancellor, and our most distinguished bathers, I went back to +Versailles, where the work seemed to me to have singularly advanced. + +The King went in advance of us to Corbeil; Madame de Maintenon, her +pretty nieces, and my children were in the carriage. The King received +me with his ordinary kindness, and yet said no word to me of the +harshness which I had suffered from my husband. Two or three months +afterwards he recollected his royal word, and gave me to understand that +the Prince de Bourbon was shortly going to give up Navarre, in Normandy, +and that this vast and magnificent estate would be raised to a duchy for +me. + +It has not been yet, at the moment that I write. Perhaps it is written +above that I shall never be a duchess. In such a case, the King would +not deserve the inward reproaches that my sensibility addresses him, +since his good-will would be fettered by destiny. + +It is my kindness which makes me speak so. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +The Venetian Drummer.--The Little Olivier.--Adriani's Love.-- +His Ingratitude.--His Punishment.--His Vengeance.-- +Complaint on This Account. + +At the great slaughter of Candia, M. de Vivonne had the pleasure of +saving a young Venetian drummer whom he noticed all covered with blood, +and senseless, amongst the dead and dying, with whom the field was +covered far and wide. He had his wounds dressed and cared for by the +surgeons of the French navy, with the intention of giving him me, either +as a valet de chambre or a page, so handsome and agreeable this young +Italian was. Adriani was his name. He presented him to me after the +return of the expedition to France, and I was sensible of this amiable +attention of my brother, for truly the peer of this young drummer did not +exist. + +Adrien was admirable to see in my livery, and when my carriage went out, +he attracted alone all the public attention. His figure was still not +all that it might be; it developed suddenly, and then one was not wrong +in comparing him with a perfect model for the Academy. He took small +time in losing the manners which he had brought with him from his +original calling. I discovered the best 'ton' in him; he would have been +far better seated in the interior than outside my equipage. +Unfortunately, this young impertinent gave himself airs of finding my +person agreeable, and of cherishing a passion for me; my first valet de +chambre told me of it at once. I gave him to the King, who had sometimes +noticed him in passing. + +Adrien was inconsolable at first at this change, for which he was not +prepared, but his vanity soon came uppermost; he understood that it was +an advancement, and took himself for a great personage, since he had the +honour of approaching and serving the King. + +The little Olivier--the first assistant in the shop of Madame Camille, my +dressmaker--saw Adrien, inspired him with love, and herself with much, +and they had to be married. I was good-natured enough to be interested +in this union, and as I had never any fault to find with the intelligent +services and attentions of the little modiste, I gave her two hundred +louis, that she might establish herself well and without any waiting. + +She had a daughter whom she was anxious to call Athenais. I thought this +request excessive; I granted my name of Francoise only. + +The young couple would have succeeded amply with their business, since my +confidence and favour were sufficient to give them vogue; but I was not +slow in learning that cruel discord had already penetrated to their +household, and that Adrien, in spite of his adopted country, had remained +at heart Italian. Jealous without motive, and almost without love, he +tormented with his suspicions, his reproaches, and his harshness, an +attentive and industrious young wife, who loved him with intense love, +and was unable to succeed in persuading him of it. From her condition, +a modiste cannot dispense with being amiable, gracious, engaging. The +little Olivier, as pretty as one can be, easily secured the homage of the +cavaliers. For all thanks she smiled at the gentlemen, as a well brought +up woman should do. Adrien disapproved these manners,--too French, in +his opinion. One day he dared to say to his wife, and that before +witnesses: "Because you have belonged to Madame de Montespan, do you +think you have the same rights that she has?" And with that he +administered a blow to her. + +This indecency was reported to me. I did not take long in discovering +what it was right to do with Adrien. I had him sent to Clagny, where I +happened to be at the time. + +"Monsieur the Venetian drummer," I said to him, with the hauteur which it +was necessary to oppose to his audacity, "Monsieur le Marechal de +Vivonne, who is always too good, saved your life without knowing you. +I gave you to the King, imagining that I knew you. Now I am undeceived, +and I know, without the least possibility of doubt, that beneath the +appearance of a good heart you hide the ungrateful and insolent rogue. +The King needs persons more discreet, less violent, and more polite. +Madame de Montespan gave you up to the King; Madame de Montespan has +taken you back this morning to her service. You depend for the future on +nobody but Madame de Montespan, and it is her alone that you are bound to +obey. Your service in her house has commenced this morning; it will +finish this evening, and, before midnight, you will leave her for good +and all. I have known on all occasions how to pardon slight offences; +there are some that a person of my rank could not excuse; yours is of +that number. Go; make no answer! Obey, ingrate! Disappear, I command +you!" + +At these words he tried to throw himself at my feet. "Go, wretched +fellow!" I cried to him; and, at my voice, my lackeys ran up and drove +him from the room and from the chateau. + +Almost always these bad-natured folks have cowardly souls. Adrien, his +head in a whirl, presented himself to my Suisse at Versailles, who, +finding his look somewhat sinister, refused to receive him. He retired +to my hotel in Paris, where the Suisse, being less of a physiognomist, +delivered him the key of his old room, and was willing to allow him to +pass the night there. + +Adrien, thinking of naught but how to harm me and give me a memorable +proof of his vengeance, ran and set fire to my two storehouses, and, to +put a crown on his rancour, went and hanged himself in an attic. + +About two o'clock in the morning, a sick-nurse, having perceived the +flames, gave loud cries and succeeded in making herself heard. Public +help arrived; the fire was mastered. My Suisse sought everywhere for the +Italian, whom he thought to be in danger; he stumbled against his corpse. +What a scene! What an affliction! The commissary having had his room +opened, on a small bureau a letter was found which he had been at the +pains of writing, and in which he accused me of his despair and death. + +The people of Paris have been at all times extravagance and credulity +itself. They looked upon this young villain as a martyr, and at once +dedicated an elegy to him, in which I was compared with Medea, Circe, and +Fredegonde. + +It is precisely on account of this elegy that I have cared to set down +this cruel anecdote. My readers, to whom I have just narrated the facts +with entire frankness, can see well that, instead of having merited +reproaches, I should only have received praise for my restraint and +moderation. + +It is, assuredly, most painful to have to suffer the abuse of those for +whom we have never done aught; but the outrages of those whom we have +succoured, maintained, and favoured are insupportable injuries. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +The Equipage at Full Speed.--The Poor Vine-grower.--Sensibility of Madame +de Maintenon.--Her Popularity.--One Has the Right to Crush a Man Who Will +Not Get Out of the Way.--What One Sees.--What They Tell You.--All Ends at +the Opera.--One Can Be Moved to Tears and Yet Like Chocolate. + +Another event with a tragical issue, and one to which I contributed even +less, served to feed and foster that hatred, mixed with envy, which the +rabble populace guards always so persistently towards the favourites of +kings or fortune. + +Naturally quick and impatient, I cannot endure to move with calm and +state along the roads. My postilions, my coachmen know it, driving in +such fashion that no equipage is ever met which cleaves the air like +mine. + +I was descending one day the declivity of the Coeur-Volant, between Saint +Germain and Marly. The Marquises de Maintenon and d'Hudicourt were in my +carriage with M. le Duc du Maine, so far as I can remember. We were +going at the pace which I have just told, and my outriders, who rode in +advance, were clearing the way, as is customary. A vine-grower, laden +with sticks, chose this moment to cross the road, thinking himself, no +doubt, agile enough to escape my six horses. The cries of my people were +useless. The imprudent fellow took his own course, and my postilions, in +spite of their efforts with the reins, could not prevent themselves from +passing over his body; the wheels followed the horses; the poor man was +cut in pieces. + +At the lamentations of the country folk and the horrified passers-by, we +stopped. Madame de Maintenon wished to alight, and when she perceived +the unfortunate vine-grower disfigured with his wounds, she clasped her +hands and fell to weeping. The Marquise d'Hudicourt, who was always +simplicity itself, followed her friend's example; there was nothing but +groans and sorrowful exclamations. My coachman blamed the postilions, +the postilions the man's obstinacy. + +Madame de Maintenon, speaking as though she were the mistress, bade them +be silent, and dared to say to them before all the crowd: "If you +belonged to me, I would soon settle you." At these words all the +spectators applauded, and cried: "Vive Madame de Maintenon!" + +Irritated at what I had just heard, I put my head out of the door, and, +turning to these sentimental women, I said to them: "Be good enough to +get in, mesdames; are you determined to have me stoned?" + +They mounted again, after having left my purse with the poor relations +of the dead man; and as far as Ruel, which was our destination, I was +compelled to listen to their complaints and litanies. + +"Admit, madame," I declared to Madame de Maintenon, "that any person +except myself could and would detest you for the harm you have done me. +Your part was to blame the postilions lightly and the rustic very +positively. My equipage did not come unexpectedly, and my two outriders +had signalled from their horses." + +"Madame," she replied, "you have not seen, as I did, those eyes of the +unhappy man forced violently from their sockets, his poor crushed head, +his palpitating heart, from which the blood soaked the pavement; such a +sight has moved and broken my own heart. I was, as I am still, quite +beside myself, and, in such a situation, it is permissible to forget +discretion in one's speech and the proprieties. I had no intention of +giving you pain; I am distressed at having done so. But as for your +coachmen I loathe them, and, since you undertake their defence, I shall +not for the future show myself in your equipage." + + [In one of her letters, Madame de Maintenon speaks of this accident, + but she does not give quite the same account of it. It is natural + that Madame de Montespan seeks to excuse her people and herself if + she can.--EDITOR'S NOTE.] + +At Ruel, she dared take the same tone before the Duchesse de Richelieu, +who rebuked her for officiousness, and out of spite, or some other +reason, Madame de Maintenon refused to dine. She had two or three +swooning fits; her tears started afresh four or five times, and the +Marquise d'Hudicourt, who dined only by snatches, went into a corner to +sob and weep along with her. + +"Admit, madame," I said then to Madame de Maintenon, "your excessive +grief for an unknown man is singular. He was, perhaps, actually a +dishonest fellow. The accident which you come back to incessantly, and +which distresses me also, is doubtless deplorable; but, after all, it is +not a murder, an ambush, a premeditated assassination. I imagine that if +such a catastrophe had happened elsewhere, and been reported to us in a +gazette or a book, you would have read of it with interest and +commiseration; but we should not have seen you clasp your hands over your +head, turn red and pale, utter loud cries, shed tears, sob, and scold a +coachman, postilions, perhaps even me. The event, would, nevertheless, +be actually the same. Admit, then, madame, and you, too, Madame +d'Hudicourt, that there is an exaggeration in your sorrow, and that you +would have made, both of you, two excellent comedians." + +Madame de Maintenon, piqued at these last words, sought to make us +understand, and even make us admit, that there is a great difference +between an event narrated to you by a third party, and an event which one +has seen. Madame de Richelieu shut her mouth pleasantly with these +words: "We know, Madame la Marquise, how much eloquence and wit is yours. +We approve all your arguments, past and to be. Let us speak no further +of an accident which distresses you; and since you require to be +diverted, let us go to the Opdra, which is only two leagues off." + +She consented to accompany us, for fear of proving herself entirely +ridiculous; but to delay us as much as possible, she required a cup of +chocolate, her favourite dish, her appetite having returned as soon as +she had exhausted the possibilities of her grief. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +Charles II., King of England.--How Interest Can Give Memory.-- +His Grievances against France.--The Two Daughters of the Duke of York.-- +William of Orange Marries One, in Spite of the Opposition of the King.-- +Great Joy of the Allies.--How the King of England Understands Peace.-- +Saying of the King.--Preparations for War. + +The King, Charles Stuart, who reigned in England since the death of the +usurper, Cromwell, was a grandson of Henri IV., just as much as our King. +Charles II. displayed the pronounced penchant of Henri IV. for the ladies +and for pleasure; but he had neither his energy, nor his genial temper, +nor his amiable frankness. After the death of Henrietta of England, his +beloved sister, he remained for some time longer our ally, but only to +take great advantage from our union and alliance. He had made use of it +against the Dutch, his naval and commercial rivals, and had compelled +them, by the aid of the King of France (then his friend), to reimburse +him a sum of twenty-six millions, and to pay him, further, an annual +tribute of twelve or fifteen thousand livres for the right of fishing +round his island domains. + +All these things being obtained, be seemed to recollect that Cardinal de +Richelieu had not protected his father, Stuart; that the Cardinal Mazarin +had declared for Cromwell in his triumph; that the Court of France had +indecently gone into mourning for that robber; that there had been +granted neither guards, nor palace, nor homages of state to the Queen, +his mother, although daughter and sister of two French kings; that this +Queen, in a modest retirement--sometimes in a cell in the convent of +Chaillot, sometimes in her little pavilion at Colombesl--had died, +poisoned by her physician, without the orator, Bossuet, having even +frowned at it in the funeral oration; + + [Mademoiselle de Montpensier, in her Memoirs, says that this Queen, + already languishing, had lost her sleep, and was given soporific + pills, on account of which Henrietta of France awoke no more; but it + is probable that the servants, and not the doctors, committed this + blunder.] + +that the unfortunate Henrietta daughter of this Queen and first wife of +Monsieur had succumbed to the horrible tortures of a poisoning even more +visible and manifest; whilst her poisoners, who were well known, had +never been in the least blamed or disgraced. + +On all these arguments, with more or less foundation, Charles II. +managed to conclude that he ought to detach himself from France, who was +not helpful enough; and, by deserting us, he excited universal joy +amongst his subjects, who were constantly jealous of us. + +Charles Stuart had had children by his mistresses; he had had none by the +Queen, his wife. The presumptive heir to the Crown was the Duke of York, +his Majesty's only brother. + +The Duke of York, son-in-law--as I have noticed already--of our good +Chancellor, Lord Hyde, had himself only two daughters, equally beautiful, +who, according to the laws of those islanders, would bear the sceptre in +turn. + +Our King, who read in the future, was thinking of marrying these two +princesses conformably with our interests, when the Prince of Orange +crossed the sea, and went formally to ask the hand of the elder of his +uncle. + +Informed of this proceeding, the King at once sent M. de Croissy-Colbert +to the Duke of York, to induce him to interfere and refuse his daughter; +but, in royal families, it is always the head who makes and decides +marriages. William of Orange obtained his charming cousin Mary, and +acquired that day the expectation of the Protestant throne, which was his +ambition. + +At the news of this marriage, the allies, that is to say, all the King's +enemies, had an outburst of satisfaction, and gave themselves up to +puerile jubilations. The King of Great Britain stood definitely on their +side; he made common cause with them, and soon there appeared in the +political world an audacious document signed by this prince, in which, +from the retreat of his island, the empire of fogs, he dared to demand +peace from Louis of Bourbon, his ancient ally and his cousin german, +imposing on him the most revolting conditions. + +According to the English monarch, France ought to restore to the +Spaniards, first Sicily, and, further, the towns of Charleroi, Ath, +Courtrai, Condo, Saint Guilain, Tournai, and Valenciennes, as a condition +of retaining Franche-Comte; moreover, France was compelled to give up +Lorraine to the Duke Charles, and places in German Alsace to the Emperor. + +The King replied that "too much was too much." He referred the decision +of his difficulties to the fortune of war, and collected fresh soldiers. + +Then, without further delay, England and the States General signed a +particular treaty at La Hague, to constrain France (or, rather, her +ruler) to accept the propositions that his pride refused to hear. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +The Great Mademoiselle Buys Choisy.--The President Gonthier.--The +Indemnity.--The Salmon.--The Harangue as It Is Not Done in the Academy. + +The King had only caused against his own desire the extreme grief which +Mademoiselle felt at the imprisonment of Lauzun. His Majesty was +sensible of the wisdom of the resolution which she had made not to break +with the Court, and to show herself at Saint Germain, or at Versailles, +from time to time, as her rank, her near kinship, her birth demanded. +He said to me one day: "My cousin is beginning to look up. I see with +pleasure that her complexion is clearing, that she laughs willingly at +this and that, and that her good-will for me is restored. I am told that +she is occupied in building a country-house above Vitry. Let us go to- +day and surprise her, and see what this house of Choisy is like." + +We arrived at a sufficiently early hour, and had time to see everything. +The King found the situation most agreeable; those lovely gardens united +high up above the Seine, those woods full of broad walks, of light and +air, those points of view happily chosen and arranged, gave a charming +effect; the house of one story, raised on steps of sixteen stairs, +appeared to us elegant from its novelty; but the King blamed his cousin +for not having put a little architecture and ornament on the facade. + +"Princes," said he, "have no right to be careless; since universal +agreement has made us Highnesses, we must know how to carry our burden, +and to lay it down at no time, and in no place." + +Mademoiselle excused herself on the ground of her remoteness from the +world, and on the expense, which she wished to keep down. + +"From the sight of the country," said the King, "you must have a hundred +to a hundred and twelve, acres here." + +"A hundred and nine," she answered. + +"Have you paid dear for this property?" went on the King. "It is the +President Gonthier who has sold it?" + +"I paid for this site, and the old house which no longer exists, forty +thousand livres," she said. + +"Forty thousand livres!" cried the King. "Oh, my cousin, there is no +such thing as conscience! You have not paid for the ground. I was +assured that poor President Gonthier had only got rid of his house at +Choisy because his affairs were embarrassed; you must indemnify him, or +rather I will indemnify him myself, by giving him a pension." + +Mademoiselle bit her lip and added: + +"The President asked sixty thousand first; my men of business offered him +forty, and he accepted it." + +Mademoiselle has no generosity, although she is immensely rich; she +pretended not to hear, and it was M. Colbert who sent by order the twenty +thousand livres to the President. + +Mademoiselle, vain and petty, as though she were a bourgeoise of +yesterday, showed us her gallery, where she had already collected the +selected portraits of all her ancestors, relations, and kindred; she +pointed out to us in her winter salon the portrait of the little Comte de +Toulouse, painted, not as an admiral, but as God of the Sea, floating on +a pearl shell; and his brother, the Duc du Maine, as Colonel-General of +the Swiss and Grisons. The full-length portrait of the King was visible +on three chimneypieces; she was at great pains to make a merit of it, and +call for thanks. + +Having followed her into her state chamber, where she had stolen in +privately, I saw that she was taking away the portrait of Lauzun. I went +and told it to the King, who shrugged his shoulders and fell to laughing. + +"She is fifty-two years old," he said to me. + +A very pretty collation of confitures and fruits was served us, to which +the King prayed her to add a ragout of peas and a roasted fowl. + +During the repast, he said to her: "For the rest, I have not noticed the +portrait of Gaston, your father; is it a distraction on my part, or an +omission on yours?" + +"It will be put there later," she answered. "It is not time." + +"What! your father!" added the King. "You do not think that, cousin!" + +"All my actions," added the Princess, "are weighed in the balance +beforehand; if I were to exhibit the portrait of my father at the head of +these various pictures, I should have to put my stepmother, his wife, +there too, as a necessary pendant. The harm which she has done me does +not permit of that complacence. One opens one's house only to one's +friends." + +"Your stepmother has never done you any other harm," replied the King, +"than to reclaim for her children the funds or the furniture left by your +father. The character of Margaret of Lorraine has always been sweetness +itself; seeing your irritation, she begged me to arbitrate myself; and +you know all that M. Colbert and the Chancellor did to satisfy you under +the circumstances. But let us speak of something else, and cease these +discussions. I have a service to ask of you: here is M. le Duc du Maine +already big; everybody knows of your affection for him, and I have seen +his portrait with pleasure, in one of your salons. I am going to +establish him; would it be agreeable to you if I give him your livery?" + +"M. le Duc du Maine," said the Princess, "is the type of what is +gracious, and noble, and beautiful; he can only do honour to my livery; +I grant it him with all my heart, since you do me the favour of desiring +it. Would I were in a position to do more for him!" + +The King perfectly understood these last words; he made no reply to them, +but he understood all that he was meant to understand. We went down +again into the gardens. + +The fishermen of Choisy had just caught a salmon of enormous size, which +they had been pursuing for four or five days; they had intended to offer +it to Mademoiselle; the presence of the King inspired them with another +design. They wove with great diligence a large and pretty basket of +reeds, garnished it with foliage, young grass, and flowers, and came and +presented to the King their salmon, all leaping in the basket. + +The fisherman charged with the address only uttered a few words; they +were quite evidently improvised, so that they gave more pleasure and +effect than those of academicians, or persons of importance. The +fisherman expressed himself thus: + +"You have brought us good fortune, Sire, by your presence, as you bring +fortune to your generals. You arrive on the Monday; on the Tuesday the +town is taken. We come to offer to the greatest of kings the greatest +salmon that can be caught." + +The King desired this speech to be instantly transcribed; and, after +having bountifully rewarded the sailors, his Majesty said to +Mademoiselle: + +"This man was born to be a wit; if he were younger, I would place him in +a college. There is wit at Choisy in every rank of life." + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +Departure of the King.--Ghent Reduced in Five Days.--Taking of Ypres.-- +Peace Signed.--The Prince of Orange Is at Pains Not to Know of It.-- +Horrible Cruelties. + +I have related in what manner Charles II., suddenly pronouncing in favour +of his nephew, the Prince of Orange, had signed a league with his old +enemies, the Dutch, in order to counteract the success of the King of +France and compel him to sign a humiliating and entirely inadmissible +peace. + +The King left Versailles suddenly on the 4th of February, 1678, taking, +with his whole Court, the road to Lorraine, while waiting for the troops +which had wintered on the frontiers, and were investing at once +Luxembourg, Charlemont, Namur, Mons, and Ypres, five of the strongest and +best provisioned places in the Low Countries. By this march and +manoeuvre, he wished to hoodwink the allied generals, who were very far +from imagining that Ghent was the point towards which the Conqueror's +intentions were directed. + +In effect, hardly had the King seen them occupied in preparing the +defence of the above named places, when, leaving the Queen and the ladies +in the agreeable town of Metz, he rapidly traversed sixty leagues of +country, and laid siege to the town of Ghent, which was scarcely +expecting him. + +The Spanish governor, Don Francisco de Pardo, having but a weak garrison +and little artillery, decided upon releasing the waters and inundating +the country; but certain heights remained which could not be covered, and +from here the French artillery started to storm the ramparts and the +fort. + +The siege was commenced on the 4th of March; upon the 9th the town opened +its gates, and two days later the citadel. Ypres was carried at the end +of a week, in spite of the most obstinate resistance. Our grenadiers +performed prodigies, and lost all their officers, without exception. +I lost there one of my nephews, the one hope of his family; my +compliments to the King, therefore, were soon made. + +He went to Versailles to take back the Queen, and returned to Ghent with +the speed and promptitude of lightning. The same evening he sent an +order to a detachment of the garrison of Maestricht to hasten and seize +the town and citadel of Leuwe, in Brabant, which was executed on the +instant. It was then that the Dutch sent their deputation, charged to +plead for a suspension of hostilities for six weeks. The King granted +it, although these blunderers hardly merited it. They undertook that +Spain should join them in the peace, and finally, after some +difficulties, settled more or less rightly, the treaty was signed on the +10th of August, just as the six weeks were about to expire. + +The Prince of Orange, naturally bellicose, and, above all things, +passionately hostile to France, pretended to ignore the existence of this +peace, which he disapproved. The Marechal de Luxembourg, informed of the +treaty, gave himself up to the security of the moment; he was actually at +table with his numerous officers when he was warned that the Prince of +Orange was advancing against him. The alarm was quickly sounded; such +troops and cavalry as could be were assembled, and a terrible action +ensued. + +At first we were repulsed, but soon the Marshal rallied his men; +he excited their indignation by exposing to them the atrocity of M. +d'Orange, and after a terrible massacre, in which two thousand English +bit the dust, the Marechal de Luxembourg remained master of the field. + +He was victorious, but in this unfortunate action we lost, ourselves, the +entire regiment of guards, that of Feuquieres, and several others +besides, with an incredible quantity of officers, killed or wounded. + +The name of the Prince of Orange, since that day, was held in horror in +both armies, and he would have fallen into disgrace with the States +General themselves had it not been for the protection of the King of +England, to whom the Dutch were greatly bound. + +On the following day, this monster sent a parliamentary officer to the +French generals to inform them that during the night official news of the +peace had reached him. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +Mission of Madame de Maintenon to Choisy.--Mademoiselle Gives the +Principalities of Eu and Dombes in Exchange for M. de Lauzun.-- +He Is Set at Liberty. + +The four or five words which had escaped Mademoiselle de Montpensier had +remained in the King's recollection. He said to me: "If you had more +patience, and a sweeter and more pliant temper, I would employ you to go +and have a little talk with Mademoiselle, in order to induce her to +explain what intentions she may have relative to my son." + +"I admit, Sire," I answered him, "that I am not the person required for +affairs of that sort. Your cousin is proud and cutting; I would not +endure what she has made others endure. I cannot accept such a +commission. But Madame de Maintenon, who is gentleness itself, is +suitable--no one more so for this mission; she is at once insinuating and +respectful; she is attached to the Duc du Maine. The interests of my son +could not be in better hands." + +The King agreed with me, and both he and I begged the Marquise to conduct +M. du Maine to Choisy. + +Mademoiselle de Montpensier received him with rapture. He thanked her +for what she had done for him, in granting him her colours, and upon that +Mademoiselle asked his permission to embrace him, and to tell him how +amiable and worthy of belonging to the King she found him. She led him +to the hall, in which he was to be seen represented as a colonel-general +of Swiss. + +"I have always loved the Swiss," she said, "because of their great +bravery, their fidelity, and their excellent discipline. The Marechal de +Bassompierre made his corps the perfection which it is; it is for you, my +cousin, to maintain it." + +She passed into another apartment, where she was to be seen represented +as Bellona. Two Loves were presenting her, one with his helm adorned +with martial plumes, the other with his buckler of gold, with the +Orleans-Montpensier arms. The laurel crown, with which Triumphs were +ornamenting her head, and the scaled cuirass of Pallas completed her +decoration. M. le Duc du Maine praised, without affectation, the +intelligence of the artist; and as for the figure and the likeness, he +said to the Princess: "You are good, but you are better." The calm and +the naivety of this compliment made Mademoiselle shed tears. Her emotion +was visible; she embraced my son anew. + +"You have brought him up perfectly," she said to Madame de Maintenon. +"His urbanity is of good origin; that is how a king's son ought to act +and speak: + +"His Majesty," said Madame de Maintenon, "has been enchanted with your +country-house; he spoke of it all the evening. He even added that you +had ordered it all yourself, without an architect, and that M. le Notre +would not have done better." + +"M. le Notre," replied the Princess, "came here for a little; he wanted +to cut and destroy, and upset and disarrange, as with the King at +Versailles. But I am of a different mould to my cousin; I am not to be +surprised with big words. I saw that Le Notre thought only of +expenditure and tyranny; I thanked him for his good intentions, and +prayed him not to put himself out for me. I found there thickets already +made, of an indescribable charm; he wanted, on the instant, to clear them +away, so that one could testify that all this new park was his. If you +please, madame, tell his Majesty that M. le Notre is the sworn enemy of +Nature; that he sees only the pleasures of proprietorship in the future, +and promises us cover and shade just at that epoch of our life when we +shall only ask for sunshine in which to warm ourselves." + +She next led her guests towards the large apartments. When she had come +to her bedroom, she showed the Marquise the mysterious portrait, and +asked if she recognised it. + +"Ah, my God! 'tis himself!" said Madame de Maintenon at once. "He sees, +he breathes, he regards us; one might believe one heard him speak. Why +do you give yourself this torture?" continued the ambassadress. "The +continual presence of an unhappy and beloved being feeds your grief, and +this grief insensibly undermines you. In your place, Princess, I should +put him elsewhere until a happier and more favourable hour." + +"That hour will never come," cried Mademoiselle. + +"Pardon me," resumed Madame de Maintenon; "the King is never inhuman and +inexorable; you should know that better than any one. He punishes only +against the protests of his heart, and, as soon as he can relent without +impropriety or danger, he pardons. M. de Lauzun, by refusing haughtily +the marshal's baton, which was offered him in despite of his youth, +deeply offended the King, and the disturbance he allowed himself to make +at Madame de Montespan's depicted him as a dangerous and wrong-headed +man. Those are his sins. Rest assured, Princess, that I am well +informed. But as I know, at the same time, that the King was much +attached to him,--and is still so, to some extent, and that a captivity +of ten years is a rough school, I have the assurance that your Highness +will not be thought importunate if you make today some slight attempt +towards a clemency." + +"I will do everything they like," Mademoiselle de Montpensier said then; +"but shall I have any one near his Majesty to assist and support my +undertaking? I have no more trust in Madame de Montespan; she has +betrayed us, she will betray us again; the offence of M. de Lauzun is +always present in her memory, and she is a lady who does not easily +forgive. As for you, madame, I know that the King considers you for the +invaluable services of the education given to his children. Deign to +speak and act in favour of my unhappy husband, and I will make you a +present of one of my fine titled territories." + +Madame de Maintenon was too acute to accept anything in such a case; +she answered the Princess that her generosities, to please the King, +should be offered to M. le Duc du Maine, and that, by assuring a part of +her succession to that young prince, she had a sure method of moving the +monarch, and of turning his paternal gratitude to the most favourable +concessions. The Princess, enchanted, then said to the negotiatrix: + +"Be good enough to inform his Majesty, this evening, that I offer to +give, at once, to his dear and amiable child the County of Eu and my +Sovereignty of Dombes, adding the revenues to them if it is necessary." + +Madame de Maintenon, who worships her pupil, kissed the hand of +Mademoiselle, and promised to return and see her immediately. + +That very evening she gave an account to the King of her embassy; she +solicited the liberty of the Marquis de Lauzun, and the King commenced by +granting "the authorisation of mineral waters." + +Meanwhile, Mademoiselle, presented by Madame de Maintenon, went to take +counsel with the King. She made a formal donation of the two +principalities which I have named. His Majesty, out of courtesy, left +her the revenues, and, in fine, she was permitted to marry her M. de +Lauzun, and to assure him, by contract, fifty thousand livres of income. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +M. de Brisacier and King Casimir.--One Is Never so Well Praised as by +Oneself.--He Is Sent to Get Himself Made a Duke Elsewhere. + +The Abbe de Brisacier, the famous director of consciences, possessed +enough friends and credit to advance young Brisacier, his nephew, to the +Queen's household, to whom he had been made private secretary. +Slanderers or impostors had persuaded this young coxcomb that Casimir, +the King of Poland, whilst dwelling in Paris in the quality of a simple +gentleman, had shown himself most assiduous to Madame Brisacier, and that +he, Brisacier of France, was born of these assiduities of the Polish +prince. + +When he saw the Comte Casimir raised to the elective throne of Poland, +he considered himself as the issue of royal blood, and it seemed to him +that his position with the Queen, Maria Theresa, was a great injustice of +fortune; he thought, nevertheless, that he ought to remain some time +longer in this post of inferiority, in order to use it as a ladder of +ascent. + +The Queen wrote quantities of letters to different countries, and +especially to Spain, but never, or hardly ever, in her own hand. One +day, whilst handling all this correspondence for the princess's +signature, the private secretary slipped one in, addressed to Casimir, +the Polish King. + +In this letter, which from one end to the other sang the praises of the +Seigneur Brisacier, the Queen had the extreme kindness to remind the +Northern monarch of his old liaison with the respectable mother of the +young man, and her Majesty begged the prince to solicit from the King of +France the title and rank of duke for so excellent a subject. + +King Casimir was not, as one knows, distrust and prudence personified; he +walked blindfold into the trap; he wrote with his royal hand to his +brother, the King of France, and asked him a brevet as duke for young +Brisacier. Our King, who did not throw duchies at people's heads, read +and re-read the strange missive with astonishment and suspicion. He +wrote in his turn to the suppliant King, and begged him to send him the +why and the wherefore of this hieroglyphic adventure. The good prince, +ignorant of ruses, sent the letter of the Queen herself. + +Had this princess ever given any reason to be talked about, there is no +doubt that she would have been lost on this occasion; but there was +nothing to excite suspicion. The King, no less, approached her with +precaution, in order to observe the first results of her answers. + +"Madame," he said, "are you still quite satisfied with young Brisacier, +your private secretary?" + +"More or less," replied the Infanta; "a little light, a little absent; +but, on the whole, a good enough young man." + +"Why have you recommended him to the King of Poland, instead of +recommending him to me directly?" + +"To the King of Poland!--I? I have not written to him since I +congratulated him on his succession." + +"Then, madame, you have been deceived in this matter, since I have your +last letter in my hands. Here it is; I return it to you." + +The princess read the letter with attention; her astonishment was +immense. + +"My signature has been used without authority," she said. "Brisacier +alone can be guilty, being the only one interested." + +This new kind of ambitious man was summoned; he was easily confounded. +The King ordered him to prison, wishing to frighten him for a punishment, +and at the end of some days he was commanded to quit France and go and be +made duke somewhere else. + +This event threw such ridicule upon pretenders to the ducal state, that I +no longer dared speak further to the King of the hopes which he had held +out to me; moreover, the things which supervened left me quite convinced +of the small success which would attend my efforts. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +Compliment from Monsieur to the New Prince de Dombes.--Roman History.-- +The Emperors Trajan, Marcus Aurelius, and Verus.--The Danger of Erudition. + +Monsieur, having learnt what his cousin of Montpensier had just done for +my Duc du Maine, felt all possible grief and envy at it. He had always +looked to inherit from her, and the harshest enemy whom M. de Lauzun met +with at his wedding was, undoubtedly, Monsieur. When M. le Duc du Maine +received the congratulations of all the Court on the ground of his new +dignity of Prince de Dombes, his uncle was the last to appear; even so he +could not refrain from making him hear these disobliging words,--who +would believe it?--"If I, too, were to give you my congratulation, it +would be scarcely sincere; what will be left for my children?" + +Madame de Maintenon, who is never at a loss, replied: "There will be left +always, Monseigneur, the remembrance of your virtues; that is a fair +enough inheritance." + +We complained of it to the King; he reprimanded him in a fine fashion. +"I gave you a condition so considerable," said he, "that the Queen, our +mother, herself thought it exaggerated and dangerous in your hands. You +have no liking for my children, although you feign a passionate affection +for their father; the result of your misbehaviour will be that I shall +grow cool to your line, and that your daughter, however beautiful and +amiable she may be, will not marry my Dauphin." + +At this threat Monsieur was quite overcome, and anxious to make his +apologies to the King; he assured him of his tender affection for M. le +Duc du Maine, and would give him to understand that Madame de Maintenon +had misunderstood him. + +"It is not from her that your compliment came to us; it is from M. le Duc +du Maine, who is uprightness itself, and whose mouth has never lied." + +Monsieur then started playing at distraction and puerility; the medal- +case was standing opened, his gaze was turned to it. Then he came to me +and said in a whisper: "I pray you, come and look at the coin of Marcus +Aurelius; do you not find that the King resembles that emperor in every +feature?" + +"You are joking," I answered him. "His Majesty is as much like him as +you are like me." + +He insisted, and his brother, who witnessed our argument, wished to know +the reason. When he understood, he said to Monsieur: "Madame de +Montespan is right; I am not in the least like that Roman prince in face. +The one to whom I should wish to be like in merit is Trajan." + +"Trajan had fine qualities," replied Monsieur; "that does not prevent me +from preferring Marcus Aurelius." + +"On what grounds?" asked his Majesty. + +"On the grounds that he shared his throne with Verus," replied Monsieur, +unhesitatingly. + +The King flushed at this reply, and answered in few words: "Marcus +Aurelius's action to his brother may, be called generous; it was none +the less inconsiderate. By his own confession, the Emperor Verus proved, +by his debauchery and his vices, unworthy, of the honour which had been +done him. Happily, he died from his excesses during the Pannonian War, +and Marcus Aurelius could only do well from that day on." + +Monsieur, annoyed with his erudition and confused at his escapade, sought +to change the conversation. The King, passing into his cabinet, left him +entirely, in my charge. I scolded him for his inconsequences, and he +dared to implore me to put his daughter "in the right way," to become one +day Queen of France by marrying Monsieur le Dauphin, whom she loved +already with her whole heart. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +The Benedictines of Fontevrault.--The Head in the Basin.--The Unfortunate +Delivery.--The Baptism of the Monster.--The Courageous Marriage.-- +Foundation of the Royal Abbey of Fontevrault. + +Two or three days after our arrival at Fontevrault, the King, who loves +to know all the geographical details of important places, asked me of the +form and particulars of the celebrated abbey. I gave him a natural +description of it. + +"They are two vast communities," I told him, "which the founder, for some +inexplicable whim, united in one domain, of an extent which astonishes +the imagination." + +The Community of Benedictine Nuns is regarded as the first, because of +the abbotorial dignity it possesses. The Community of Benedictine Monks +is only second,--a fact which surprises greatly strangers and visitors. +Both in the monastery and the convent the buildings are huge and +magnificent, the courts spacious, the woods and streams well distributed +and well kept. + +"Every morning you may see a hundred and fifty to two hundred ploughs +issue from both establishments; these spread over the plain and till an +immense expanse of land. Carts drawn by bullocks, big mules, or superb +horses are ceaselessly exporting the products of the fields, the meadows, +or the orchards. Innumerable cows cover the pastures, and legions of +women and herds are employed to look after these estates. + +"The aspect of Fontevrault gives an exact idea of the ancient homes of +the Patriarchs, in their remote periods of early civilisation, which saw +the great proprietors delighting in their natal hearth, and finding their +glory, as well as their happiness, in fertilising or assisting nature. + +"The abbess rules like a sovereign over her companion nuns, and over the +monks, her neighbours. She appoints their officers and their temporal +prince. It is she who admits postulants, who fixes the dates of +ordinations, pronounces interdictions, graces, and penances. They render +her an account of their administration and the employment of their +revenues, from which she subtracts carefully her third share, as the +essential right of her crosier of authority." + +"Have you invited the Benedictine Fathers to your fete in the wood?" the +King asked me, smiling. + +"We had no power, Sire," I answered. "There are many young ladies being +educated with the nuns of Fontevrault. The parents of these young ladies +respectful as they are to these monks, would have looked askance at the +innovation. The Fathers never go in there. They are to be seen at the +abbey church, where they sing and say their offices. Only the three +secular chaplains of the abbess penetrate into the house of the nuns; the +youngest of the three cannot be less than fifty. + +"The night of the feast the monks draw near our cloister by means of a +wooden theatre, which forms a terrace, and from this elevation they +participate by the eye and ear in our amusements; that is enough." + +"Has Madame de Mortemart ever related to you the origin of her abbey?" +resumed the King. "Perhaps she is ignorant of it. I am going to tell +you of it, for it is extremely curious; it is not as it is related in the +books, and I take the facts from good authority. You must hear of it, +and you will see. + +"There was once a Comtesse de Poitiers, named Honorinde, to whom fate had +given for a husband the greatest hunter in the world. This man would +have willingly passed his life in the woods, where he hunted, night and +day, what we call, in hunter's parlance, 'big game.' Having won the +victory over a monstrous boar, he cut off the head himself, and this +quivering and bleeding mask he went to offer to his lady in a basin. The +young woman was in the first month of her pregnancy. She was filled with +repugnance and fright at the sight of this still-threatening head; it +troubled her to the prejudice of her fruit. + +"Eight, or seven and a half, months afterwards, she brought into the +world a girl who was human in her whole body, but above had the horrible +head of a wild boar! Imagine what cries, what grief, what despair! The +cure of the place refused baptism, and the Count, broken down and +desolate, ordered the child to be drowned. + +"Instead of throwing it into the water, his servant scrupulously went +straight to the monastery where your sister rules. He laid down his +closed packet in the church of the monks, and then returned to his lord, +who never had any other child. + +"The religious Benedictines, not knowing whence this monster came, +believed there was some prodigy in it. They baptised in this little +person all that was not boar, and left the surplus to Providence. They +brought up the singular creature in the greatest secrecy; it drank and +lapped after the manner of its kind. As it grew up it walked on its +feet, and that without the least imperfection; it could sit down, go on +its knees, and even make a courtesy. But it never articulated any +distinct words, and it had always a harsh and rough voice which howled +and grunted. Its intelligence never reached the knowledge of reading or +writing; but it understood easily all that could be said to it, and the +proof was that it replied by its actions. + +"The Comte de Poitiers having died whilst hunting, Honorinde learnt of +her old serving-man in what refuge, in what asylum, he had long ago +deposited the little one. This good mother proceeded there, and the +monks, after some hesitation, confessed what had become of it. She +wished to see it; they showed it her. At its aspect she felt the same +inward commotion which had, years before, perverted nature. She groaned, +fainted, burst into tears, and never had the courage and firmness to +embrace what she had seen. + +"Her gratitude was not less lively and sincere; she handed a considerable +sum to the Benedictines of Fontevrault, charging them to continue their +good work and charity. + +"The reverend Prior, reflecting that his hideous inmate came of a great +family, and of a family of great property, resolved to procure it as a +wife for his nephew. He sounded the young man, who looked fixedly at his +future bride, and avowed that he was satisfied. + +"She is a good Christian," he replied to his uncle, since you have +baptised her here. She is of a good family, since Honorinde has +recognised her. There are many as ugly as she is to be seen who still +find husbands. I will put a pretty mask on her, and the mask will give +me sufficient illusion. Benedicte, so far as she goes, is well-made; I +hope to have fine children who will talk. + +"The Prior commenced by marrying them; he then confided in Honorinde, +who, not daring to noise abroad this existence, was compelled to submit +to what had been done. + +"The marriage of the young she-monster was not happy. She bit her +husband from morning to night. She did not know how to sit at table, +and would only eat out of a trough. She needed neither an armchair, +a sofa, nor a couch; she stretched herself out on the sand or on the +pavement. + +"Her husband, in despair, demanded the nullification of his marriage; +and as the courts did not proceed fast enough for his impatience, +he killed his companion, Benedicte, with a pistol-shot, at the moment +when she was biting and tearing him before witnesses. + +"Honorinde had her buried at Fontevrault, and over her tomb, at the end +of the year, she built a convent, to which her immense property was +given, where she retired herself as a simple nun, and of which she was +appointed first abbess by the Pope who reigned at the time. + +"There, madame," added the King, "is the somewhat singular origin of the +illustrious abbey which your sister rules with such eclat. You must have +remarked the boar's head, perfectly imitated in sculpture, in the dome; +that mask is the speaking history of the noble community of Fontevrault, +where more than a hundred Benedictine monks obey an abbess." + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +Fine Couples Make Fine Children.--The Dauphine of Bavaria.--She +Displeases Madame de Montespan.--First Debut Relating to Madame de +Maintenon, Appointed Lady-in-waiting.--Conversation between the Two +Marquises. + +The King, in his moments of effusion and abandonment (then so full of +pleasantness), had said more than once: "If I have any physical beauty, +I owe it to the Queen, my mother; if my daughters have any beauty, they +owe it to me: it is only fine couples who get fine children." + +When I saw him decided upon marrying Monseigneur le Dauphin, I reminded +him of his maxim. He fell to smiling, and answered me: "Chance, too, +sometimes works its miracles. My choice for my son is a decided thing; +my politics come before my taste, and I have asked for the daughter of +the Elector of Bavaria, whose portrait I will show you. She is not +beautiful, like you; she is prettier than Benedicte, and I hope that she +will not bite Monseigneur le Dauphin in her capricious transports." + +The portrait that the King showed me was a flattering one, as are, in +general, all these preliminary samples. For all that, the Princess +seemed to me hideous, and even disagreeable, especially about her eyes, +that portion of the face which confirms the physiognomy and decides +everything. + +"Monseigneur will never love that woman," I said to the King. "That +constrained look in the pupil, those drooping eyes,--they make my heart +ache." + +"My son, happily," his Majesty answered, "is not so difficult as you and +I. He has already seen this likeness, and at the second look he was +taken; and as we have assured him that the young person is well made, he +cries quits with her face, and proposes to love her as soon as he gets +her." + +"God grant it!" I added; and the King told me, more or less in detail, +of what important personages he was going to compose his household. The +eternal Abbe Bossuet was to become first chaplain, as being the tutor-in- +chief to the Dauphin; the Duchesse de Richelieu, for her great name, was +going to be lady of honour; and the two posts of ladies in waiting were +destined for the Marquise de Rochefort, wife of the Marshal, and for +Madame de Maintenon, ex-governess of the Duc du Maine. The gesture of +disapproval which escaped me gave his Majesty pain. + +"Why this air of contempt or aversion?" he said, changing colour. +"Is it to the Marechale de Rochefort or the Marquise de Maintenon that +you object? I esteem both the one and the other, and I am sorry for you +if you do not esteem them too." + +"The Marechale de Rochefort," I replied, without taking any fright, "is +aged, and almost always sick; a lady of honour having her appearance will +make a contrast with her office. As to the other, she still has beauty +and elegance; but do you imagine, Sire, that the Court of Bavaria and the +Court of France have forgotten, in so short a time, the pleasant and +burlesque name of the poet Scarron?" + +"Every one ought to forget what I have forgotten," replied the King, +"and what my gratitude will not, and cannot forget, I am surprised that +you, madame, should take pleasure in forgetting." + +"She has taken care of my children since the cradle, I admit it with +pleasure," said I to his Majesty, without changing my tone; "you have +given her a marquisate for recompense, and a superb hotel completely +furnished at Versailles. I do not see that she has any cause for +complaint, nor that after such bounty there is more to add." + +"Of eight children that you have brought into the world, madame, she has +reared and attended perfectly to six," replied the King. "The estate of +Maintenon has, at the most, recompensed the education of the Comtes de +Vegin, whose childhood was so onerous. And for the remainder of my +little family, what have I yet done that deserves mention?" + +"Give her a second estate and money," I cried, quite out of patience, +"since it is money which pays all services of that nature; but what need +have you to raise her to great office, and keep her at Court? She dotes, +she says, on her old chateau of Maintenon; do not deprive her of this +delight. By making her lady in waiting, you would be disobliging her." + +"She will accept out of courtesy," he said to me, putting on an air of +mockery. And as the time for the Council was noted by him on my clock, +he went away without adding more. + +Since M. le Duc du Maine had grown up, and Mademoiselle de Nantes had +been confided to the Marquise de Montchevreuil, Madame de Maintenon +continued to occupy her handsome apartment on the Princes' Court. There +she received innumerable visits, she paid assiduous court to the Queen, +who had suddenly formed a taste for her, and took her on her walks and +her visits to the communities; but this new Marquise saw me rarely. +Since the affair of the vine-grower, killed on the road, she declared +that I had insulted her before everybody, and that I had ordered her +imperiously to return to my carriage, as though she had been a waiting- +maid, or some other menial. Her excessive sensibility readily afforded +her this pretext, so that she neglected and visibly overlooked me. + +As she did not come to me, I betook myself to her at a tolerably early +hour, before the flood of visitors, and started her on the history of the +lady in waiting. + +"His Majesty has spoken of it to me," she said, "as of a thing possible; +but I do not think there is anything settled yet in the matter." + +"Will you accept," I asked her, "supposing the King to insist?" + +"I should like a hundred times better," she replied, "to go and live in +independence in my little kingdom of Maintenon, and with my own hands +gather on my walls those velvet, brilliant peaches, which grow so fine in +those districts. But if the King commands me to remain at Court, and +form our young Bavarian Princess in the manners of this country, have I +the right, in good conscience, to refuse?" + +"Your long services have gained you the right to desire and take your +retirement," I said to her; "in your place, I should insist upon the +necessities of my health. And the Court of France will not fall nor +change its physiognomy, even if a German or Iroquois Dauphine should +courtesy awry, or in bad taste." + +Madame de Maintenon began to laugh, and assured me that "her post as lady +in waiting would be an actual burden, if the King had destined her for it +in spite of herself, and there should be no means of withdrawing from +it." + +At this speech I saw clearly that things were already fixed. Not wishing +to call upon me the reproaches of my lord, I carried the conversation no +further. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +The "Powder of Inheritance."--The Chambre Ardente.--The Comtesse de +Soissons's Arrest Decreed.--The Marquise de Montespan Buys Her +Superintendence of the Queen's Council.--Madame de Soubise.--Madame de +Maintenon and the King. + +At the time of the poisonings committed by Madame de Brinvilliers, +the Government obtained evidence that a powder, called "the powder of +inheritance," was being sold in Paris, by means of which impatient heirs +shortened the days of unfortunate holders, and entered into possession +before their time. + +Two obscure women, called La Vigoureuse and La Voisine, were arrested, +having been caught redhanded. Submitted to the question, they confessed +their crime, and mentioned several persons, whom they qualified as +"having bought and made use of the said powder of inheritance." + +We saw suddenly the arrest of the Marechal de Luxembourg, the Princesse +de Tingry, and many others. The 'Chambre Ardente'--[The French Star +Chamber.]--issued a warrant also to seize the person of the Duchesse de +Bouillon and the Comtesse de Soissons, the celebrated nieces of the +Cardinal Mazarin, sisters-in-law, both, of my niece De Nevers, who was +dutifully afflicted thereby. + +The Comtesse de Soissons had possessed hitherto an important office, +whose functions suited me in every respect,--that of the superintendence +of the Queen's household and council. I bought this post at a +considerable price. The Queen, who had never cared for the Countess, +did me the honour of assuring me that she preferred me to the other, +when I came to take my oath in her presence. + +Madame la Princesse de Rohan-Soubise had wished to supplant me at that +time, and I was aware of her constant desire to obtain a fine post at +Court. She loved the King, who had shown her his favours in more than +one circumstance; but, as she had a place neither in his esteem nor in +his affection, I did not fear her. I despatched to her, very adroitly, +a person of her acquaintance, who spoke to her of the new household of a +Dauphine, and gave her the idea of soliciting for herself the place of +lady in waiting, destined for Madame de Maintenon. + +The Princesse de Soubise put herself immediately amongst the candidates. +She wrote to the King, her friend, a pressing and affectionate letter, +to which he did not even reply. She wrote one next in a more majestic +and appropriate style. It was notified to her that she was forbidden to +reappear at Court. + +The prince had resolutely taken his course. He wished to put Madame de +Maintenon in evidence, and what he has once decided he abandons never. + +I was soon aware that costumes of an unheard-of magnificence were being +executed for the Marquise. Gold, silver, precious stones abounded. +I was offered a secret view of her robe of ceremony, with a long mantle +train. I saw this extraordinarily rich garment, and was sorry in advance +for the young stranger, whose lady in waiting could not fail to eclipse +her in everything. + +I then put some questions to myself,--asked myself severely if my +disapproval sprang from natural haughtiness, which would have been +possible, and even excusable, or whether, mingled with all that, was some +little agitation of jealousy and emulation. + +I collected together a crowd of slight and scattered circumstances; +and in this union of several small facts, at first neglected and almost +unperceived, I distinguished on the part of the King a gradual and +increasing attachment for the governess, and at the same time a +negligence in regard to me,--a coldness, a cooling-down, at least, and +that sort of familiarity, close parent of weariness, which comes to sight +in the midst of courtesies and attentions the most satisfying and the +most frequent. + +The King, in the old days, never glanced towards my clock till as late as +possible, and always at the last moment, at the last extremity. Now he +cast his eyes on it a score of times in half an hour. He contradicted me +about trifles. He explained to me ingeniously the faults, or alleged +faults, of my temper and character. If it was a question of Madame de +Maintenon, she was of a birth equal and almost superior to the rest of +the Court. He forgot himself so far as to quote before me the subtilty +of her answers or the delight of her most intimate conversation. Did he +wish to describe a noble carriage, an attitude at once easy and +distinguished, it was Madame de Maintenon's. She possessed this, she +possessed that, she possessed everything. + +Soon there was not the slightest doubt left to me; and I knew, as did the +whole Court, that he openly visited the Marquise, and was glad to pass +some moments there. + +These things, in truth, never lacked some plausible pretext, and he chose +the time when Madame de Montchevreuil and Mademoiselle de Nantes were +presenting their homages to Madame de Maintenon. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +Marie Louise, Daughter of Henrietta of England, Betrothed to the King of +Spain.--Her Affliction.--Jealousy of the King, Her Husband. + +The unfortunate lady, Henrietta of England, had left, at her death, two +extremely young girls, one of them, indeed, being still in the cradle. +The new Madame was seized with good-will for these two orphans to such an +extent as to complain to the King. They were brought up with the +greatest care; they were, both of them, pretty and charming. + +The elder was named Marie Louise. It was this one whom Monsieur destined +in his own mind for Monseigneur le Dauphin; and the Princess, accustomed +early to this prospect, had insensibly adapted to it her mind and hope. +Young, beautiful, agreeable, and charming as her mother, she created +already the keenest sensation at Court, and the King felt an inclination +to cherish her as much as he had loved Madame. But the excessive freedom +which this alliance would not have failed to give his brother, both with +his son-in-law and nephew, and with the Ministry, prevented his Majesty +from giving way to this penchunt for Marie Louise. On the contrary, he +consented to her marriage with the King of Spain, and the news of it was +accordingly carried to Monsieur le Duc d'Orleans. He and his wife felt +much annoyance at it. But after communications of that kind there was +scarcely any course open to be taken than that of acquiescence. Monsieur +conveyed the news to his beloved daughter, and, on hearing that she was +to be made Queen of Spain, this amiable child uttered loud lamentations. + +When she went to Versailles to thank the King, her uncle, her fine eyes +were still suffused with tears. The few words which she uttered were +mingled with sighing and weeping; and when she saw the indifference of +her cousin, who felicitated her like the rest, she almost fainted with +grief and regret. + +"My dear cousin," said this dull-witted young lord, "I shall count the +hours until you go to Spain. You will send me some 'touru', for I am +very fond of it?" + +The King could not but find this reflection of his son very silly and out +of place. But intelligence is neither to be given nor communicated by +example. His Majesty had to support to the end this son, legitimate as +much as you like, but altogether in degree, and with a person which +formed a perpetual contrast with the person of the King. It was my Duc +du Maine who should have been in the eminent position of Monseigneur. +Nature willed it so. She had proved it sufficiently by lavishing all her +favours on him, all her graces; but the laws of convention and usage +would not have it. His Majesty has made this same reflection, groaning, +more than once. + +Marie Louise, having been married by proxy, in the great Chapel of Saint +Germain, where the Cardinal de Bouillon blessed the ring in his quality +of Grand Almoner of France, left for that Spain which her young heart +distrusted. + +Her beauty and charms rendered her precious to the monarch, utterly +melancholy and devout as he was. He did not delay subjecting her to the +wretched, petty, tiresome, and absurd etiquette of that Gothic Court. +Mademoiselle submitted to all these nothings, seeing she had been able to +submit to separation from France. She condemned herself to the most +fastidious observances and the most sore privations, which did not much +ameliorate her lot. + +A young Castilian lord, almost mad himself, thought fit to find this +Queen pretty, and publicly testify his love for her. The jealousy of the +religious King flared up like a funeral torch. He conceived a hatred of +his wife, reserved and innocent though she was. She died cruelly by +poison. And Monseigneur le Dauphin probably cried, after his manner: + +"What a great pity! She won't send me the touru!" + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +The Dauphine of Bavaria.--The Confessor with Spurs.--Madame de Maintenon +Disputes with Bossuet.--He Opposes to Her Past Ages and History.-- +The Military Absolution. + +Eight months after the wedding of Marie Louise, we witnessed the arrival +of Anne Marie Christine, Princess of Bavaria, daughter of the Elector +Ferdinand. The King and Monseigneur went to receive her at Vitry-le- +Francais, and then escorted her to Chalons, where the Queen was awaiting +her. + +The Cardinal de Bouillon celebrated the marriage in the cathedral church +of this third-class town. The festivities and jubilations there lasted a +week. + +The King had been very willing to charge me with the arrangement of the +baskets of presents destined for the Dauphine; I acquitted myself of this +commission with French taste and a sentiment of what was proper. When +the Queen saw all these magnificent gifts placed and spread out in a +gallery, she cried out, and said: + +"Things were not done so nobly for me; and yet, I can say without vanity, +I was of a better house than she." + +This remark paints the Queen, Maria Theresa, better than anything which +could be said. Can one wonder, after that, that she should have brought +into the world an hereditary prince who so keenly loves 'touru', and asks +for it! + +Madame de Maintenon and M. Bossuet had gone to receive the Princess of +Schelestadt. When she was on her husband's territory, and it was +necessary, to confess her for the sacrament of matrimony, she was +strangely embarrassed. They had not remembered to bring a chaplain of +her own nation for her; and she could not confess except in the German +tongue. + +Madame de Maintenon, who is skilled in all matters of religion, said to +the prelate: "I really think, monsieur, that, having educated Monsieur le +Dauphin, you ought to know a little German,--you who have composed the +treatise on universal history." + +The Bishop of Meaux excused himself, saying that he knew Greek, Syriac, +and even Hebrew; but that, through a fatality, he was ignorant of the +German language. A trumpeter was then sent out to ask if there was not +in the country a Catholic priest who was a German, or acquainted with the +German tongue. Luckily one was found, and Madame de Maintenon, who is +very, pedantic, even in the matter of toilet and ornaments, trembled with +joy and thanked God for it. But what was her astonishment when they came +to bring her the priest! He was in coloured clothes, a silk doublet, +flowing peruke, and boots and spurs. The lady in waiting rated him +severely, and was tempted to send him back. But Bossuet--a far greater +casuist than she--decided that in these urgent cases one need hold much +less to forms. They were contented with taking away the spurs from this +amphibious personage; they pushed him into a confessional,--the curtain +of which he was careful to draw before himself,--and they brought the +Bavarian Princess, who, not knowing the circumstances, confessed the sins +of her whole life to this sort of soldier. + +Madame de Maintenon always had this general confession on her conscience; +she scolded Bossuet for it as a sort of sacrilege, and the latter, who +was only difficult and particular with simple folk, quoted historical +examples in which soldiers, on the eve of battle, had confessed to their +general. + +"Yes," said the King, on hearing these quotations from the imperturbable +man; "that must have been to the Bishop of Puy or the Bishop of Orange, +who, in effect, donned the shield and cuirass at the time of the crusades +against the Saracens; or perhaps, again, to the Cardinal de la Valette +d'Epernon, who commanded our armies under Richelieu successfully." + +"No, Sire," replied the Bishop; "to generals who were simply soldiers." + +"But," said the King, "were the confessions, then, null?" + +"Sire," added the Bishop of Meaux, "circumstances decide everything. +Of old, in the time of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, and much later still, +confessions of Christians were public,--made in a loud voice; sometimes a +number together, and always in the open air. Those of soldiers that I +have quoted to madame were somewhat of the kind of these confessions of +the primitive Church; and to-day, still, at the moment when battle is +announced, a military almoner gives the signal for confession. The +regiments confess on their knees before the Most High, who hears them; +and the almoner, raised aloft on a pile of drums, holds the crucifix in +one hand, and with the other gives the general absolution to eighty +thousand soldiers at once." + +This clear and precise explanation somewhat calmed Madame de Maintenon, +and Madame la Dauphine,--displeased at what she had done on arriving,-- +in order to be regular, learned to confess in French. + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + +Pere de la Chaise.--The Jesuits.--The Pavilion of Belleville.-- +The Handkerchief. + +Pere de la Chaise has never done me good or ill; I have no motives for +conciliating him, no reason to slander him. I am ignorant if he were the +least in the world concerned, at the epoch of the Grand Jubilee, with +those ecclesiastical attempts of which Bossuet had constituted himself +spokesman. Pere de la Chaise has in his favour a great evenness of +temper and character; an excellent tone, which comes to him from his +birth; a conciliatory philosophy, which renders him always master of his +condition and of his metier. He is, in a single individual, the happy +combination of several men, that is to say, be is by turns, and as it may +be needful, a man indulgent or severe in his preaching; a man of +abstinence, or a good feeder; a man of the world, or a cenobite; a man of +his breviary, or a courtier. He knows that the sins of woodcutters and +the sins of kings are not of the same family, and that copper and gold +are not weighed in the same scales. + +He is a Jesuit by his garb; be is much more so than they are by his +'savoir-vivre'. His companions love the King because he is the King; he +loves him, and pities him because he sees his weakness. He shows for his +penitent the circumspection and tenderness of a father, and in the long +run he has made of him a spoiled child. + +This Pere de la Chaise fell suddenly ill, and with symptoms so alarming +that the cabals each wished to appropriate this essential post of +confessor. + +The Jansenists would have been quite willing to lay hold of it. The +Jesuits, and principally the cordons bleus, did not quit the pillow of +the sick man for an instant. + +The King had himself informed of his condition every half-hour. There +was a bulletin, as there is for potentates. One evening, when the +doctors were grave on his account, I saw anxiety and affliction painted +on the visage of his Majesty. + +"Where shall I find his like?" said he to me. "Where shall I find such +knowledge, such indulgence, such kindness? The Pere de la Chaise knew +the bottom of my heart; he knew, as an intelligent man, how to reconcile +religion with nature; and when duty brings me to the foot of his +tribunal, as a humble Christian, he never forgets that royalty, cannot be +long on its knees, and he accompanies with his attentions and with +deference the religious commands which he is bound to impose on me." + +"I hope that God will preserve him to you," I replied to his Majesty; +"but let us suppose the case in which this useful and precious man should +see his career come to an end; will you grant still this mark of +confidence and favour to the Jesuits? All the French being your +subjects, would it not be fitting to grant this distinction sometimes to +the one and sometimes to the other? You would, perhaps, extinguish by +this that hate or animosity by which the Jesuits see themselves assailed, +which your preference draws upon them." + +"I do not love the Jesuits with that affection that you seem to suggest," +replied the monarch. "I look upon them as men of instruction, as a +learned and well-governed corporation; but as for their attachment for +me, I know how to estimate it. This kind of people, strangers to the +soft emotions of nature, have no affection or love for anything. Before +the triumph of the King my grandfather, they intrigued and exerted +themselves to bring about his fall; he opened the gates of Paris, and the +Jesuits, like the Capuchins, at once recognised him and bowed down before +him. King Henri, who knew what men are, pretended to forget the past; he +pronounced himself decidedly in favour of the Jesuits because this body +of teachers, numerous, rich, and of good credit, had just pronounced +itself in favour of him. + +"It was, then, a reconciliation between power and power, and the politics +of my grandfather were to survive him and become mine, since the same +elements exist and I am encamped on the same ground. If God takes away +from me my poor Pere de la Chaise, I shall feel this misfortune deeply, +because I shall lose in him, not a Jesuit, not a priest, but a good +companion, a trusty and proved friend. If I lose him, I shall assuredly +be inconsolable for him; but it will be very necessary for me to take his +successor from the Grand Monastery of the Rue Saint Antoine. This +community knows me by heart, and I do not like innovations." + +The successor of the Pere de la Chaise was already settled with the +Jesuit Fathers; but this man of the vanguard was spared marching and +meeting danger. The Court was not condemned to see and salute a new +face; the old confessor recovered his health. His Majesty experienced a +veritable joy at it, a joy as real as if the Prince of Orange had died. + +Wishing to prove to the good convalescent how dear his preservation was +to him, the King released him from his function for the rest of the year, +and begged him to watch over his health, the most important of his duties +and his possessions. + +Having learnt that they had neither terraces nor gardens at the grand +monastery of the Rue Saint Antoine, his Majesty made a present to his +confessor of a very agreeable house in the district of Belleville, and +caused to be transported thither all kinds of orange-trees, rare shrubs, +and flowers from Versailles. These tasteful attentions, these filial +cares, diverted the capital somewhat; but Paris is a rich soil, where the +strangest things are easily received and naturalised without an effort. + +The Pare de la Chaise had his chariot with his arms on it, and his family +livery; and as the income from his benefices remained to him, joined to +his office of confessor, he continued to have every day a numerous court +of young abbes, priests well on in years, barons, countesses, marquises, +magistrates and colonels, who came to Belleville in anxiety about his +health, to congratulate themselves upon his convalescence, to ask of him, +with submission and reverence, a bishopric, an archbishopric, +a cardinal's hat, an important priory, a canonry, or an abbey. + +Having myself to place the three daughters of one of my relatives, I went +to see the noble confessor at his pavilion of Belleville. He received me +with the most marked distinction, and was lavish in acts of gratitude for +all the benefits of the King. + +As he crossed his salon, in order to accompany me and escort me out, he +let his white handkerchief fall; three bishops at once flung themselves +upon it, and there was a struggle as to who should pick it up to give it +back to him. + +I related to the King what I had seen. He said to me: "These prelates +honour my confessor, looking upon him as a second me." In fact, the sins +of the King could only throw his confessor into relief and add to his +merit. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + +Mademoiselle de Fontanges.--The Pavilions of the Garden of Flora.--Rapid +Triumph of the Favourite.--Her Retreat to Val-de-grace.--Her Death. + +Madame de Maintenon was already forty-four years old, and appeared to be +only thirty. This freshness, that she owed either to painstaking care or +to her happy and quite peculiar constitution, gave her that air of youth +which fascinated the eyes of the courtiers and those of the monarch +himself. I wished one day to annoy her by bringing the conversation on +this subject, which could not be diverting to her. I began by putting +the question generally, and I then named several of our superannuated +beauties who still fluttered in the smiling gardens of Flora without +having the youth of butterflies. + +"There are butterflies of every age and colour in the gardens of Flora," +said she, catching the ball on the rebound. "There are presumptuous +ones, whom the first breath of the zephyr despoils of their plumage and +discolours; others, more reserved and less frivolous, keep their glamour +and prestige for a much longer time. For the rest, the latter seem to me +to rejoice without being vain in their advantages. And at bottom, what +should any insect gain by being proud?" + +"Very little," I answered her, "since being dressed as a butterfly does +not prevent one from being an insect, and the best sustained preservation +lasts at most till the day after to-morrow." + +The King entered. I started speaking of a young person, extremely +beautiful, who had just appeared at Court, and would eclipse, in my +opinion, all who had shone there before her. + +"What do you call her?" asked his Majesty. "To what family does she +belong?" + +"She comes from the provinces," I continued, "just like silk, silver, and +gold. Her parents desire to place her among the maids of honour of the +Queen. Her name is Fontanges, and God has never made anything so +beautiful." + +As I said these words I watched the face of the Marquise. She listened +to this portrayal with attention, but without appearing moved by it, such +is her power of suppressing her natural feeling. The King only added +these words: + +"This young person needs be quite extraordinary, since Madame de +Montespan praises her, and praises her with so much vivacity. However, +we shall see." + +Two days afterwards, Mademoiselle de Fontanges was seen in the salon of +the grand table. The King, in spite of his composure, had looks and +attentions for no one else. + +This excessive preoccupation struck the Queen, who, marking the +blandishments of the young coquette and the King's response, guessed the +whole future of this encounter; and in her heart was almost glad at it, +seeing that my turn had come. + +Mademoiselle de Fontanges, given to the King by her shameless family, +feigned love and passion for the monarch, as though he had returned by +enchantment to his twentieth year. + +As for him, he too appeared to us to forget all dates. I know that he +was only now forty-one years old, and having been the finest man in the +world, he could not but preserve agreeable vestiges of a once striking +beauty. But his young conquest had hardly entered on her eighteenth +year, and this difference could not fail to be plain to the most +inattentive, or most indulgent eyes. + +The King, with a sort of anticipatory resignation, had for six or seven +years greatly simplified his appearance. We had seen him, little by +little, reform that Spanish and chivalric costume with which he once +embellished his first loves. The flowing plumes no longer floated over +his forehead, which had become pensive and quite serious. The diagonal, +scarf was suppressed, and the long boots, with gold and silver +embroidery, were no longer seen. To please his new divinity, the monarch +suddenly enough rejuvenated his attire. The most elegant stuffs became +the substance of his garments; feathers reappeared. He joined to them +emeralds and diamonds. + +Allegorical comedies, concerts on the waters recommenced. Triumphant +horse-races set the whole Court abob and in movement. There was a fresh +carousal; there was all that resembles the enthusiasms of youthful +affection, and the deliriums of youth. The youth alone was not there, +at least in proportion, assortment, and similarity. + +All that I was soliciting for twelve years, Mademoiselle de Fontanges had +only to desire for a week. She was created duchess at her debut; and the +lozenge of her escutcheon was of a sudden adorned with a ducal coronet, +and a peer's mantle. + +I did not deign to pay attention to this outrage; at least, I made a +formal resolution never to say a single word on it. + +The King came no less from time to time, to pay me a visit, and to talk +to me, as of old, of operas and his hunting. I endured his conversation +with a philosophical phlegm. He scarcely suspected the change in me. + +At the chase, one day, his nymph, whom nothing could stop, had her knot +of riband caught and held by a branch; the royal lover compelled the +branch to restore the knot, and went and offered it to his Amazon. +Singular and sparkling, although lacking in intelligence, she carried +herself this knot of riband to the top of her hair, and fixed it there +with a long pin. + +Fortune willed it that this coiffure, without order or arrangement, +suited her face, and suited it greatly. The King was the first to +congratulate her on it; all the courtiers applauded it, and this coiffure +of the chase became the fashion of the day. + +All the ladies, and the Queen herself, found themselves obliged to adopt +it. Madame de Maintenon submitted herself to it, like the others. I +alone refused to sacrifice to the idol, and my knee, being once more +painful, would not bend before Baal. + +With the exception of the general duties of the sovereignty, the prince +appeared to have forgotten everything for his flame. The Pere de la +Chaise, who had returned to his post, regarded this fresh incident with +his philosophic calm, and congratulated himself on seeing the monarch +healed of at least one of his passions. + +I had always taken the greatest care to respect the Queen; and since my +star condemned me to stand in her shoes, I did not spare myself the +general attentions which two well-born people owe one another, and which, +at least, prove a lofty education. + +The Duchesse de Fontanges, doubtless, believed herself Queen, because she +had the public homage and the King. This imprudent and conceited +schoolgirl had the face to pass before her sovereign without stopping, +and without troubling to courtesy. + +The Infanta reddened with disapproval, and persuaded herself, by way of +consolation, that Fontanges had lost her senses or was on the road to +madness. + +Beautiful and brilliant as the flowers, the Duchess, like them, passed +swiftly away. Her pregnancy, by reason of toilsome rides, hunting +parties, and other agitations, became complicated. From the eighth month +she fell into a fever, into exhaustion and languor. The terror that took +possession of her imagination caused her to desire a sojourn in a convent +as a refuge of health, where God would see her nearer and, perhaps, come +to her aid. + +She had herself transported during the night to the House of the Ladies +of Val-de-Grace, and desired that they should place in her chamber +several relics from their altars. + +Her confinement was not less laboured and sinister. When she saw that +all the assistance of art could not stop the bleeding, with which her +deep bed was flooded, she caused the King to be summoned, embraced him +tenderly, in the midst of sobs and tears, and died in the night, +pronouncing the name of God and the name of the King, the objects of her +love and of fears. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + +Madame de Sevigne.--Madame de Grignan.--Madame de Montespan at the +Carmelites.--Madame de la Valliere.--These Two Great Ruins Console One +Another.--An Angel of Sweetness, Goodness, and Kindness. + +Fifteen or twenty days before the death of Mademoiselle de Fontanges, my +sister and I were taking a walk in the new woods of Versailles. We met +the Marquise de Sevigne near the canal; she was showing these marvellous +constructions to her daughter, the Comtesse de Grignan. They greeted us +with their charming amiability, and, after having spoken of several +indifferent matters, the Marquise said to me: "We saw, five or six days +ago, a person, madame, of whom you were formerly very fond, and who +charged us to recall her to the memory of her friends. You are still of +that number,--I like to think so, and our commission holds good where you +are concerned, if you will allow it." + +Then she mentioned to me that poor Duchesse de la Valliere, to whom I was +once compelled by my unhappy star to give umbrage, and whom, in my fatal +thoughtlessness, I had afflicted without desiring it. + +Tears came into my eyes; Madame de Sevigne saw them, and expressed her +regret at having caused me pain. Madame de Thianges and I asked her if +my old friend was much changed. She and Madame de Grignan assured us +that she was fresh, in good health, and that her face appeared more +beautiful. On the next day I wished absolutely to see her, and drove to +the Carmelites. + +On seeing my pretty cripple, who hobbled among us with so great a charm, +I uttered a cry, which for a moment troubled her. She sank down to +salute the crucifix, as custom demands, and, after her short prayer, she +came to me. "I did not mention your name to Mesdames de Sevigne," said +she; "but, however, I am obliged to them, since they have been able to +procure me the pleasure of seeing you once more." + +"The general opinion of the Court, and in the world, my dear Duchess," +answered I, "is that I brought about your disgrace myself; and the +public, that loved you, has not ceased to reproach me with your +misfortune." + +"The public is very kind still to occupy itself with me," she answered; +"but it is wrong in that, as in so many other matters. My retirement +from the world is not a misfortune, and I never suspected that the soul +could find such peace and satisfaction in these silent solitudes. + +"The first days were painful to me, I admit it, owing to the +inexpressible difference which struck me between what I found here and +what I had left elsewhere. But just as the eye accustoms itself, little +by little, to the feeble glimmer of a vault, in the same way my body has +accustomed itself to the roughness of my new existence, and my heart to +all its great privations. + +"If life had not to finish, in fulfilment of a solemn, universal, and +inevitable decree, the constraint that I have put upon myself might at +length become oppressive, and my yoke prove somewhat heavy. But all that +will finish soon, for all undertakings come to an end. I left you young, +beautiful, adored, and triumphant in the land of enchantments. But six +years have passed, and they assure me that your own afflictions have +come, and that you, yourself, have been forced to drink the bitter cup of +deprivation." + +At these words, pronounced in a melancholy and celestial voice, I felt as +though my heart were broken, and burst into tears. + +"I pity you, Athenais," she resumed. "Is, then, what I have been told +lightly, and almost in haste, only too certain for you? How is it you +did not expect it? How could you believe him constant and immutable, +after what happened to me? + +"To-day, I make no secret to you of it, and I say it with the peaceful +indifference which God has generously granted me, after such dolorous +tribulations. I make no secret of it to you, Athenais; a thousand times +you plunged the sword and dagger into my heart, when, profiting by my +confidence in you, by my sense of entire security, you permitted your own +inclination to substitute itself for mine, and a young man seething with +desires to be attracted by your charms. These unlimited sufferings +exhausted, I must believe, all the sensibility of my soul. And when this +corrosive flame had completely devoured my grief, a new existence grew up +in me; I no longer saw in the father of my children other than a young +prince, accustomed to see his dominating will fulfilled in everything. +Knowing how little in this matter he is master of himself, he who knows +so well how to be master of himself in everything to do with his numerous +inferiors, I deplored the facility he enjoys from his attractions, from +his wealth, from his power to dazzle the hearts which he desires to move +and subdue. + +"Recognise these truths, my dear Marquise," she added, "and gain, for it +is time, a just idea of your position. After the unhappiness I felt at +being loved no longer, I should have quitted the Court that very instant, +if I had been permitted to bring up and tend my poor children. They were +too young to abandon! I stayed still in the midst of you, as the swallow +hovers and flits among the smoke of the fire, in order to watch over and +save her little ones. Do not wait till disdain or authority mingles in +the matter. Do not come to the sad necessity of resisting a monarch, +and of detesting to the point of scandal that which you have so publicly +loved; pity him, but depart. This kind of intimacy, once broken, cannot +be renewed. However skilfully it may be patched up, the rent always +reappears." + +"My good Louise," I replied to the amiable Carmelite, "your wise counsels +touch me, persuade me, and are nothing but the truth. But in listening +to you I feel overwhelmed; and that strength which you knew how to gain, +and show to the world, your former companion will never possess. + +"I see with astonished eyes the supernatural calm which reigns in your +countenance; your health seems to me a prodigy, your beauty was never so +ravishing; but this barbarous garb pierces me to the heart. + +"The King does not yet hate me; he shows me even a remnant of respect, +with which he would colour his indifference. Permit me to ask from him +for you an abbey like that of Fontevrault, where the felicities of +sanctuary and of the world are all in the power of my sister. He will +ask nothing better than to take you out, be assured." + +"Speak to him of me," answered Louise; "I do not oppose that; but leave +me until the end the role of obedience and humility that his fault and +mine impose on me. Why should he wish that I should command others,-- +I who did not know how to command myself at an epoch when my innocence +was so dear to me, and when I knew that, in losing that, one is lost?" + +As she said these words two nuns came to announce her Serene Highness, +that is to say, her daughter, the Princesse de Conti. I prayed Madame de +la Valliere to keep between ourselves the communications that had just +taken place in the intimacy of confidence. She promised me with her +usual candour. I made a profound reverence to the daughter, embraced the +mother weeping, and regained my carriage, which the Princess must have +remarked on entering. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + +Reflections.--The Future.--The Refuge of Foresight.--Community of Saint +Joseph.--Wicked Saying of Bossuet. + +I wept much during the journey; and to save the spectacle of my grief +from the passers-by, I was at the pains to lower the curtains. I passed +over in my mind all that the Duchess had said to me. It was very easy +for me to understand that the monarch's heart had escaped me, and that, +owing to his character, all resistance, all contradiction would be vain. +The figure, as it had been supernumerary and on sufferance, which the +Duchess had made in the midst of the Court when she ceased to be loved, +returned to my memory completely, and I felt I had not the courage to +drink a similar cup of humiliation. + +I reminded myself of what the prince had told me several times in those +days when his keen affection for me led him to wish for my happiness, +even in the future,--even after his death, if I were destined to survive +him. + +"You ought," he said to me, at those moments, "you ought to choose and +assure yourself beforehand of an honourable retreat; for it is rarely +that a king accords his respect or his good-will to the beloved +confidante of his predecessor." + +Not wishing to ask a refuge of any one, but, on the contrary, being +greatly set upon ruling in my own house, I resolved to build myself, not +a formal convent like Val-de-Grace or Fontevrault, but a pretty little +community, whose nuns, few in number, would owe me their entire +existence, which would necessarily attach them to all my interests. +I held to this idea. I charged my intendant to seek for me a site +spacious enough for my enterprise; and when he had found it, had showed +it to me, and had satisfied me with it, I had what rambling buildings +there were pulled down, and began, with a sort of joy, the excavations +and foundations. + +The first blow of the hammer was struck, by some inconceivable fortuity, +at the moment when the Duchesse de Fontanges expired. Her death did not +weaken my resolutions nor slacken my ardour. I got away quite often to +cast an eye over the work, and ordered my architect to second my +impatience and spur on the numerous workmen. + +The rumour was current in Paris that the example of "Soeur Louise" had +touched me, and that I was going to take the veil in my convent. I took +no notice of this fickle public, and persisted wisely in my plan. + +The unexpected and almost sudden decease of Mademoiselle de Fontanges had +singularly moved the King. Extraordinary and almost incredible to +relate, he was for a whole week absent from the Council. His eyes had +shed so many tears that they were swollen and unrecognisable. He shunned +the occasions when there was an assembly, buried himself in his private +apartments or in his groves, and resembled, in every trait, Orpheus +weeping for his fair Eurydice, and refusing to be consoled. + +I should be false to others and to myself if I were to say that his +extreme grief excited my compassion; but I should equally belie the truth +if I gave it to be understood that his "widowhood" gave me pleasure, +and that I congratulated myself on his sorrow and bitterness. + +He came to see me when he found himself presentable, and, for the first +few days, I abstained from all reprisal and any allusion. The +innumerable labours of his State soon threw him, in spite of himself, +into those manifold distractions which, in their nature, despise or +absorb the sensibilities of the soul. He resumed, little by little, his +accustomed serenity, and, at the end of the month, appeared to have got +over it. + +"What," he asked me, "are those buildings with which you are busy in +Paris, opposite the Ladies of Belle-Chasse? I hear of a convent; is it +your intention to retire?" + +"It is a 'refuge of foresight,'" I answered him. "Who can count upon the +morrow? And after what has befallen Mademoiselle de Fontanges, we must +consider ourselves as persons already numbered, who wait only for the +call." + +He sighed, and soon spoke of something else. + +I reminded myself that, to speak correctly, I had in Paris no habitation +worthy of my children and of my quality. That little hotel in the Rue +Saint Andre-des-Arcs I could count for no more than a little box. +I sought amongst my papers for a design of a magnificent hotel which I +had obtained from the famous Blondel. I found it without difficulty, +with full elevations and sections. The artist had adroitly imitated in +it the beautiful architecture of the Louvre; this fair palace would suit +me in every respect. + +My architect, at a cursory glance, judged that the construction and +completion of this edifice would easily cost as much as eighteen hundred +thousand livres. This expense being no more than I could afford, I +commissioned him to choose me a spacious site for the buildings and +gardens over by Roule and La Pepiniere. + +Not caring to superintend several undertakings at once, I desired, before +everything, that my house in the Faubourg Saint Germain should be +complete and when the building and the chapel were in a condition to +receive the little colony, I dedicated my "refuge of foresight" to Saint +Joseph, the respectful spouse of the Holy Virgin and foster-father of the +Child Jesus. This agreeable mansion lacked a large garden. I felt a +sensible regret for this, especially for the sake of my inmates; but +there was a little open space furnished with vines and fruit-walls, and +one of the largest courtyards in the whole of the Faubourg Saint Germain. + +Having always loved society, I had multiplied in the two principal blocks +of the sleeping-rooms and the entrance-hall complete apartments for the +lady inmates. And a proof that I was neither detested by the world nor +unconsidered is that all these apartments were sought after and occupied +as soon as the windows were put in and the painting done. My own +apartment was simple, but of a majestic dignity. It communicated with +the chapel, where my tribune, closed with a handsome window, was in face +of the altar. + +I decided, once for all, that the Superior should be my nomination whilst +God should leave me in this world, but that this right should not pass on +to my heirs. The bell of honour rang for twenty minutes every time I +paid a visit to these ladies; and I only had incense at high mass, and at +the Magnificat, in my quality of foundress. + +I went from time to time to make retreats, or, to be more accurate, +vacations, in my House of Saint Joseph. M. Bossuet solicited the favour +of being allowed to preach there on the day of the solemn consecration. +I begged him to preserve himself for my funeral oration. He answered +cruelly that there was nothing he could refuse me. + + + + +ETEXT EDITOR'S BOOKMARKS: + +Grow like a dilapidated house; I am only here to repair myself +He contradicted me about trifles +Intimacy, once broken, cannot be renewed +Jealous without motive, and almost without love +The King replied that "too much was too much" +The monarch suddenly enough rejuvenated his attire +There is an exaggeration in your sorrow + + + + +End of this Project Gutenberg Etext of Memoirs of Madame de Montespan, v5 +by Madame La Marquise De Montespan + + + + + + +MEMOIRS OF MADAME LA MARQUISE DE MONTESPAN, v6 + +Written by Herself + +Being the Historic Memoirs of the Court of Louis XIV. + + + +BOOK 6. + + +CHAPTER XIX. + +The Court Travels in Picardy and Flanders.--The Boudoir Navy.--Madame de +Montespan Is Not Invited.--The King Relates to Her the Delights of the +Journey.--Reflections of the Marquise. + +The King, consoled as he was for the death of the Duchesse de Fontanges, +did not, on that account, return to that sweet and agreeable intimacy +which had united us for the space of eleven or twelve years. He +approached me as one comes to see a person of one's acquaintance, and it +was more than obvious that his only bond with me was his children. + +Being a man who loved pomp and show, he resolved upon a journey in +Flanders,--a journey destined to furnish him, as well as his Court, with +numerous and agreeable distractions, and to give fresh alarm to his +neighbours. + +Those "Chambers of Reunion," as they were called, established at Metz and +at Brisach, competed with each other in despoiling roundly a host of +great proprietors, under the pretext that their possessions had formerly +belonged to Alsace, and that this Alsace had been ceded to us by the last +treaties. The Prince Palatine of the Rhine saw himself stripped, on this +occasion, of the greater part of the land which he had inherited from his +ancestors, and when he would present a memoir on this subject to the +ministers, M. de Croissy-Colbert answered politely that he was in despair +at being unable to decide the matter himself; but that the Chambers of +Metz and Brisach having been instituted to take cognisance of it, it was +before these solemn tribunals that he must proceed. + +The Palatine lost, amongst other things, the entire county of Veldentz, +which was joined to the church of the Chapter of Verdun. + +The King, followed by the Queen and all his Court,--by Monsieur le +Dauphin, Madame la Dauphine and the legitimate princes, whom their +households accompanied as well,--set out for Flanders in the month of +July. Madame de Maintenon, as lady in waiting, went on this journey; and +of me, superintendent of the Queen's Council, they did not even speak. + +The first town at which this considerable Court stopped was at Boulogne, +in Picardy, the fortifications of which were being repaired. On the next +day the King went on horseback to visit the port of Ambleteuse; thence he +set out for Calais, following the line of the coast, while the ladies +took the same course more rapidly. He inspected the harbours and +diverted himself by taking a sail in a wherry. He then betook himself to +Dunkirk, where the Marquis de Seignelay--son of Colbert--had made ready a +very fine man-of-war with which to regale their Majesties. The Chevalier +de Ury, who commanded her, showed them all the handling of it, which was +for those ladies, and for the Court, a spectacle as pleasant as it was +novel. The whole crew was very smart, and the vessel magnificently +equipped. There was a sham fight, and then the vessel was boarded. The +King took as much pleasure in this sight as if Fontanges had been the +heroine of the fete, and our ladies, to please him, made their hands sore +in applauding. This naval fight terminated in a great feast, which left +nothing to be desired in the matter of sumptuousness and delicacy. + +On the following day, there was a more formal fight between two frigates, +which had also been prepared for this amusement. + +The King was in a galley as spectator; the Queen was in another. The +Chevalier de Lery took the helm of that of the King; the Capitaine de +Selingue steered that of the Queen. The sea was calm, and there was just +enough wind to set the two frigates in motion. They cannonaded one +another briskly for an hour, getting the weather gauge in turn; after +this, the combat came to an end, and they returned to the town to the +sound of instruments and the noise of cannon. + +The King gave large bounties to the crew, as a token of his satisfaction. + +The prince was on board his first vessel, when the Earl of Oxford, and +the Colonel, afterwards the Duke of Marlborough, despatched by the King +of England, came to pay him a visit of compliment on behalf of that +sovereign. + +The Duke of Villa-Hermosa, Spanish Governor of the Low Countries, paid +him the same compliment in the name of his master. + +Both parties were given audience on this magnificent vessel, where M. de +Seignelay had raised a sort of throne of immense height. + +(All this time Mademoiselle de Fontanges lay in her coffin, recovering +from her confinement.) + +From Dunkirk the Court moved to Ypres, visiting all the places on the +way, and arrived at Lille in Flanders on the 1st of August. From Lille, +where the diversions lasted five or six days, they moved to Valenciennes, +thence to Condo, meeting everywhere with the same honours, the same +tokens of gladness. They returned to Sedan by Le Quenoy, Bouchain, +Cambrai; and the end of the month of August found the Court once more at +Versailles. + +I profited by this absence to go and breathe a little at my chateau of +Petit-Bourg, where I was accompanied by Mademoiselle de Blois, and the +young Comte de Toulouse; after which I betook myself to the mineral +waters of Bourbonne, for which I have a predilection. + +On my return, the King related to me all these frivolous diversions of +frigates and vessels that I have just mentioned; but with as much fire as +if he had been but eighteen years old, and with the same cordiality as if +I might have taken part in amusements from which he had excluded me. + +How is it that a clever man can forget the proprieties to such a degree, +and expose himself to the secret judgments which must be formed of him, +in spite of himself and however reluctantly? + + + + +CHAPTER XX. + +The Duchesse d'Orleans.--The Duchesse de Richelieu.--An Epigram of Madame +de Maintenon.--An Epigram of the King to His Brother. + +Madame la Dauphine brought into the world a son, christened Louis at the +font, to whom the King a few moments afterwards gave the title of the +Duke of Burgundy. We had become accustomed, little by little, to the +face of this Dauphine, who (thanks to the counsels and instruction of her +lady in waiting) adopted French manners promptly enough, succeeded in +doing her hair in a satisfactory manner, and in making an appearance +which met with general approval. Madame de Maintenon, for all her +politeness and forethought, never succeeded in pleasing her; and these +two women, obliged to see each other often from their relative positions, +suffered martyrdom when they met. + +The King, who had noticed it, began by resenting it from his daughter- +in-law. The latter, proud and haughty, like all these petty German +royalties, thought herself too great a lady to give way. + +Madame de Maintenon had, near the person of the young Bavarian, two +intermediaries of importance, who did not sing her praises from morn till +eve. The one was that Charlotte Elizabeth of Bavaria, whom I have +already described to the life, who, furious at her personal +monstrousness, could not as a rule forgive pretty women. The other was +the Duchesse de Richelieu, maid of honour to the Princess of Bavaria, +once the protector of Madame Scarron, and now her antagonist, probably +out of jealousy. + +These two acid tongues had taken possession of the Dauphine,--a character +naturally prone to jealousy,--and they permitted themselves against the +lady in waiting all the mockery and all the depreciation that one can +permit oneself against the absent. + +Insinuations and abuse produced their effect so thoroughly that Madame de +Maintenon grew disgusted with the duties of her office, and with the +consent of the monarch she no longer appeared at the house of his +daughter-in-law, except on state and gala occasions. Madame de Richelieu +related to me one day the annoyance and mortification of the new +Marquise. + +"Madame d'Orleans came in one day," said she to me, "to Madame la +Dauphine, where Madame de Maintenon was. The Princess of the Palais +Royal, who does not put herself about, as every one knows, greeted only +the Dauphine and me. She spoke of her health, which is neither good nor +bad, and pretended that her gowns were growing too large for her, in +proof that she was going thin. 'I do not know,' she added, brusquely, +'what Madame Scarron does; she is always the same.' + +"The lady in waiting answered on the spot: 'Madame, no one finds you +changed, either, and it is always the same thing.' + +"The half-polite, half-bantering tone of Madame de Maintenon nonplussed +the Palatine for the moment; she wished to demand an explanation from the +lady in waiting. She took up her muff, without making a courtesy, and +retired very swiftly." + +"I am scarcely, fond of Madame de Maintenon," said I to Madame de +Richelieu, "but I like her answer exceedingly. Madame is one of those +great hermaphrodite bodies which the two sexes recognise and repulse at +the same time. She is an aggressive personage, whom her hideous face +makes one associate naturally, with mastiffs; she is surly, like them, +and, like them, she exposes herself to the blows of a stick. It makes +very little difference to me if she hears from you the portrait I have +just made of her; you can tell her, and I shall certainly not give you +the lie." + +Monsieur, having come some days afterwards to the King, complained of +Madame de Maintenon, who, he said, had given offence to his wife. + +"You have just made a great mistake," said the King; "you who pride +yourself on speaking your tongue so well, and I am going to put you +right. This is how you ought rather to have expressed yourself: 'I +complain of Madame de Maintenon, who, by ambiguous words, has given +offence, or wished to give offence to my wife.'" + +Monsieur made up his mind to laugh, and said no more of it. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI. + +The Marquis de Lauzun at Liberty.--His Conduct to His Wife.--Recovery of +Mademoiselle. + +Mademoiselle, having by means of her donations to the Duc du Maine +obtained, at first, the release, and subsequently the entire liberty of +Lauzun, wished to go to meet him and to receive him in a superb carriage +with six horses. The King had her informed secretly that she should +manage matters with more moderation; and the King only spoke so because +he was better informed than any one of the ungrateful aversion of Lauzun +to Mademoiselle. No one wished to open her eyes, for she had refused to +see; time itself had to instruct her, and time, which wears wings, +arrived at that result quickly enough. + +M. de Lauzun was, beyond gainsaying, a man of feeling and courage, but he +nourished in his heart a limitless ambition, and his head, subject to +whims and caprices, would not suffer him to follow methodically a fixed +plan of conduct. The King had just pardoned him as a favour to his +cousin; but, knowing him well, he was not at all fond of him. They had +disposed of his office of Captain of the Guards and of the other command +of the 'Becs de Corbins'. It was decided that Lauzun should not return +to his employment; but his Majesty charged Monsieur Colbert to make good +to him the amount and to add to it the arrears. + +These different sums, added together, formed a capital of nine hundred +and eighty thousand francs, which was paid at once in notes on the +treasury, which were equal in value to ready cash. On news of this, he +broke into the most violent rage possible; he was tempted to throw these +notes into the fire. It was his offices which he wanted, and not these +sums, with which he could do nothing. + +The King received him with an easy, kind air; he, always a flatterer +with his lips, cast himself ten times on his knees before the prince, +and gained nothing by all these demonstrations. He went to rejoin +Mademoiselle on the following day at Choisy, and dared to scold her for +having constructed and even bought this pretty pleasure-house. + +"This must have cost treasures," said he. "Had you not parks and +chateaus enough? It would have been better to keep all these sums and +give them to me now." + +After this exordium, he set himself to criticise the coiffure of the +Queen, on account of the coloured knots that he had remarked in it. + +"But you mean, then, to satirise me personally," said the Princess to +him, "since you see my hair dressed in the same fashion, and I am older +than my cousin! + +"What became of you on leaving the King?" she asked him. "I waited for +you till two hours after midnight." + +"I went," said he, "to visit M. de Louvois, who is not my friend, and who +requires humouring; then to visit M. Colbert, who favours me." + +"You ought to have seen Madame de Maintenon, I gave you that advice before +leaving you," she said; "it is to her, above all, that you owe your +liberty." + +"But your Madame de Maintenon," he resumed, "is she, too, one of the +powers? Ah, my God! what a new geography since I left these regions ten +years ago!" + +To avoid tete-a-tete, M. de Lauzun was always in a surly humour; he put +his left arm into a sling; he never ceased talking of his rheumatism and +his pains. + +Mademoiselle learned, now from one person, now from another, that he was +dining to-day with one fair lady, to-morrow with another, and the next +day with a third. She finally understood that she was despised and +tricked; she showed one last generosity (out of pride) towards her former +friend,--solicited for him the title of Duke, and begged him, for the +future, to arrange his life to please himself, and to let her alone. + +The Marquis de Lauzun took her at her word, and never forgave her for the +cession of the principalities of Dombes and Eu to M. le Duc du Maine; he +wanted them for himself. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII. + +Progress of Madame de Maintenon.--The Anonymous Letter. + +Since the birth of Mademoiselle de Blois, and the death of Mademoiselle +de Fontanges, the King hardly ever saw me except a few minutes +ceremoniously,--a few minutes before and after supper. He showed himself +always assiduous with Madame de Maintenon, who, by her animated and +unflagging talk, had the very profitable secret of keeping him amused. +Although equally clever, I venture to flatter myself, in the art of +manipulating speech, I could not stoop to such condescensions. You +cannot easily divert when you have a heart and are sincere--a man who +deserts you, who does not even take the trouble to acknowledge it and +excuse himself. + +The Marquise sailed, then, on the open sea, with all sail set; whilst my +little barque did little more than tack about near the shore. One day I +received the following letter; it was in a pleasant and careful +handwriting, and orthography was observed with complete regularity, which +suggested that a man had been its writer, or its editor: + + The person who writes these lines, Madame la Marquise, sees you but + rarely, but is none the less attached to you. The advice which he + is going to give you in writing he would have made it a duty to come + and give you himself; he has been deterred by the fear either of + appearing to you indiscreet, or of finding you too deeply engrossed + with occupations, or with visitors, as is so often the case, in your + own apartments. + + These visitors, this former affluence of greedy and interested + hearts, you will soon see revealed and diminishing; probably your + eyes, which are so alert, have already remarked this diminution. + The monarch no longer loves you; coolness and inconstancy are + maladies of the human heart. In the midst of the most splendid + health, our King has for some time past experienced this malady. + + In your place, I should not wait to see myself repudiated. By + whatever outward respect such an injunction be accompanied, the + bottom of the cup is always the same, and the honey at the edge is + but a weak palliative. Being no ordinary woman by birth, do not + terminate like an ordinary actress your splendid and magnificent + role on this great stage. Know how to leave before the audience is + weary; while they can say, when they miss you from the scene, "She + was still fine in her role. It is a pity!" + + Since a new taste or new caprice of the monarch has led his + affections away, know how to endure a fantasy which you have not the + power to remove. Despatch yourself with a good grace; and let the + world believe that sober reflections have come to you, and that you + return, of your own free will, into the paths of independence, of + true glory, and of honour. + + Your position of superintendent with the Queen has been from the + very first almost a sinecure. Give up to Madame de Maintenon, or to + any one else, a dignity which is of no use to you, for which you + will be paid now its full value; which, later, is likely to cause + you a sensible disappointment; for that is always sold at a loss + which must be sold at a given moment. + + Nature, so prodigal to you, Madame la Marquise, has not yet + deflowered, nor recalled in the least degree, those graces and + attractions which were lavished on you. Retire with the honours of + war. + + Annoyance, vexation, irritation, do not make your veins flow with + milk and honey; you would lose upon the field of battle all those + treasures which it is in your power to save. + + Adieu, madame. + + This communication, though anonymous, is none the less benevolent. + I desire your peace and your happiness. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII. + +Madame de Maintenon at Loggerheads with Madame de Thianges.--The Mint of +the D'Aubigne Family.--Creme de Negresse, the Elixir of Long Life.-- +Ninon's Secret for Beauty.--The King Would Remain Young or Become So.-- +Good-will of Madame de Maintenon. + +This letter was not, in my eyes, a masterpiece, but neither was it from a +vulgar hand. For a moment I suspected Madame de Maintenon. She was +named in it, it is true, as though by the way, but her interest in it was +easy to discover, since the writer dared to try to induce me to sell her, +to give up to her, my superintendence. I communicated my suspicions to +the Marquise de Thianges. She said to me: "We must see her,--her face +expresses her emotions very clearly; she is not good at lying; we shall +easily extract her secret, and make her blush for her stratagem." + +Ibrahim, faithful to his old friendship for me, had recently sent me +stuffs of Asia and essences of the seraglio, under the pretence of +politeness and as a remembrance. I wrote two lines to the Marquise, +engaging her to come and sacrifice half an hour to me to admire with me +these curiosities. Suspecting nothing, she came to my apartments, when +she accepted some perfumes, and found all these stuffs divine. My +sister, Madame de Thianges, said to her: + +"Madame, I do not wish to be the last to congratulate you on that +boundless confidence and friendship that our Queen accords you. +Assuredly, no one deserves more than you this feeling of preference; +it appears that the princess is developing, and that, at last, she is +taking a liking for choice conversation and for wit." + +"Madame," answered the lady in waiting, "her Majesty does not prefer me +to any one here. You are badly informed. She has the goodness to accord +to me a little confidence; and since she finds in me some facility in the +Spanish tongue, of which she wishes to remain the idolater all her life, +she loves to speak that tongue with me, catching me up when I go wrong +either in the pronunciation or the grammar, as she desires to be +corrected herself when she commits some offence against our French." + +"You were born," added Madame de Thianges, "to work at the education of +kings. It is true that few governesses or tutors are as amiable. There +is a sound in your voice which goes straight to the heart; and what +others teach rudely or monotonously, you teach musically and almost +singing. Since the Queen loves your French and your Spanish, everything +has been said; you are indispensable to her. Things being so, I dare to +propose to you, Madame, a third occupation, which will suit you better +than anything else in the world, and which will complete the happiness of +her Majesty. + +"Here is Madame de Montespan, who is growing disgusted with grandeur, +after having recognised its emptiness, who is enthusiastically desiring +to go and enjoy her House of Saint Joseph, and wishes to get rid of her +superintendence forthwith, at any cost." + +"What!" said Madame de Maintenon. Then to me, "You wish to sell your +office without having first assured yourself whether it be pleasing to +the King? It appears to me that you are not acting on this occasion with +the caution with which you are generally credited." + +"What need has she of so many preliminary cautions," added the Marquise, +"if it is to you that she desires to sell it? Her choice guarantees the +consent of the princess; your name will make everything easy." + +"I reason quite otherwise, Madame la Marquise," replied the former +governess of the princes; "the Queen may have her ideas. It is right and +fitting to find out first her intention and wishes." + +"Madame, madame," said my sister then, "everything has been sufficiently +considered, and even approved of. You will be the purchaser; you desire +to buy, it is to you that one desires to sell." + +Madame de Maintenon began to laugh, and besought the Marquise to believe +that she had neither the desire nor the money for that object. + +"Money," answered my sister, "will cause you no trouble on this occasion. +Money has been coined in pour family." + + [Constant d'Aubigne, father of Madame de Maintenon, in his wild + youth, was said to have taken refuge in a den of comers.--Ed. Note] + +Madame de Maintenon, profoundly moved, said to the Marquise: + +"I thought, madame, that I had come to see Madame de Montespan, to look +at her stuffs from the seraglio, and not to receive insults. All your +teasing affects me, because up to to-day I believed in your kindly +feeling. It has been made clear to me now that I must put up with this +loss; but, whatever be your injustice towards me, I will not depart from +my customs or from my element. The superintendence of the Queen's +Council is for sale, or it is not; either way, it is all the same to me. +I have never made any claim to this office, and I never shall." + +These words, of which I perceived the sincerity, touched me. I made some +trifling excuses to the lady in waiting, and, tired of all these +insignificant mysteries, I went and took the anonymous letter from my +bureau and showed it to the governess. + +She read it thoughtfully. After having read it, she assured me that this +script was a riddle to her. + +Madame de Maintenon, on leaving us, made quite a deep courtesy to my +sister, which caused me pain, preserving an icy gravity and exaggerating +her salutation and her courtesy. + +When we were alone, I confessed to the Marquise de Thianges that her +words had passed all bounds, and that she could have reached her end by +other means. + +"I cannot endure that woman," she answered. "She knows that you have +made her, that without you she would be languishing still in her little +apartment in the Maree; and when for more than a year she sees you +neglected by the King and almost deserted, she abandons you to your +destiny, and does not condescend to offer you any consolation. I have +mortified her; I do not repent of it in the least, and every time that +I come across her I shall permit myself that gratification. + +"What is she thinking of at her age; with her pretensions to a fine +figure, an ethereal carriage, and beauty? And yet it must be admitted +that her complexion is not made up. She has the sheen of the lily +mingled with that of the rose, and her eyes exhibit a smiling vivacity +which leaves our great coquettes of the day far behind!" + +"She is nature unadorned as far as her complexion goes, believe me," said +I to my sister. "During my constant journeys she has always slept at my +side, and her face at waking has always been as at noon and all day long. +She related to us once at the Marechale d'Albret's, where I knew her, +that at Martinique--that distant country which was her cradle--an ancient +negress, well preserved and robust, had been kind enough to take her into +her dwelling. This woman led her one day into the woods. She stripped +of its bark some shrub, after having sought it a long time. She grated +this bark and mixed it with the juice of chosen herbs. She wrapped up +all this concoction in half a banana skin, and gave the specific to the +little D'Aubigne. + +"This mess having no nasty taste, the little girl consented to return +fifteen or twenty times into the grove, where her negress carefully +composed and served up to her the same feast. + +"'Why do you care to give me this green paste?' the young creole asked +her one day. + +"The old woman said: 'My dear child, I cannot wait till you have enough +sense to learn to understand these plants, for I love you as if you were +my own daughter, and I want to leave you a secret which will cause you to +live a long time. Though I look as I do, I am 138 years old already. I +am the oldest person in the colony, and this paste that I make for you +has preserved my strength and my freshness. It will produce the same +effect on my dear little girl, and will keep her young and pretty too for +a long time.' + +"This negress, unhappily, fell asleep one day under a wild pear-tree in +the Savannah, and a crocodile came out of the river hard by and devoured +her." + +"I have heard tell," replied my sister, "that Mademoiselle d'Aubigne, +after the death of her mother, or husband, was bound by the ties of a +close friendship with Ninon de l'Enclos, whose beauty made such a +sensation among the gallants, and still occupies them. + +"One was assured, you know, that Ninon possesses a potion, and that in +her generosity to her friend, the fair Indian, she lent her her phial of +elixir." + +"No, no," said I to the Marquise, "that piece of gallantry of Ninon is +only a myth; it is the composition of Martinique, or of the negress, +which is the real recipe of Madame de Maintenon. She talked of it one +day, when I was present, in the King's carriage. His Majesty said to +her: 'I am astonished that, with your natural intelligence, you have not +kept in your mind the nature of this Indian shrub and herbs; with such a +secret you would be able to-day to make many happy, and there are some +kings, who, to grow young again, would give you half their empire.' + +"'I am not a worshipper of riches,' said this mistress of talk; 'bad +kings might offer me all the treasures and crowns they liked, and I would +not make them young again.' + +"'And me, madame,' said the prince, 'would you consent to make me young +again?' + +"'You will not need it for a long time,' she replied, cleverly, with a +smile; 'but when the moment comes, or is near, I should set about it with +zeal.' + +"The whole carriage applauded this reply, and the King took the hand of +the Marquise and insisted on kissing it." + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV. + +The Casket of M. de Lauzun.--His Historical Gallery.--He Makes Some Nuns. +--M. de Lauzun in the Lottery.--The Loser Wins.--Queen out of Pique.-- +Letter from the Queen of Portugal.--The Ingratitude of M. de Lauzun. + +Twice during the captivity of M. de Lauzun the Queen of Portugal had +charged her ambassador to carry to the King that young sovereign's +solicitations in favour of the disgraced gentleman. Each time the +negotiators had been answered with vague and ambiguous words; with those +promises which potentates are not chary of, even between themselves, and +which we poor mortals of the second rank call Court holy water. These +exertions of the Court of Lisbon were speedily discovered, and it then +became known how many women of high degree M. de Peguilain had the honour +of fluttering. The officer of D'Artagnan, who had the task of seizing +his papers when he was arrested to be taken to Pignerol, was obliged, in +the course of his duty, to open a rather large casket, where he found the +portraits of more than sixty women, of whom the greater number lived +almost in the odour of sanctity. There were descriptive or biographical +notes upon all these heroines, and correspondence to match. His Majesty +had cognisance of it, and forbade the publication of the names. But the +Marquis d'Artagnan and his subordinate officer committed some almost +inevitable indiscretions, and all these ladies found their names public +property. Several of them, who were either widows or young ladies, +retired into convents, not daring to show their faces in the light of +day. + +The Queen of Portugal, before this scandal, had passionately loved the +Marquis de Lauzun. She was then called Mademoiselle d'Aumale, and her +sister who was soon afterwards Duchess of Savoy was called at Paris +Mademoiselle de Nemours. These two princesses, after having exchanged +confidences and confessions, were astonished and grieved to find +themselves antagonists and rivals. Happily they had a saving wit, both +of them, and made a treaty of peace, by which it was recognised and +agreed that, since their patrimony was small, it should be neither +divided nor drawn upon, in order that it might make of M. de Lauzun, when +he came to marry, a rich man and a great lord. The two rivals, in the +excess of their love, stipulated that this indivisible inheritance should +be drawn for by lot, that the victorious number should have M. de Lauzun +thrown in, and that the losing number should go and bury herself in a +convent. + +Mademoiselle d'Aumale--that is to say, the pretty blonde--won M. de +Lauzun; but he, being bizarre in his tastes, and who only had a fancy for +the brunette (the less charming of the two), went and besought the King +to refuse his consent. + +Mademoiselle d'Aumale thought of dying of grief and pique, and, as a +consequence of her despair, listened to the proposals of the King of +Portugal, and consented to take a crown. + +The disgrace and imprisonment of her old friend having reached her ear, +this princess gave him the honour of her tears, although she had two +husbands alive. Twice she had solicited his liberty, which was certainly +not granted in answer to her prayers. + +When she learned of the release of the prisoner, she showed her joy +publicly at it, in the middle of her Court; wrote her congratulations +upon it to Mademoiselle, apparently to annoy her, and, a few days +afterwards, indited with her own hand the letter you are going to read, +addressed to the King, which was variously criticised. + + + TO HIS MAJESTY THE KING OF FRANCE. + + BROTHER:--Kings owe one another no account of their motives of + action, especially when their authority falls heavily upon the + officers of their own palace, till then invested with their + confidence and overwhelmed with the tokens of their kindness. The + disgrace of the Marquis de Lauzun can only appear in my eyes an act + of justice, coming as it does from the justest of sovereigns. So I + confined myself in the past to soliciting for this lord--gifted with + all the talents, with bravery and merit--your Majesty's pity and + indulgence. He owed later the end of his suffering, not to my + instances, but to your magnanimity. I rejoice at the change in his + destiny, and I have charged my ambassador at your Court to express + my sincere participation in it. To-day, Sire, I beg you to accept + my thanks. M. de Lauzun, so they assure me, has not been restored + to his offices, and though still young, does not obtain employment + in his country, where men of feeling and of talent are innumerable. + Allow us, Sire, to summon this exceptional gentleman to my State, + where French officers win easily the kindly feelings of my nobles, + accustomed as they are to cherish all that is born in your + illustrious Empire. I will give M. de Lauzun a command worthy of + him, worthy of me,--a command that will enable him to render lasting + and essential services to my Crown and to yours. Do not refuse me + this favour, which does not at all impoverish your armies, and which + may be of use to a kingdom of which you are the protector and the + friend. + Accept, Sire, etc. + + +I did not see the answer which was vouchsafed to this singular letter; +the King did not judge me worthy to enjoy such confidence that he had +made no difficulty in granting to me formerly; but he confided in Madame +de Maintenon, and even charged her to obtain the opinion of Mademoiselle +touching this matter, and Mademoiselle, who never hid aught from me, +brought the details of it to my country-house. + +This Princess, now enlightened as to the falseness of Monsieur de Lauzun, +entreated the King to give up this gentleman to the blond Queen, or to +give him a command himself. + +The Marquis de Lauzun, having learnt the steps taken by the Queen of +Portugal, whom he had never been able to endure, grew violently angry, +and said in twenty houses that he had not come out of one prison to throw +himself into another. + +These were all the thanks the Queen got for her efforts; and, like +Mademoiselle de Montpensier, she detested, with all her soul, the man +she had loved with all her heart. + +The Marquis de Lauzun was one of the handsomest men in the world; but his +character spoiled everything. + + + + +CHAPTER XXV. + +The Nephews, the Nieces, the Cousins and the Brother of Madame de +Maintenon.--The King's Debut.--The Marshal's Silver Staff. + +The family of Madame de Maintenon had not only neglected but despised her +when she was poor and living on her pension of two thousand francs. +Since my protection and favour had brought her into contact with the sun +that gives life to all things, and this radiant star had shed on-her his +own proper rays and light, all her relatives in the direct, oblique, and +collateral line had remembered her, and one saw no one but them in her +antechambers, in her chamber, and at Court. + +Some of them were not examples of deportment and good breeding; they were +gentlemen who had spent all their lives in little castles in Angoumois +and Poitou, a kind of noble ploughmen, who had only their silver swords +to distinguish them from their vine-growers and herds. Others, to be +just, honoured the new position of the Marquise; and amongst those I must +place first the Marquis de Langallerie and the two sons of the Marquis de +Villette, his cousin, german. The Abbe d'Aubigne, whom she had +discovered obscurely hidden among the priests of Saint Sulpice, she had +herself presented to the King, who had discovered in him the air of an +apostle, and then to Pere de la Chaise, who had hastened to make him +Archbishop of Rouen, reserving for him 'in petto' the cardinal's hat, if +the favour of the lady in waiting was maintained. + +Among her lady relatives who had come from the provinces at the rumour of +this favour, the Marquise distinguished and exhibited with satisfaction +the three Mademoiselles de Sainte Hermine, the daughters of a Villette, +if I am not mistaken, and pretty and graceful all three of them. She had +also brought to her Court, and more particularly attached to her person, +a very pretty child, only daughter of the Marquis de Villette, and +sister, consequently, of the Comte and of the Chevalier de Villette, whom +I have previously mentioned. This swarm of nephews, cousins, and nieces +garnished the armchairs and sofas of her chamber. They served as +comrades and playfellows to the legitimate princes and as pages of honour +to my daughter; and when the carriage of the Marquise came into the +country for her drives, the whole of this pretty colony formed a train +and court for her,--a proof of her credit. + +The Marquise had a brother, her elder by four or five years, to whom she +was greatly attached, judging from what we heard her say, and to promote +whom we saw her work from the very first. This brother, who was called +Le Comte d'Aubigne, lacked neither charm nor grace. He even assumed, +when he wished, an excellent manner; but this cavalier, his own master +from his childhood, knew no other law but his own pleasures and desires. +He had made people talk about him in his earliest youth; he awoke the +same buzz of scandal now that he was fifty. Madame de Maintenon, hoping +to reform him, and wishing to constrain him to beget them an heir, made +him consent to the bonds of marriage. She had just discovered a very +pretty heiress of very good family, when he married secretly the daughter +of a mere 'procureur du roi'. The lady in waiting, being unable to undo +what had been done, submitted to this unequal alliance; and as her +sister-in-law, ennobled by her husband, was none the less a countess, +she, too, was presented. + +The young person, aged fifteen at the most, was naturally very bashful. +When she found herself in this vast hall, between a double row of persons +of importance, whose fixed gaze never left her, she forgot all the bows, +all the elaborate courtesies,--in fine, all the difficult procedure of a +formal presentation, that her sister-in-law and dancing-masters had been +making her rehearse for twenty days past. + +The child lost her head, and burst into tears. The King took compassion +on her, and despatched the Comtesse de Merinville to go and act as her +guide or mistress. Supported by this guardian angel, Madame d'Aubigne +gained heart; she went through her pausing, her interrupted courtesies, +to the end, and came in fairly good countenance to the King's chair, who +smiled encouragement upon her. While these things were taking place in +the gallery, Madame de Maintenon, in despair, her eyes full of tears, had +to make an effort not to weep. With that wit of which she is so proud, +she should have been the first to laugh at this piece of childishness, +which was not particularly new. The embarrassment, the torture in which +I saw her, filled me with a strong desire to laugh. It was noticed; it +was held a crime; and his Majesty himself was kind enough to scold me for +it. + +"I felt the same embarrassment," he said to us, "the first time Monsieur +le Cardinal desired to put me forward. It was a question of receiving an +ambassador, and of making a short reply to his ceremonial address. I +knew my reply by heart; it was not more than eight or ten lines at the +most. I was repeating it every minute while at play, for five or six +days. When it was necessary to perform in person before this throng, my +childish memory was confused. All my part was forgotten in my fear, and +I could only utter these words: 'Your address, Monsieur Ambassadeur,-- +Monsieur l'Ambassadeur, your address.' My mother, the Queen, grew very +red, and was as confused as I was. But my godfather, the Cardinal, +finished this reply for me, which he had composed himself, and was +pleased to see me out of the difficulty." + +This anecdote, evidently related to console the Marquise, filled her with +gratitude. They spoke of nothing else at Versailles for two days; after +which, Madame la Comtesse d'Aubigne became, in her turn, a woman of +experience, who judged the new debutantes severely, perhaps, every time +that the occasion arose. + +The Comte d'Aubigne passed from an inferior government to a government of +some importance. He made himself beloved by endorsing a thousand +petitions destined for his sister, the monarch's friend; but his +immoderate expenditure caused him to contract debts that his sister would +only pay five or six times. + +The Duc de Vivonne, my brother, laughed at him in society; he unceasingly +outraged by his clumsiness his sister's sense of discretion. One day, in +a gaming-house, seeing the table covered with gold, the Marshal exclaimed +at the door: "I will wager that D'Aubigne is here, and makes all this +display; it is a magnificence worthy of him." + +"Yes, truly," said the brother of the favourite; "I have received my +silver staff, you see!" That was an uncouth impertinence, for assuredly +M. de Vivonne had not owed this dignity to my favour. The siege of +Candia, and a thousand other distinguished actions, in which he had +immortalised himself, called him to this exalted position, which I dare +to say he has even rendered illustrious. + +The Comte d'Aubigne's saying was no less successful on that account, and +his sister, who did not approve at all of this scandalous scene, had the +good sense to condemn her most ridiculous gamester, and to make excuses +for him to my brother and me. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI. + +Political Intrigue in Hungary.--Dignity of the King of the Romans.--The +Good Appearance of a German Prince.--The Turks at Vienna.--The Duc de +Lorraine.--The King of Rome. + +Whatever the conduct of the King may have been towards me, I do not write +out of resentment or to avenge myself. But in the midst of the peace +which the leisure that he has given me leaves me, I feel some +satisfaction in inditing the memoirs of my life, which was attached to +his so closely, and wish to relate with sincerity the things I have seen. +What would be the use of memoirs from which sincerity were absent? Whom +could they inspire with a desire of reading them? + +The King was born profoundly ambitious. All the actions of his public +life bore witness to it. It would be useless for him to rebut the +charge; all his aims, all his political work, all his sieges, all his +battles, all his bloody exploits prove it. He had robbed the Emperor of +an immense quantity of towns and territories in succession. The +greatness of the House of Austria irritated him. He had begun by +weakening it in order to dominate it; and, in bringing it under his sway, +he hoped to draw to himself the respect and submission of the Germanic +Electoral body, and cause the Imperial Crown to pass to his house, as +soon as the occasion should present itself. + +We had often heard him say: "Monseigneur has all the good appearance of a +German prince." This singular compliment, this praise, was not without +motive. The King wished that this opinion and this portrait should go +straight into Germany, and create there a kind of naturalisation and +adoption for his son. + +He had resolved to have him elected and proclaimed King of the Romans, +a dignity which opens, as one knows, the road to the imperial greatness. +To attain this result, his Majesty, seconded perfectly by his minister, +Louvois, employed the following means. + +By his order M. de Louvois sent the Comte de Nointel to Vienna, at the +moment when that Power was working to extend the twenty years' truce +concluded by Hungary with the Sultan. The French envoy promised secretly +his adhesion to the Turks; and the latter, delighted at the intervention +of the French, became so overbearing towards the Imperial Crown that that +Power was reduced to refusing too severe conditions. + +Sustained by the insinuations and the promises of France, the Sultan +demanded that Hungary should be left in the state in which it was in +1655; that henceforward that kingdom should pay him an annual tribute of +fifty thousand florins; that the fortifications of Leopoldstadt and Gratz +should be destroyed; that the chief of the revolted towns--Nitria, Eckof, +the Island of Schutt, and the fort of Murann, at Tekelai--should be +ceded; that there should be a general amnesty and restitution of their +estates, dignities, offices, and privileges without restriction. + +By this the infidels would have found themselves masters of the whole of +Hungary, and would have been able to come to the very gates of Vienna, +without fear of military commanders or of the Emperor. It was obvious +that they were only seeking a pretext for a quarrel, and that at the +suggestion of France, which was quite disposed to profit by the occasion. + +The Sultan knew very little of our King. The latter had his army ready; +his plan was to enter, or rather to fall upon, the imperial territories, +when the consternation and the danger in them should be at their height; +and then he counted on turning to his advantage the good-will of the +German princes, who, to be extricated from their difficulty, would not +fail to offer to himself, as liberator, the Imperial Crown, or, at least, +the dignity of King of the Romans and Vicar of the Empire to his son, +Monseigneur le Dauphin. + +In effect, hostilities had hardly commenced on the part of the Turks, +hardly had their first successes, struck terror into the heart of the +German Empire, when the King, the real political author of these +disasters, proposed to the German Emperor to intervene suddenly, as +auxiliary, and even to restore Lorraine to him, and his new conquests, +on condition that the dignity of the King of the Romans should be +bestowed on his son. France, this election once proclaimed, engaged +herself to bring an army of 60,000 men, nominally of the King of the +Romans, into Hungary, to drive out utterly the common enemy. German +officers would be admitted, like French, into this Roman army; and more, +the King of France and the new King of the Romans engaged themselves to +set back the imperial frontiers on that side as far as Belgrade, or +Weissembourg in Greece. A powerful fleet was to appear in the +Mediterranean to support these operations; and the King, wishing to crown +his generosity, offered to renounce forever the ancient possessions, and +all the rights of Charlemagne, his acknowledged forefather or ancestor. + +Whilst these dreams of ambition were being seriously presented to the +unhappy Imperial Court of Vienna, the Turks, to the number of 300,000 +men, had swept across Hungary like a torrent. They arrived before the +capital of the Empire of Germany just at the moment when the Court had +left it. They immediately invested this panic-stricken town, and the +inhabitants of Vienna believed themselves lost. But the young Duc de +Lorraine, our King's implacable enemy, had left the capital in the best +condition and pitched outside Vienna, in a position from which he could +severely harass the besieging Turks. + +He tormented them, he raided them, while he waited for the saving +reinforcements which were to be brought up by the King of Poland, and the +natural allies of the Empire. This succour arrived at last, and after +four or five combats, well directed and most bloody, they threw the +Ottomans into disorder. The Duc de Lorraine immortalised himself during +this brilliant campaign, which he finished by annihilating the Turks near +Barkan. + +France had remained in a state of inaction in the midst of all these +great events. I saw the discomfiture of our ministers and the King when +the success of the Imperialists reached them. But the time had passed +when my affections and those of my master were akin. Free from +henceforth to follow the impulses of my conscience and of my sense of +justice, I rejoiced sincerely at the great qualities of the poor Duc de +Lorraine, and at the humiliation of the cruel Turks, who had been so +misled. + +The elective princes of the Germanic Empire once more rallied round their +august head, and disavowed almost all their secret communications with +the Cabinet of Versailles. The Emperor, having escaped from these great +perils, addressed some noble and touching complaints to our monarch; and +Monseigneur was not elected King of the Romans,--a disappointment which +he hardly noticed, and by which he was very little disturbed. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII. + +The Prince of Orange.--The Orange Coach.--The Bowls of Oranges.--The +Orange Blossoms.--The Town of Orange.--Jesuits of Orange.--Revocation of +the Edict of Nantes. + +The King, by the last peace, signed at Nimegue, had engaged to restore +the Principality of Orange to William, Stadtholder and Generalissimo of +the Dutch. This article was one of those which he had found most +repugnant to him, for nothing can be compared with the profound aversion +which the mere name inspired in the monarch. He pushed this hatred so +far that, having one day noticed from the heights of his balcony a superb +new equipage, of which the body was painted with orange-coloured varnish, +he sent and asked the name of the owner; and, on their reporting to him +that this coach belonged to a provincial intendant, a relative of the +Chancellor, his Majesty said, the same evening, to the magistrate- +minister: "Your relative ought to show more discretion in the choice of +the colours he displays." + +This coach appeared no more, and the silk and cloth mercers had their +stuffs redyed. + +Another day, at the high table, the King, seeing four bowls of big +oranges brought in, said aloud before the public: "Take away that fruit, +which has nothing in its favour but its look. There is nothing more +dangerous or unhealthy." + +On the morrow these words spread through the capital, and the courtiers +dared eat oranges only privately and in secret. + +As for me, with my love for the scent of orange blossoms, the monarch's +petulance once more affected me extremely. I was obliged for some time +to give it up, like the others, and take to amber, the favourite scent of +my master, which my nerves could not endure. + +Before surrendering the town of Orange to the commissioners of the +kinglet of the Dutch, the King of France had the walls thrown down, all +the fortifications razed, and the public buildings, certain convents, and +the library of the town stripped of their works of art. These measures +irritated Prince William, who, on that account alone, wished to +recommence the war; but the Emperor and the allies heard his complaints +with little attention. They even besought him to leave things as they +were. M. d'Orange is a real firebrand; he could not endure the +severities of the King without reprisals, and no sooner was he once more +in possession of his little isolated sovereignty than he annoyed the +Catholics in it, caused all possible alarms to the sisters of mercy and +nuns, imposed enormous taxes on the monks, and drove out the Jesuits with +unheard-of insults. + +The King received hospitably all these humiliated or persecuted folk; +and as he was given to understand that the Orange Protestants were +secretly sowing discontent amongst his Calvinists and French Lutherans, +he prepared the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, the famous political +measure the abrogation of which took place a short time afterwards. + +I saw, in the hands of the King, a document of sixty pages, printed at +Orange, after its restitution, in which it was clearly specified that +Hugh Capet had set himself on the throne irregularly, and in which the +author went to the point of saying that the Catholic religion was only an +idolatry, and that the peoples would only be happy and free after the +general introduction of the Reformation. The Marechal de Vivonne came +and told me, in strict confidence, that the Jesuits, out of resentment, +had forged this document, and printed the pamphlet themselves; but M. de +Louvois, who, through his father, the Chancellor, and his brother, the +Archbishop of Rheims, was associated with them, maintained that the +incendiary libel was really the work of the Protestants. + +My residence at the Court having opened my eyes sufficiently to the +wickedness of men, I will not give my opinion, amid these angry charges +and recriminations. I confine myself to relating what I have seen. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII. + +Sickness.--Death of the Queen.--Her Last Words.--The King's Affliction.-- +His Saying.--Second Anonymous Letter.--Conversation with La Dauphine.-- +Madame de Maintenon Intervenes. + +While the Turks and the Imperialists were fighting in the plains of +Hungary, the King, followed by all his Court, had made his way towards +the frontiers of Alsace. He reviewed countless battalions, he made +promotions, and gave brilliant repasts and fetes. + +The season was a little trying, and the Queen, though born in Spain, did +not accommodate herself to the June heat. As soon as business permitted +they took the road to the capital, and returned to Versailles with some +speed. + +Scarcely had they arrived, when the Queen fell ill; it did not deserve +the name of sickness. It was only an indisposition, pure and simple,-- +an abscess in the armpit; that was all. Fagon, the boldest and most +audacious of all who ever exercised the art of AEsculapius, decided that, +to lessen the running, it was necessary to draw the blood to another +quarter. In spite of the opinion of his colleagues, he ordered her to be +bled, and all her blood rushed to her heart. In a short time the +princess grew worse in an alarming fashion, and in a few moments we heard +that she was in her death-agony; in a few moments more we heard of her +death. + +The King wept bitterly at first, as we had seen him weep for Marie de +Mancini, Louise de la Valliere, Henrietta of England, and the Duchesse de +Fontanges,--dead of his excesses. He set out at once for the Chateau of +Saint Cloud, which belonged to his brother; and Monsieur, wishing to +leave the field clear for him, went away to the Palais Royal with his +disagreeable wife and their numerous children. + +His Majesty returned two days afterwards to the Chateau of Versailles, +where he, his son, and all the family sprinkled holy water over the +deceased; and this little ceremony being finished, they regained in +silence the Chateau of Saint Cloud. + +The aspect of that gloomy Salon of Peace, converted into a catafalque; +the sight of that small bier, on which a beautiful, good, and indulgent +wife was reposing; those silent images, so full of speech, awoke the just +remorse of the King. His tears began once more to flow abundantly, and +he was heard to say these words: + + "Dear, kind friend, this is the first grief you have caused me in + twenty years!" + +The Infanta, as I have already related, had granted in these latter days +her entire confidence and affection to her daughter-in-law's lady in +waiting. Finding herself sick and in danger, she summoned Madame de +Maintenon; and understanding soon that those famous Court physicians did +not know how ill she was, and that she was drawing near her last hour, +she begged this woman, so ready in all things, to leave her no more, and +to be good enough to prepare her for death. + +The Marquise wept bitterly, and perhaps even sincerely; for being unable +to foresee, at that period, all that was to befall her in the issue, she +probably entertained the hope of attaching herself for good to this +excellent princess. In losing her, she foresaw, or feared, if not +adversity, at least a decline. + +The King was courting her, it is true, and favouring her already with +marked respect; but Francoise d'Aubigne,--thoughtful and meditative as I +knew her to be, could certainly not have failed to appreciate the +voluptuous and inconstant character of the monarch. She had seen several +notorious friendships collapse in succession; and it is not at the age of +forty-six or forty-seven that one can build castles in Spain to dwell in +with young love. + +The Queen, before the beginning of her death agony, herself drew a +splendid ring from her finger, and would pass it over the finger of the +Marquise, to whom, some months before, she had already given her +portrait. It was asserted that her last words were these: "Adieu, my +dearest Marquise; to you I recommend and confide the King." + +In accordance with a recommendation so binding and so precise, Madame de +Maintenon followed the monarch to Saint Cloud; and as great afflictions +are fain to be understood and shared, these two desolate hearts shut +themselves up in one room, in order to groan in concert. + +The Queen having been taken to Saint Denis, the King, Madame de +Maintenon, and the Court returned to Versailles, where the royal family +went into mourning for the period prescribed by law and custom. + +The Queen's large and small apartments, so handsome, new, splendid, and +magnificent, became the habitation of Madame la Dauphine; so that the +lady in waiting, in virtue of her office, returned in the most natural +manner to those apartments where she had held authority. + +The Queen, without having the genius of conversation and discussion, +lacked neither aplomb nor a taste for the proprieties; she knew how to +support, or, at least, to preside over a circle. The young Dauphine had +neither the desire, nor the patience, nor, the tact. + +The prince charged the lady in waiting to do these things for her. We +repaired in full dress to the Princess,--to present our homages to Madame +de Maintenon. One must admit she threw her heart into it; that is to +say, she drew out, as far as possible, the monarch's daughter-in-law, +inspiring into her every moment amiable questions or answers, which she +had taken pains to embellish and adorn in her best manner. + +The King arrived; I then had the pleasure of seeing him, not two paces +from me, before my very eyes, saying witty and agreeable things to the +Marquise; while he talked to me only of the rain and the weather, always +cursorily. + +It was then that I received a second anonymous letter, in the same +handwriting, the same style, the same tone as that of which mention has +been made. I transcribe it; it is curious. + +TO MADAME LA MARQUISE DE MONTESPAN. + + MADAME:--You have not followed my former advice. The opportunity + has gone by; it is too late. Your superintendence is left with you, + and there are four or five hundred thousand livres lying idle; for + you will not be able to sell the superintendence of a household, and + of a council, which are in a tomb at Saint Denis! Happily you are + rich, and what would be a disaster to another fortune is scarcely + more than a slight disappointment to you. I take the respectful + liberty of talking once more with the prettiest and wittiest woman + of her century, in order to submit to her certain ideas, and to + offer her a fresh piece of advice, which I believe important. + + The Queen, moved by a generosity seldom found in her peers, pardoned + you to some degree your theft of her spouse; she pardoned you in + order to be agreeable to him, and to prove to him that, being his + most sincere friend, she could not bring herself to contest his + affections and his pastimes. But this sublime philosophy is at an + end; the excellent heart of this Queen is at Val-de-Grace; it will + beat no more, neither for her volatile husband, nor for any one + whatsoever. + + Madame la Dauphine, brought up in German severity, and hardly + accustomed to the atmosphere of her new country, neither likes nor + respects you, nor has any indulgence for you. She barely suffers + the presence of your children, although brothers of her husband. + How should she tolerate yours? It appears, it is plain, Madame la + Marquise, that your name has found no place or footing on her list, + and that she would rather not meet you often in her salons. If one + may even speak to you confidentially, she has thus expressed + herself; it would be cruel for you to hear of it from any other + being but me. + + Believe me, believe a man as noted for his good qualities as for his + weaknesses. He will never drive you away, for you are the mother of + his beloved children, and he has loved you himself tenderly. + However, his coldness is going to increase. Will you be + sufficiently light-hearted, or sufficiently imprudent, to await + on a counterscarp the rigours of December and January? + + Keep your wit always, Madame la Marquise, and with this wit, which + is such a charming resource, do not divest yourself of your noble + pride. + + I am, always, your respectful and devoted servant, + + THE UNKNOWN OF THE CHATEAU. + + +At the time of the first letter, when I had hesitated some time, doubtful +between Madame de Maintenon and the King, it occurred to me to suspect +the Queen for a moment; but there was no possibility now of imputing to +this princess, dead and gone, the unbecoming annoyance that an unknown +permitted himself to cause me. + +On this occasion I chose my part resolutely; and, not wishing to busy +myself any longer with these pretended friendly counsels which my pride +forbade me to follow, I took these two insolent letters and burned them. +This last letter, after all, spoke very truly. I remarked distinctly, +in the looks and manner of the Dauphine, that ridiculous and clumsy +animosity which she had taken a fancy to lavish on me. + +As she was not, in my eyes, so sublime a personage that a lady of quality +might not enter into conversation with her, I approached her armchair +with the intention of upsetting her haughtiness and pride by compelling +her to speak to me before everybody. + +I complimented her on her coiffure, and even thanked her for the honour +she did me in imitating me; she reddened, and I entreated her not to put +herself about, assuring her that her face looked much better in its +habitual pallor. These words redoubled her dissatisfaction, and her +redness then became a veritable scarlet flame. + +Passing forthwith to another subject, I pronounced in a few words a +panegyric on the late Queen; to which I skilfully added that, from the +first day, she had been able to understand the French graces and assume +them with intelligence and taste. + +"Her Spanish accent troubled her for a year or two longer," added I; +"strictly speaking, this accent, derived from the Italian, has nothing +disagreeable in it; while the English, Polish, Russian, and German accent +is inharmonious in itself, and is lost with great difficulty here." + +Seeing that my reflections irritated her, I stopped short, and made my +excuses by saying to her, "Madame, these are only general reflections. +Your Highness is an exception, and has struck us all, as you have nothing +German left but memories, and, perhaps, regrets." + +She answered me, stammering, that she had not been destined in the first +place for the throne of France, and that this want of forethought had +injured her education; then, feeling a spark of courage in her heart, she +said that the late Queen had more than once confided to her that the +Court of France was disorderly in its fashions, because it was never the +princesses who gave it its tone as elsewhere. + +Madame de Maintenon perceived quickly the consequences of this saying; +for the peace of the Princess, she retorted quickly: "In France, the +princesses are so kind and obliging as to follow the fashions; but the +good examples and good tone come to us from our princes, and our only +merit is to imitate them with ingenuity." + + + + +CHAPTER XXIX. + +Judgment Given by the Chatelet.--The Marquis d'Antin Restored to His +Father.--The Judgment is Not Executed.--Full Mourning.--Funeral Service. +--The Notary of Saint Elig.--The Lettre de Cachet. + +The Marquis d'Antin, my son, with the consent of the King, had remained +under my control, and had never consented to quit me to rejoin his +father. M. de Montespan, at the time of the suit for judicial separation +before the Chatelet, had caused his advocate to maintain this barbarous +argument, that a son, though brought into the world by his mother, ought +to side against her if domestic storms arise, and prefer to everybody and +everything the man whose arms and name he bears. + +The tribunal of the Chatelet, trampling upon maternal tenderness and +humanity, granted his claim in full; and I was advised not to appeal, +now that I had obtained the thing essential to me, a separation in body +and estate. + +M. de Montespan dared not come himself to Paris in order to execute the +sentence; he sent for that purpose two officers of artillery, his friends +or relatives, who were authorised to see the young Marquis at his +college, but not to withdraw him before the close of his humanities and +classes. These gentlemen, having sent word to the father that the young +D'Antin was my living image, he replied to them, that they were to insist +no longer, to abandon their mission, and to abandon a child who would +never enjoy his favour since he resembled myself. Owing to this happy +circumstance I was able to preserve my son. + +Since these unhappy disputes, and the suit which made so much noise, I +had heard no more talk of M. de Montespan in society. I only learned +from travellers that he was building, a short distance from the Pyrenees, +a chateau of a noble and royal appearance, where he had gathered together +all that art, joined with good taste, could add to nature; that this +chateau of Saint Elix, adorned with the finest orange grove in the world, +was ascribed to the liberality of the King. The Marquis, hurt by this +mistake of his neighbours, which he called an accusation, published a +solemn justification in these ingenuous provinces, and he proved, as a +clerk might do to his master, that this enormous expenditure was +exclusively his own. + +Suddenly the report of his death spread through the capital, and the +Marquis d'Antin received without delay an official letter with a great, +black seal, which announced to him this most lamentable event. The +notary of Saint Elix, in sending him this sad news, took the opportunity +of enclosing a certified copy of the will. + +This testament, replete with malignity, having been freely published in +the capital, I cannot refrain from reproducing it in these writings. + +Here are its principal clauses; + + In the name of the most blessed Trinity, etc. + + Since I cannot congratulate myself on a wife, who, diverting herself + as much as possible, has caused me to pass my youth and my life in + celibacy, I content myself with leaving, her my life-sized portrait, + by Bourdon, begging her to place it in her bedchamber, when the King + ceases to come there. + + Although the Marquis de Pardailhan d'Antin is prodigiously like his + mother (a circumstance of which I have been lamentably sensible!), + I do not hesitate to believe him my son. In this quality I give and + bequeath to him all my goods, as my eldest son, imposing on him, + nevertheless, the following legacies, liberalities and charges: + + I leave to their Highnesses, M. le Duc du Maine, M. le Comte de + Toulouse, Mademoiselle de Nantes, and Mademoiselle de Blois (born + during my marriage with their mother, and consequently my + presumptive children), their right of legitimacy on the charge and + condition of their bearing in one of their quarterings the + Pardailhan-Montespan arms. + + I take the respectful liberty of here thanking my King for the + extreme kindness which he has shown to my wife, nee De Mortemart, to + my son D'Antin, to his brothers and sisters, both dead and living, + and also to myself, who have only been dismissed, and kept in exile: + + In recognition of which I give and bequeath to his Majesty my vast + chateau of Montespan, begging him to create and institute there a + community of Repentant Ladies, to wear the habit of Carmelites or of + the Daughters of the Conception, on the special charge and condition + that he place my wife at the head of the said convent, and appoint + her to be first Abbess. + + I attach an annuity of sixty thousand livres to this noble + institution, hoping that this will make up the deficiency, if there + be any. + + DE PARDAILHAN DE GONDRAN MONTESPAN, + Separated, although inseparable spouse. + + +A family council being held to decide what I must do on this occasion, +Madame de Thianges, M. de Vivonne, and M. de Blanville-Colbert decided +that I must wear the same full mourning as my son D'Antin. As for this +odious will, it was agreed that it should not even be spoken of, and that +the notary of Saint Elix should be written to at once, to place it in the +hands of a third party, of whom he would be presently notified at the +place. The Marquis d'Antin at once had my equipage and his own draped. +We hastened to put all our household into mourning from top to toe, and +the funeral service, with full ritual, was ordered to be performed at the +parish church. The very same day, as the family procession was about to +set out on its way to the church, a sort of sergeant, dressed in black, +handed a fresh letter to the Marquis d'Antin. It contained these words: + + The notary of Saint Elix deserves a canonry in the Chapter of + Charenton; it is not the Marquis de Montespan who is dead; they have + played a trick on you. + + The only truth in all of it is the will, of which the notary of + Saint Elix has been in too great a hurry to send a copy. A thousand + excuses to M. le Marquis d'Antin and his mother, Madame la Marquise. + +It was necessary to send orders at once to the parish church to take away +the catafalque and the drapings. The priests and the musicians were paid +as if they had done what they ought to do; and my widowhood, which, at +another time, might have been of such importance, was, I dare to say, +indifferent to me. + +The King was informed of what had just taken place in my family. He +spoke of it as an extremely disagreeable affair. I answered him that it +was far more disagreeable for me than for any one else. His Majesty +added: + +"Tell the Marquis d'Antin to go to Saint Elix and pay his respects to his +father. This journey will also enable him to learn if such a ridiculous +will really exists, and if your husband has reached such a pitch of +independence. D'Antin will beg him, on my behalf, to tear up that +document, and to earn my favour by doing so." + +My son, after consulting with his Majesty, started indeed for the +Pyrenees. His father at first gave him a cold welcome. The next day +the Marquis discovered the secret of pleasing him; and M. de Montespan, +at this full mourning, this family council, and at the catafalque in the +middle of the church, promised to alter the will on condition that his +'lettre do cachet' should be revoked and quashed within the next +fortnight. + +The King agreed to these demands, which did not any longer affect him. +I was the only person sacrificed. + + + + +CHAPTER XXX. + +The Duc du Maine Provided with the Government of Languedoc.--The Young +Prince de Conti.--His Piety.--His Apostasy.--The Duc de la Feuillade +Burlesqued.--The Watch Set with Diamonds.--The False Robber.--Scene +amongst the Servants. + +The old Duc de Verneuil, natural son of King Henri IV., died during these +incidents, leaving the government of Languedoc vacant. The King summoned +M. le Duc du Maine at once, and, embracing him with his usual tenderness, +he said to him: "My son, though you are very young, I make you governor +of Languedoc. This will make many jealous of you; do not worry about +them, I am always here to defend you. Go at once to Mademoiselle's, who +has just arrived at Versailles, and tell her what I have done for her +adopted child." + +I went to thank his Majesty for this favour, which seemed to me very +great, since my son was not twelve years old. The King said to me: "Here +comes the carriage of the Prince de Conti; you may be certain that he +comes to ask me for this place." + +In fact, those were the first words of the Prince de Conti. + +"The government for which you ask," said the King, "has been for a long +time promised to Madame de Maintenon for her Duc du Maine. I intend +something else for you, my dear cousin. Trust in me. In giving you my +beloved daughter I charged myself with your fortunes; you are on my list, +and in the first rank." + +The young Prince changed colour. He entreated the King to believe him +worthy of his confidence and esteem, to which he imprudently added these +words: "My wife was born before M. du Maine." + +"And you, too," replied his Majesty; "are you any the more sober for +that? There are some little youthful extravagances in your conduct which +pain me. I leave my daughter in ignorance of them, because I wish her to +be at peace. Endeavour to prevent her being informed of them by +yourself. Govern yourself as a young man of your birth ought to govern +himself; then I will hand a government over to you with pleasure." + +The Prince de Conti appeared to me very much affected by this homily and +disappointment. He saluted me, however, with a smile of benevolence and +the greatest amenity. We learnt a short time afterwards that his wife +had shed many tears, and was somewhat set against my children and myself. + +This amiable Princess then was not aware that the government of Languedoc +was not granted at my instance, but at the simple desire of Madame de +Maintenon; the King had sufficiently explained it. + +Just at this moment M. le Prince de Conti had made himself notable by his +attachment or his deference towards matters of religion and piety. His +superb chariot and his peach-coloured liveries were to be seen, on fete- +days, at the doors of the great churches. He suddenly changed his +manoeuvres, and refused to subject himself to restraints which led him no +whither. He scoffed publicly at the Jesuits, the Sulpicians, and their +formal lectures and confraternities; he refused to distribute the blessed +bread at his parish church, and heard mass only from his chaplains and in +his palace. + +This ill-advised behaviour did not improve his position. Madame, his +wife, continued to come to Versailles on gala-days, or days of reunion, +but he and his brother appeared there less and less frequently. They +were exceedingly handsome, both of them; not through their father, whose +huge nose had rendered him ridiculous, but through the Princess, their +mother, Anna or Felicia de Martinozzi, niece of Cardinal Mazarin. God +had surpassed himself in creating that graceful head, and those eyes will +never have their match in sweetness and beauty. + +Free now to follow his own tastes, which only policy had induced him to +dissimulate and constrain, M. de Conti allowed himself all that a young +prince, rich and pleasure-loving, could possibly wish in this world. +In the midst of these reunions, consecrated to pleasure, and even to +debauchery, he loved to signalise his lordly liberality; nothing could +stop him, nothing was too extravagant for him. His passion was to remove +all obstacles and pay for everybody. + +His joyous companions cried out with admiration, and celebrated, in prose +and verse, so noble a taste and virtues so rare. The young orphan +inhaled this incense with delight; he contracted enormous debts, and soon +did not know where to turn to pay them. + +The King, well informed of these excesses, commanded M. le Duc de la +Feuillade to have the young man followed, and inform himself of all he +did. + +One day, when M. de la Feuillade himself had followed him too closely, +and forced him, for the space of an hour, to scour over all Le Marais in +useless and fatiguing zigzags, M. de Conti, who recognised him perfectly, +in spite of his disguise, pretended that his watch, set with diamonds, +had been stolen. He pointed out this man as the thief to his ready +servingmen, who fell upon M. de la Feuillade, and, stripping him to find +the watch, gave the Prince time to escape and reach his place of +rendezvous. + +The captain was ill for several days, and even in danger, in consequence +of this adventure, which did not improve the credit of M. le Prince de +Conti, much as it needed improvement. + +His young and beautiful wife excused him in everything, ignoring, and +wishing to ignore, the extent of his guilt and frivolity. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXI. + +A Funeral and Diversions.--Sinister Dream.--Funeral Orations of the +Queen. + +It remains for me to relate certain rather curious circumstances in +relation to the late Queen, after which I shall speak of her no more in +these Memoirs. + +She was left for ten days, lying in state, in the mortuary chapel of +Versailles, where mass was being said by priests at four altars from +morning till evening. She was finally removed from this magnificent +Palace of Enchantment to Saint Denis. Numerous carriages followed the +funeral car, and in all these carriages were the high officials, as well +as the ladies, who had belonged to her. But what barbarity! what +ingratitude! what a scandal! In all these mournful carriages, people +talked and laughed and made themselves agreeable; and the body-guards, +as well as the gendarmes and musketeers, took turns to ride their horses +into the open plain and shoot at the birds. + +Monsieur le Dauphin, after Saint Denis, went to lie at the Tuileries, +before betaking himself to the service on the following day at Notre +Dame. In the evening, instead of remaining alone and in seclusion in his +apartment, as a good son ought to have done, he went to the Palais Royal +to see the Princess Palatine and her husband, whom he had had with him +all the day; he must have distraction, amusement, and even merry +conversations, such as simple bourgeois would not permit themselves on so +solemn an occasion, were it only out of decorum. + +In the midst of these ridiculous and indefensible conversations, the news +arrived that the King had broken his arm. The Marquis de Mosny had +started on the instant in order to inform the young Prince of it; and Du +Saussoi, equerry of his Majesty, arrived half an hour later, giving the +same news with the details. + +The King (who was hunting during the obsequies of his wife) had fallen +off his horse, which he had not been able to prevent from stumbling into +a ditch full of tall grass and foliage. M. Felix, a skilful and prudent +surgeon, had just set the arm, which was only put out of joint. The King +sent word to the Dauphin not to leave the Tuileries, and to attend the +funeral ceremony on the morrow. + +The fair of Saint Laurence was being held at this moment, although the +city of Paris had manifested an intention of postponing it. They were +exhibiting to the curious a little wise horse which bowed, calculated, +guessed, answered questions, and performed marvels. The King had +strictly forbidden his family and the people of the Court to let +themselves be seen at this fair. Monsieur le Dauphin, none the less, +wished to contemplate, with his own eyes, this extraordinary and +wonderful little horse. Consequently, he had to be taken to the Chateau +des Tuileries, where he took a puerile amusement in a spectacle in itself +trivial, and, at such a time, scandalous. + +The poor Queen would have died of grief if the death of her son had +preceded hers, against the order of nature; but the hearts of our +children are not disposed like ours, and who knows how I shall be treated +myself by mine when I am gone? + +With regard to the King's arm, Madame d'Orleans, during the service for +the Queen, was pleased to relate to the Grande Mademoiselle that, three +or four days before, she had seen, in a somewhat troublesome and painful +dream, the King's horse run away, and throw him upon the rocks and +brambles of a precipice, from which he was rescued with a broken arm. +A lady observed that dreams are but vague and uncertain indications. + +"Not mine," replied Madame, with ardour; "they are not like others. +Five or six days before the Queen fell ill, I told her, in the presence +of Madame la Dauphine, that I had a most alarming dream. I had dreamt +that I was in a large church all draped in black. I advanced to the +sanctuary; a vault was opened at one side of the altar. Some kind of +priests went down, and these folk said aloud, as they came up again, that +they had found no place at first; that the cavity having seemed to them +too long and deep, they had arranged the biers, and had placed there the +body of the lady. At that point I awoke, quite startled, and not +myself." + +Hardly had the Princess finished her story, when the Infanta, turning +pale, said to her: "Madame, you will see, the dream of the vault refers +to me. At the funeral of the Queen of England I noticed, and remember, +that the same difficulty occurred at Saint Denis; they were obliged to +push up all the coffins, one against the other." + +And, in truth, we knew, a few days afterwards, that for this poor Queen, +Maria Theresa, the monks of the abbey had found it necessary to break +down a strong barrier of stones in their subterranean church, to remove +the first wife of Gaston, mother of Mademoiselle, and find a place for +the Spanish Queen who had arrived in those regions. + +There were several funeral orations on this occasion. Not a single one +of these official discourses deserved to survive the Queen. There was +very little to say about her, I admit; but these professional +panegyrists, these liars in surplice, in black cassock, or in purple and +mitre, are not too scrupulous to borrow facts and material in cases where +the dead person has neglected to furnish or bequeath it them. + +In my own case I congratulated myself on this sort of indifference or +literary penury; an indiscreet person, sustained by zeal or talent, might +have wished to mortify me in a romance combined of satire and religion. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXII. + +Jean Baptiste Colbert.--His Death.--His Great Works.--His Last Advice to +the Marquise. + +M. Colbert had been ailing for a long time past. His face bore visible +testimony against his health, to which his accumulated and incessant +labour had caused the greatest injury. We had just married his son +Blainville to my niece, Mademoiselle de Tonnay-Charente, heiress of the +house of Rochchouart. Since this union--the King's work--M. Colbert had +somewhat tended in my favour, and I had reason to count on his good +offices and kindness. I said to him one day that my quarrel with him was +that he did not look after himself, that he ignored all his own worth, +treated himself with no more respect than a mere clerk; that he was the +indispensable man, the right hand of the King, his eye of vigilance in +everything, and the pillar of his business and his finance. + +Without being precisely what one would call a modest man, M. Colbert was +calm of mind, and by nature without pose or presumption. He cared +sincerely for the King's glory. He held his tongue on the subject of +great enterprises, but employed much zeal and ability in promoting the +success of good projects and ideas, such as, for instance, our Indies and +Pondicherry. + +He had known how to procure, without oppressing any one, the incalculable +sums that had been necessitated, not only by enormous and almost +universal wars, but by all those canals, all those ports in the +Mediterranean or the ocean, that vast creation of vessels, arsenals, +foundries, military houses and hospitals which we had seen springing up +in all parts. He had procured by his application, his careful +calculations, the wherewithal to build innumerable fortresses, aqueducts, +fountains, bridges, the Observatory of Paris, the Royal Hospital of the +Invalides, the chateaus of the Tuileries and of Vincennes, the engine and +chateau of Marly, that prodigious chateau of Versailles, with its Trianon +of marble, which by itself might have served as a habitation for the +richest monarchs of the Orient. + +He had founded the wonderful glass factories, and those of the Gobelins; +he had raised, as though by a magic ring, the Royal Library over the +gardens and galleries of Mazarin; and foreigners asked one another, in +their surprise, what they must admire most in that monument, the interior +pomp of the edifice or its rich collection of books, coins, and +manuscripts. + +To all these works, more than sufficient to immortalise twenty ministers, +M. Colbert was adding at this moment the huge 'salpetriere' of Paris and +the colonnades of the Louvre. Ruthless death came to seize him in the +midst of these occupations, so noble, useful, and glorious. + +The great Colbert, worn out with fatigue, watching, and constraint, left +the King, his wife, his children, his honours, his well-earned riches, +and displayed no other anxiety than alarm as to his salvation,--as though +so many services rendered to the nation and to his prince were no more, +in his eyes, than vain works in relation to eternity. + +Madame de Maintenon, having become a great lady, could, not reasonably +continue her office of governess to the King's children. M. Colbert, +that man of vigour, that Mount Atlas, capable of supporting all things +without a plaint, had been charged with the care of the two new-born +princes. + +Because of the third Mademoiselle de Blois, and of the little Comte de +Toulouse, I saw the minister frequently, and I was one of the first to +remark the change in his face and his health. + +During his last illness, I visited him more often. One day, of his own +accord, he said to me: + +"How do you get on with Madame de Maintenon? I have never heard her +complain of you; but I make you this confidence out of friendship. His +Majesty complains of your attitude towards your former friend. If the +frankness of your nature and the impatience of your humour have sometimes +led you too far, I exhort you to moderate yourself, in your own interest +and in that of your children. Madame de Maintenon is an amiable and +witty person, whose society pleases the King. Have this consideration +for a hard-working prince, whom intellectual recreation relaxes and +diverts, and make a third at those pleasant gatherings where you shone +long before this lady, and where you would never be her inferior. Go +there, and frequently, instead of keeping at a distance in an attitude of +resentment, which, do not doubt, is noticed and viewed unfavourably." + +"But, monsieur," I answered M. Colbert, "you are not, then, aware that +every time I am a third person at one of these interminable +conversations, I always meet with some mark of disapproval, +and sometimes with painful mortifications?" + +"I have been told so," the sick man replied; "but I have also been told +that you imprudently call down on yourself these outbursts of the King. +What need have you to quarrel with Madame de Maintenon over a look, a +word, a movement or a gesture? You seem to me persuaded that love enters +into the King's friendship for the Marquise. Well, suppose you have +guessed aright his Majesty's sentiments; will your dissatisfaction and +your sarcasms prevent those sentiments from existing, and the prince from +indulging them? + +"You know, madame, that he generally gets everything he wants, and M. de +Montespan experienced that when he wished to set himself against your +joint wills. + +"I am nearer my end and my release than my doctors think. In leaving +this whirlpool of disappointments, ambitions, errors, and mutual +injustice, I should like to see you free, at peace, reconciled to your +real interests, and out of reach, forever, of the vicissitudes of +fortune. In my eyes, your position is that of a ship-owner whom the +ocean has constantly favoured, and who has reaped great riches. With +moderation and prudence, it depended on himself to profit by his +astonishing success, and at last to enjoy his life; but ambition and vain +desire drive him afresh upon this sea, so fruitful in shipwrecks, and his +last venture destroys all his prosperity and all his many labours. + +"Our excellent Queen has gone to rest from her troubles and her journeys; +and I, madame, am going to rest not long after her, having worn out my +strength on great things that are as nothing." + +The Marquis de Seignelay, eldest son of this minister, counted on +succeeding to the principal offices of his father. He made a mistake. +The place of secretary of state and controller-general passed to the +President Pelletier, who had been chosen by M. Colbert himself; and the +superintendence of buildings, gardens, and works went to swell the +numerous functions of the Marquis de Louvois, who wished for and counted +on it. + +MM. de Blainville and Seignelay had good posts, proportioned to their +capacity; the King never ceased to look upon them as the children of his +dear M. Colbert. + + [It mast be remembered that the young Marquis de Seignelay was + already Minister of Marine, an office which remained with him.--Ed.] + +Before his death, this minister saw his three daughters become duchesses. +The King, who had been pleased to make these marriages, had given each of +them a dowry of a million in cash. + +As for the Abbe Colbert, already promoted to the Bishopric of Montpellier +(to which three important abbeys were joined), he had the Archbishopric +of Toulouse, with an immense revenue. It is true that he took a pleasure +in rebuilding his archiepiscopal palace and cathedral out of a huge and +ancient treasure, which he discovered whilst pulling down some old ruin +to make a salon. + +One might say that there was some force of attraction attached to this +family and name of Colbert. Treasures arose from the earth to give +themselves up and obey them. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIII. + +Mesdemoiselles de Mazarin.--The Age of Puberty.--Madame de Beauvais.-- +Anger of the Queen-mother.--The Cardinal's Policy.--First Love.--Louis de +Beauvais.--The Abbe de Rohan-Soubise.--The Emerald's Lying-in.--The +Handsome Musketeer.--The Counterfeit of the King. + +At the time when the King, still very young, was submitting without +impatience to the authority of the Queen, his mother, and his godfather, +the Cardinal, his strength underwent a sudden development, and this lad +became, all at once, a man. The numerous nieces of Cardinal Mazarin, who +were particularly dear to the Queen, were as much at the Louvre as at +their own home. Anne of Austria, naturally affable, gladly released them +from the etiquette which was imposed upon every one else. These young +ladies played and laughed, sang or frolicked, after the manner of their +years, and the young King lived frankly and gaily in their midst, as one +lives with agreeable sisters, when one is happy enough to have such. He +lived fraternally with these pretty Italian girls, but his intimacy +stopped there, since the Cardinal and the governess watched night and day +over a young man who was greatly subject to surveillance. + +At the same time, there was amongst the Queen's women a rather pretty +waiting-maid, well brought up, who was called Madame de Beauvais. Those +brunettes, with black eyes, bright complexions, and graceful plumpness, +are almost always wanton and alluring. Madame de Beauvais noticed the +sudden development of the monarch, his impassioned reveries which +betrayed themselves in his gaze. She thought she had detected intentions +on his part, and an imperious need of explaining himself. A word, which +was said to her in passing, authorised her, or seemed to authorise her, +to make an almost intelligible reply. The young wooer showed himself +less undecided, less enigmatic,--and the understanding was completed. + +Madame de Beauvais was the recipient of the prince's first emotions, and +the clandestine connection lasted for three months. Anne of Austria, +informed of what was passing, wished at first to punish her first maid in +waiting; but the Cardinal, more circumspect, represented to her that this +connection, of which no one knew, was an occupation, not to say a +safeguard, for the young King, whose fine constitution and health +naturally drew him to the things of life. "Although eighteen years of +age," he added, "the prince abandons the whole authority to you; whereas +another, in his place, would ardently dispute it. Do not let us quarrel +with him about trifles; leave him his Beauvais lady, so that he may make +no attempt on my pretty nieces nor on your authority, madame, nor on my +important occupations, which are for the good of the State." + +Anne of Austria, who was more a Christian and a mother than a diplomatic +woman, found it very painful to appreciate these arguments of the +Cardinal; but after some reflection she recognised their importance, and +things remained as they were. + +Madame de Beauvais had a son, whom the husband (whether overconfident or +not) saw brought into the world with much delight, and whom, with a +wealth of royalist respect, they baptised under the agreeable name of +Louis. This child, who had a fine figure and constitution, received a +particularly careful education. He has something of the King about him, +principally in his glance and smile. He presents, however, only the +intellectual habit of his mother, and even a notable absence of grandeur +and elevation. He is a very pretty waiting-woman, dressed out as a +cavalier; in a word, he is that pliant and indefatigable courtier, whom +we see everywhere, and whom town and Court greet by the name of Baron de +Beauvais. + +His sister is the Duchesse de Richelieu, true daughter of her father, as +ugly, or rather as lacking in charm, as he is; but replete with subtilty +and intelligence,--with that intelligence which perpetually suggests a +humble origin, and which wearies or importunes, because of its ill- +nature. At the age of seventeen, her freshness made her pass for being +pretty. She accused the young Duc de Richelieu of having seduced her, +and made her a mother; and he, in his fear of her indignation and +intrigues, and of the reproaches of the Queen, hastened to confess his +fault, and to repair everything by marrying her. + +Baron Louis, her brother, to whom the King could hardly refuse anything, +made her a lady of honour to the Dauphine. Madame de Richelieu delighted +to spread a report in the world that I had procured her this office; she +was deceived, and wished to be deceived. I had asked this eminent +position for the Marquise de Thianges, in whom I was interested very +differently. His Majesty decided that a marquise was inferior to a +duchess, even when that duchess was born a De Beauvais. Another son of +the monarch, well known at the Court as such, is M. l'Abbe de Rohan- +Soubise, to whom the cardinal's hat is already promised. His figure, his +carriage, his head, his attitude, his whole person infallibly reveal him; +and the Prince de Soubise has so thoroughly recognised and understood the +deceit, that he honours the young churchman with all his indifference and +his respect. He acts with him as a sort of guardian; and that is the +limitation of his role. + +The Princesse de Soubise, who had resolved to advance her careless +husband, either to the government of Brittany or to some ministry, +persuaded herself that it is only by women that men can be advanced; +and that in order to advance a husband, it is necessary to advance +oneself. Although a little thin, and lacking that of which the King is +so fond, we saw in her a very pretty woman. She knew how to persuade his +Majesty that she cherished for him the tenderest love. That is, +I believe, the one trap that it is possible to set for him. He is +credulous on that head; he was speedily caught. And every time that M. +de Rohan was away, and there was freedom at the Hotel Soubise, the +Princess came in person to Saint Germain or to Versailles, to show her +necklace and pendant of emeralds to the King. Such was the agreed +signal. + +The Abbe de Rohan was born of these emeralds. The King displays +conscience in all his actions, except in his wars and conquests. When +the little Soubise was grown up, his Majesty signified to the mother that +this young man must enter the Church, not wishing to suffer the formation +of a parasitical branch amongst the Rohans, which would have +participated, without any right, in the legitimate sap. It is asserted +that the Abbe de Rohan only submitted with infinite regret to a sentence +which neutralised him. The King has promised him all possible +consideration; he has even embraced him tenderly, an action which is +almost equivalent to a "declaration of degree" made to the Parliament. + +The other child alleged to the King is that handsome musketeer, who is so +like him. But, judging from the King's character, which respects, and in +some fashion almost admires itself, in everything which proceeds from it, +I do not venture to believe in this musketeer. The King wished one day +to see him close by, and even accosted him by the orange-shrubbery; but +this movement seemed to me one of pure curiosity. + +The resemblance, I must confess, is the most striking that I have yet +seen; for it is complete, even to the tone of the voice. But a look +might have operated this miracle. Instance the little negress, the +daughter of the poor Queen, that Queen so timid and entirely natural, +who, to her happiness, as much as to her glory, has never looked at, +approached, or distinguished any one except the King. + +For the rest, we shall see and know well if the King does anything for +his musketeer. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIV. + +The Young Nobility and the Turks.--Private Correspondence.--The Unlucky +Minister and the Page of Strasburg.--The King Judged and Described in All +the Documents.--The King Humiliated in His Affections.--Scandal at Court. +--Grief of Fathers at Having Given Life to Such Children.--Why Prince +Eugene Was Not a Bishop.--Why He Was Not a Colonel of France.--Death of +the Prince de Conti. + +As France was at peace at the moment when the three hundred thousand +Turks swarmed over Hungary and threatened Vienna, our young princes, and +a fairly large number of nobles of about the same age, took it into their +heads to go and exhibit their bravery in Germany; they asked permission +of M. de Louvois to join the Imperialists. This permission was granted +to some amongst them, but refused to others. Those whom it was thought +fit to restrain took no notice of the words of the minister, and departed +as resolutely as though the King had fallen asleep. They were arrested +on the road; but his Majesty, having reflected on the matter, saw that +these special prohibitions would do harm to the intentions which he had +with regard to his deference for Germany, and they were all allowed to go +their own way. + +A little later, it was discovered that there was a regular and active +correspondence between these young people in Germany and others who had +remained in Paris or at the Court. The first minister had a certain +page, one of the most agile, pursued; he was caught up with at Strasburg; +his valise was seized. The Marquis de Louvois, desiring to give the King +the pleasure of himself opening these mysterious letters, handed him the +budget, the seals intact, and his Majesty thanked him for this attention. +These thanks were the last that that powerful minister was destined to +receive from his master; his star waned from that hour, never again to +recover its lustre; all his credit failed and crashed to the ground. +This correspondence--spied on with so much zeal, surprised and carried +off with such good fortune--informed the astonished monarch that, in the +Louvois family, in his house and circle, his royal character, his +manners, his affections, his tastes, his person, his whole life, were +derisively censured. The beloved son-in-law of the minister, speaking +with an open heart to his friends, who were travelling, and absent, +represented the King to them as a sort of country-gentleman, given up now +to the domestic and uniform life of the manor-house, more than ever +devoted to his dame bourgeoise, and making love ecstatically at the feet +of this young nymph of fifty seasons. + +M. de la Roche-Guyon and M. de Liancourt, sons of La Rochefoucauld, who +expressed themselves with the same boldness, went so far as to say of +their ruler that he was but a stage and tinsel king. The son-in-law of +Louvois accused him of being most courageous in his gallery, but of +turning pale on the eve, and at the moment, of an action; and +D'Alincourt, son of Villeroi, carried his outrages further still. +No one knows better than myself how unjust these accusations were, +and are. I was sensible of the mortification such a reading must have +caused to the most sensitive, the most irritable of princes; but I +rejoiced at the humiliation that the lady in waiting felt for her share +in this unpardonable correspondence. The annoyance that I read for some +days on her handsome face consoled me, for the time being, for her great +success at my expense. + +Madame la Princesse de Conti, whom the King, up to this time, had not +only cherished but adored, found also, in those documents, the term of +excessive favour. A letter from her to her husband said: "I have just +given myself a maid of honour, wishing to spare Madame de Maintenon the +trouble, or the pleasure, of giving me one herself." + +She was summoned to Versailles, as she may very well have expected. The +King, paying no attention to her tears, said to her: "I believed in your +affection; I have done everything to deserve it; it is lamentable to me +to be unable to count on it longer. Your cruel letter is in Madame de +Maintenon's hands. She will let you read it again before committing it +to the fire, and I beg you to inform her what is the harm she has done +you." + +"Madame," said Madame de Maintenon to her, when she saw her before her, +"when your amiable mother left this Court, where the slightest prosperity +attracts envy, I promised her to take some care of your childhood, and I +have kept my word. + +"I have always treated you with gentleness and consideration; whence +proceeds your hate against me of to-day? Is your young heart capable of +it? I believed you to be a model of gratitude and goodness." + +"Madame," replied the young Princess, weeping, "deign to pardon this +imprudence of mine and to reconcile me with the King, whom I love so +much." + +"I have not the credit which you assume me to have," replied the lady in +waiting, coldly. "Except for the extreme kindness of the King you would +not be where you are, and you take it ill that I should be where I am! +I have neither desired nor solicited the arduous rank that I occupy; I +need resignation and obedience to support such a burden." Madame de +Maintenon resumed her work. The Princess, not daring to interrupt her +silence, made the bow that was expected of her and withdrew. + +The Marquis de Louvois, when he read what his own son-in-law dared to +write of the monarch, grew pale and swooned away with grief. He cast +himself several times before the feet of his master, asking now the +punishment and now the pardon of a criminal and a madman. + +"I believed myself to be loved by your family," cried the King. "What +must I do, then, to be loved? And, great God! with what a set I am +surrounded!" + +All these things transpired. Soon we saw the father of the audacious De +Liancourt arrive like a man bereft of his wits. He ran to precipitate +himself at the feet of the King. + +"M. de La Rochefoucauld," said the prince to him, "I was ignorant, until +this day, that I was lacking in what is called martial prowess; but I +shall at least have, on this occasion, the courage to despise the +slanderous slights of these presumptuous youths. Do not talk to me of +the submissions and regrets of your two sons, who are unworthy of you; +let them live as far away from me as possible; they do not deserve to +approach an honest man, such as their King." + +The Prince de Turenne, + + [The Prince de Turenne was in bad odour at Court ever since he had + separated Monseigneur from his young wife by exaggerating that + Princess's small failings.--MADAME DE MONTESPAN'S NOTE.] + +son of the Duc de Bouillon, and Prince Eugene of Savoy, third or fourth +son of the Comtesse de Soissons (Olympe Mancini), had accompanied their +cousins De Conti on this knightly expedition; all these gentlemen +returned at the conclusion of the war, except Prince Eugene, a violent +enemy of the King. + +This young Prince of the second branch, seeing his mother's disgrace +since the great affair of the poison, hated me mortally. He carried his +treachery so far as to attribute to me the misfortunes of Olympe, saying, +and publishing all over Paris, that I had incited accusers in order to be +able to deprive her forcibly of her superintendence. This post, which +had been sold to me for four hundred thousand francs, had been paid for +long since; that did not prevent Eugene from everywhere affirming the +contrary. + +Since the flight or exile of his lady mother, he had taken it into his +head to dream of the episcopate, and to solicit Pere de la Chaise on the +subject. But the King, who does not like frivolous or absurd figures in +high offices, decided that a little man with a deformity would repel +rather than attract deference at a pinnacle of dignity of the priesthood. + +Refused for the episcopate, M. de Soissons thought he might offer himself +as a colonel. His Majesty, who did not know the military ways of this +abbe, refused him anew, both as an abbe and as a hunchback, and as a +public libertine already degraded by his irregularities. + +From all these refusals and mortifications there sprung his firm resolve +to quit France. He had been born there; he left all his family there +except his mother; he declared himself its undying enemy, and said +publicly in Germany that Louis XIV. would shed tears of blood for the +injury and the affront which he had offered him. + +MM. de Conti, after the events in Hungary and at Vienna, returned to +France covered with laurels. They came to salute the King at Versailles. +His Majesty gave them neither a good nor a bad reception. The Princes +left the same day for Chantilly, where M. de Conde, their paternal +uncle, tried to curb their too romantic imaginations and guaranteed their +good behaviour in the future. + +This life, sedentary or spent in hunting, began to weary them, when +overruling Providence was pleased to send them a diversion of the highest +importance. M. le Prince de Conti was seized suddenly with that burning +fever which announces the smallpox. Every imaginable care was useless; +he died of it and bequeathed, in spite of himself, a most premature and +afflicting widowhood to his young and charming spouse, who was not, till +long afterwards, let into the secret of his scandalous excesses. + +M. de la Roche-sur-Yon, his only brother, was as distressed at his death +as though he had nothing to gain by it; he took immediately the name of +Conti, and doffed the other, which he had hitherto borne as a borrowed +title. The domain and county of La Roche-sur-Yon belongs to the Grande +Mademoiselle. She had been asked to make this condescension when the +young Prince was born. She agreed with a good grace, for the child, born +prematurely, did not seem likely to live. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXV. + +Ninon at Court.--The King behind the Glass.--Anxiety of the Marquise on +the Subject of This Interview.--Visit to Madame de Maintenon.--Her Reply +and Her Ambiguous Promise. + +Mademoiselle de l'Enclos is universally known in the world for the +agreeableness of her superior wit and her charms of face and person. +When Madame de Maintenon, after the loss of her father, arrived from +Martinique, she had occasion to make her acquaintance; and it seems that +it was Ninon who, seeing her debating between the offers of M. Scarron +and the cloister, succeeded in persuading her to marry the rich poet, +though he was a cripple, rather than to bury herself, so young, in a +convent of Ursulines or Bernardines, even were the convent in Paris. + +At the death of the poet Scarron (who when he married, and when he died, +possessed only a life annuity), Mademoiselle d'Aubigne, once more in +poverty, found in Mademoiselle de l'Enclos a generous and persevering +friend, who at once offered her her house and table. Mademoiselle +d'Aubigne passed eight or ten months in the intimate society of this +philosophical woman. But her conscience, or her prudery, not permitting +her to tolerate longer a manner of life in which she seemed to detect +license, she quitted Ninon, advising her to renounce coquetry, whilst the +other was advising her to abandon herself to it. + +There, where Madame Scarron found the tune of good society with wit, she +looked upon herself as in her proper sphere, as long as no open scandal +was brought to her notice. She consented still to remain her friend; but +the fear of passing for an approver or an accomplice prevented her from +remaining if there were any publicity. It was not exactly through her +scruples, it was through her vanity. I have had proof of this on various +occasions, and I have made no error. + +The pretended amours of Mademoiselle d'Aubigne and the Marquis de +Villarceaux, Ninon's friend, are an invention of malicious envy. I +justified Madame Scarron on the matter before the King, when I asked her +for the education of the Princes; and having rendered her this justice, +from conviction rather than necessity, I shall certainly not charge her +with it to-day. Madame de Maintenon possesses a fund of philosophy which +she does not reveal nor confess to everybody. She fears God in the +manner of Socrates and Plato; and as I have seen her more than once make +game, with infinite wit, of the Abbe Gobelin, her confessor, who is a +pedant and avaricious, I am persuaded that she knows much more about it +than all these proud doctors in theology, and that she would be +thoroughly capable of confessing her confessor. + +She had remained, then, the friend of Ninon, but at heart and in +recollection, without sending her news or seeing her again. Mademoiselle +de l'Enclos, rich, disinterested, and proud of her independent position, +learned with pleasure the triumph of her former friend, but without +writing to her or congratulating her. Ninon, by the consent of all those +who have come near her, is good-nature itself. One of her relations, or +friends, was a candidate for a vacant post as farmer-general, and +besought her to make some useful efforts for him. + +"I have no one but Madame de Maintenon," she replied to this relation. +And the other said to her: + +"Madame de Maintenon? It is as though you had the King himself!" + +Mademoiselle de l'Enclos, trimming her pen with her trusty knife, wrote +to the lady in waiting an agreeable and polished letter, one of those +letters, careful without stiffness, that one writes, indulging oneself a +little with the intention of getting oneself read. + +The letter of solicitation seemed so pretty to the lady in waiting that +she made the King peruse it. + +"This is an excellent opportunity for me," said the prince at once, "to +see with my own eyes this extraordinary, person, of whom I have so long +heard talk. I saw her one day at the opera, but just when she was +getting into her carriage; and my incognito did not permit me to approach +her. She seemed to me small, but well made. Her carriage drove off like +a flash." + +To meet this curiosity which the King displayed, it was agreed that +Madame de Maintenon, on the pretext of having a better consultation, +should summon Mademoiselle de l'Enclos to Versailles, and that in one of +the alcoves of the chapel she should be given a place which should put +her almost in front of his Majesty. + +She arrived some minutes before mass. Madame de Maintenon received her +with marked attention, mingled with reserve, promised her support with +the ministers when the affair should be discussed, and made her promise +to pass the entire day, at Versailles, for the King was obliged to visit +the new gardens at Marly. + +The time for mass being come, Madame de Maintenon said to the fair +Epicurean, with a smile: "You are one of us, are you not? The music will +be delicious in the chapel to-day; you will not have a moment of +weariness." + +Ninon, meeting this slight reproach with a smile of propriety, replied +that she adored and respected everything which the monarch respected. + +During the service, the King, tranquilly, secluded in his golden box, +could see and examine the lady at his leisure, without compromising +himself or embarrassing her by his gaze. As for her, her decent and +quite appropriate attitude merited for her the approval of her old +friend, of the King, and of the most critical eyes. + +The monarch, in effect, departed, not for the Chateau of Marly, but for +Trianon; and hardly had he reached there before, in a little, very close +carriage, he was brought back to Versailles. He went up to Madame de +Maintenon's apartments by the little staircase in the Prince's Court, and +stole into the glass closet without being observed, except by a solitary +lackey. + +The ladies, believing themselves to be alone and at liberty, talked +without ceremony or constraint, as though they had been but twenty years +old. The King was very much grieved at the things which were said, but +he heard, without losing a word, the following dialogue or interview + +NINON DE L'ENCLOS.--It is not my preservation which should surprise you, +since from morning to night I breathe that voluptuous air of independence +which refreshes the blood, and puts in play its circulation. I am +morally the same person whom you came to see in the pretty little house +in the Rue de Tournelles. My dressing-gown, as you well know, was my +preferred and chosen garb. To-day, as then, Madame la Marquise, I should +choose to place on my escutcheon the Latin device of the towns of San +Marino and Lucca,--Libertas. You have complimented me on my beauty; I +congratulate you upon yours, and I am surprised that you have so kept and +preserved it in the midst of the constraints and servitude that grandeur +and greatness involve. + +MADAME DE MAINTENON.--At the commencement, I argued as you argue, and +believed that I should never get to the year's end without disgust. +Little by little I imposed silence upon my emotions and my regrets. +A life of great activity and occupation, by separating us, as it were, +from ourselves, extinguishes those exacting niceties, both of our proper +sensibility, and of our self-conceit. I remembered my sufferings, +my fears, and my privations after the death of that poor man;--[It was so +that she commonly spoke of her husband, Scarron.]--and since labour has +been the yoke imposed by God on every human being, I submitted with a +good grace to the respectable labour of education. Few teachers are +attached to their pupils; I attached myself to mine with tenderness, with +delight. It is true that it was my privilege to find the King's children +amiable and pretty, as few children are. + +NINON DE L'ENCLOS.--From the most handsome and amiable man in the world +there could not come mediocre offspring. M. du Maine is your idol; the +King has given him his noble bearing, with his intelligence; and you have +inoculated him with your wit. Is it true that Madame de Montespan is no +longer your friend? That is a rumour which has credit in the capital; +and if the thing is true I regret it, and am sorry for you. + +MADAME DE MAINTENON.--Madame de Montespan, as all Paris knows, obtained +my pension for me after the death of the Queen-mother. This service, +comparable with a favour, will always remain in my heart and my memory. +I have thanked her a thousand times for it, and I always shall thank her +for it. At the time when the young Queen of Portugal charged herself +with my fate and fortune, the Marquise, who had known me at the Hotel +d'Albret, desired to retain me in France, where she destined for me the +children of the King. I did what she desired; I took charge of his +numerous children out of respect for my benefactor, and attachment to +herself. To-day, when their first education is completed, and his +Majesty has recompensed me with the gift of the Maintenon estate, the +Marquise pretends that my role is finished, that I was wrong to let +myself be made lady in waiting, and that the recognition due to her +imposes an obligation on me to obey her in everything, and withdraw from +this neighbourhood. + +NINON DE L'ENCLOS.--Absolutely + +MADAME DE MAINTENON.--Yes, really, I assure you. + +NINON DE L'ENCLOS.--A departure? An absolute retreat? Oh, it is too +much! Does she wish you, then, to resign your office? + +MADAME DE MAINTINON.--I cannot but think so, mademoiselle. + +NINON DE L'ENCLOS.--Speaking personally, and for my private satisfaction, +I should be enchanted to see you quit the Court and return to society. +Society is your element. You know it by heart; you have shone there, +and there you would shine again. On reappearing, you would see yourself +instantly surrounded by those delicate and (pardon the expression) +sensuous minds who applauded with such delight your agreeable stories, +your brilliant and solid conversation. Those pleasant, idle hours were +lost to us when you left us, and I shall always remember them. At the +Court, where etiquette selects our words, as it rules our attitudes, you +cannot be yourself; I must confess that frankly. You do not paint your +lovely face, and I am obliged to you for that, madame; but it is +impossible for you to refrain from somewhat colouring your discourse, not +with the King, perhaps, whose always calm gaze transparently reveals the +man of honour, but with those eminences, those grandeurs, those royal and +serene highnesses, whose artificial and factitious perfumes already +filled your chapel before the incense of the sacrifice had wreathed its +clouds round the high altar. + +The King, suddenly showing himself, somewhat to the surprise of the +ladies, said: "I have long wished, mademoiselle, this unique and +agreeable opportunity for which I am indebted to Madame de Maintenon. +Be seated, I pray you, and permit 'my Highness', slightly perfumed though +I be, to enjoy for a moment your witty conversation and society. What! +The atmosphere does not meet with your approval, and, in order to have +madame's society, you desire to disgust her with it herself, and deprive +us of her?" + +"Sire," answered Ninon, "I have not enough power or authority to render +my intentions formidable, and my long regrets will be excused, I hope, +since, if madame left Versailles, she would cause the same grief there +that she has caused us." + +"One has one's detractors in every conceivable locality. If Madame de +Maintenon has met with one at Versailles she would not be exempt from +them anywhere else. At Paris, you would be without rampart or armour, +I like to believe; but deign to grant me this preference,--I can very +well protect my friends. I think the town is ill-informed, and that +Madame de Montespan has no interest in separating madame from her +children, who are also mine. + +"You will greatly oblige me, mademoiselle, if you will adopt this opinion +and publish it in your society, which is always select, though it is so +numerous." + +Then the King, passing to other subjects, brought up, of his own accord, +the place of farmer-general, which happened to be vacant; and he said to +Mademoiselle de l'Enclos: "I promise you this favour with pleasure, the +first which you have ever solicited of me, and I must beg you to address +yourself to Madame de Maintenon on every occasion when your relations or +yourself have something to ask from me. You must see clearly, +mademoiselle, that it is well to leave madame in this place, as an agent +with me for you, and your particular ambassadress." + +I learnt all these curious details five or six days later from a young +colonel, related to me, to whom Mademoiselle de l'Enclos narrated her +admission and interview at Versailles. In reproducing the whole of this +scene, I have not altered the sense of a word; I have only sought to make +up for the charm which every conversation loses that is reported by a +third party who was not actually an eyewitness. + +This confidence informed me that prejudices were springing up against me +in the mind of the favourite. I went to see her, as though my visit were +an ordinary one, and asked her what one was to think of Ninon's interview +with the King. + +"Yes," she said, "his Majesty has for a long time past had a great desire +to see her, as a person of much wit, and of whom he has heard people +speak since his youth. He imagined her to have larger eyes, and +something a little more virile in her physiognomy. He was greatly, and, +I must say, agreeably surprised, to find that he had been deceived. +'One can see eyes of far greater size,' his Majesty told me, 'but not +more brilliant, more animated or amiable. Her mouth, admirably moulded, +is almost as small as Madame de Montespan's. Her pretty, almost round +face has something Georgian about it, unless I am mistaken. She says, +and lets you understand, everything she likes; she awaits your replies +without interruption; her contradictions preserve urbanity; she is +respectful without servility; her pleasant voice, although not of silver, +is none the less the voice of a nymph. In conclusion, I am charmed with +her.'" + +"Does she believe me hostile to your prosperity, my dear Marquise?" I +said at once to Madame de Maintenon, who seemed slightly confused, and +answered: "Mademoiselle de l'Enclos is not personally of that opinion; +she had heard certain remarks to that effect in the salons of the town; +and I have given her my most explicit assurance that, if you should ever +cease to care for me, my inclination and my gratitude would be none the +less yours, madame, so long as I should live." + +"You owe me those sentiments," I resumed, with a trifle too much fire; +"I have a right to count on them. But it is most painful to me, +I confess, after having given all my youth to the King, to see him now +cool down, even in his courtesy. The hours which he used to pass with me +he gives to you, and it is impossible that this innovation should not +seem startling here, since all Paris is informed of it, and Mademoiselle +de l'Enclos has discussed it with you." + +"I owe everything that I am to the goodness of the King," she answered +me. "Would you have me, when he comes to me, bid him go elsewhere, to +you or somebody else, it matters not?" + +"No, but I should be glad if your countenance did not, at such a moment, +expand like a sunflower; I should like you, at the risk of somewhat +belying yourself, to have the strength to moderate and restrain that vein +of talk and conversation of which you have given yourself the supremacy +and monopoly; I wish you had the generosity to show, now and again, less +wit. This sort of regime and abstinence would not destroy you off-hand, +and the worst that could result to you from it would be to pass in his +eyes for a woman of a variable and intermittent wit; what a great +calamity!" + +"Ah, madame, what is it you suggest!" the lady in waiting replied to me, +almost taking offence. "I have never been eccentric or singular with any +one in the world, and you want me to begin with my King! It cannot be, +I assure you! Suggest to me reasonable and possible things, and I will +enter into all your views with all my heart and without hesitation." + +This reply shocked me to the point of irritation. + +"I believed you long to be a simple and disinterested soul," I said to +her, "and it was in this belief that I gave you my cordial affection. +Now I read your heart, and all your projects are revealed to me. You are +not only greedy of respect and consideration, you are ambitious to the +point of madness. The King's widowhood has awakened all your wild +dreams; you confided to me fifteen years ago that the soothsayer of the +Marechale d'Albret had predicted for you a sceptre and a crown." + +At these words, the governess made me a sign to lower my voice, and said +to me, with an accent of candour and good faith, which it is impossible +for me to forget: "I confided to you at the time that puerility of +society, just as the Marechale and the Marshal (without believing it) +related it to all France. But this prognostication need not alarm you, +madame," she added; "a King like ours is incapable of such an +extravagance, and if he were to determine on it, it would not have my +countenance nor approval. + +"I do not think that thus far I have passed due limits; the granddaughter +of a great noble, of a first gentleman of the chamber, I have been able +to become a lady in waiting without offending the eyes; but the lady in +waiting will never be Queen, and I give you my permission to insult me +publicly when I am." + +Such was this conversation, to which I have not added a word. We shall +see soon how Madame de Maintenon kept her word to me, and if I am not +right in owing her a grudge for this promise with a double meaning, with +which it was her caprice to decoy me by her shuffling. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVI. + +Birth of the Duc d'Anjou.--The Present to the Mother.--The Casket of +Patience.--Departure of the King for the Army.--The King Turns a Deaf +Ear.--How That Concerns Madame de Maintenon. --The Prisoner of the +Bastille.--The Danger of Caricatures.--The Administrative Thermometer.-- +Actors Who Can neither Be Applauded nor Hissed.--Relapse of the Prisoner. +--Scarron's Will.--A Fine Subject for Engraving.--Madame de Maintenon's +Opinion upon the Jesuits.--The Audience of the Green Salon.--Portions +from the Refectory.--Madame de Maintenon's Presence of Mind.--I Will Make +You Schoolmaster. + +Madame la Dauphine, greatly pleased with her new position, in that she +represented the person of the Queen, had already given birth to M. le Duc +de Bourgogne; she now brought into the world a second son, who was at +once entitled Duc d'Anjou. The King, to thank her for this gift, made +her a present of an oriental casket, which could only be opened by a +secret spring, and that not before one had essayed it for half an hour. +Madame la Dauphine found in it a superb set of pearls and four thousand +new louis d'or. As she had no generosity in her heart, she bestowed no +bounties on her entourage. The King this year made an expedition to +Flanders. Before getting into his carriage he came and passed half an +hour or forty minutes with me, and asked me if I should not go and pass +the time of his absence at the Petit-Bourg. + +"At Petit-Bourg and at Bourbon," I answered, "unless you allow me to +accompany you." He feigned not to have heard me, and said: "Lauzun, who, +eleven or twelve years ago, refused the baton of a marshal of France, +asks to accompany me into Flanders as aide-de-camp. Purge his mind of +such ideas, and give him to understand that his part is played out with +me." + +"What business is it of mine," I asked with vivacity, "to teach M. de +Lauzun how to behave? Let Madame de Maintenon charge herself with these +homilies; she is in office, and I am there no longer." + +These words troubled the King; he said to me: + +"You will do well to go to Bourbon until my return from Flanders." + +He left on the following day, and the same day I took my departure. +I went to spend a week at my little convent of Saint Joseph, where the +ladies, who thought I was still in favour, received me with marks of +attention and their accustomed respect. On the third day, the prioress, +announcing herself by my second waiting-woman, came to present me with a +kind of petition or prayer, which, I confess, surprised me greatly, as I +had never commissioned any one to practise severity in my name. + +A man, detained at the Bastille for the last twelve years, implored me in +this document to have compassion on his sufferings, and to give orders +which would strike off his chains and irons. + +"My intention," he said, "was not, madame, to offend or harm you. +Artists are somewhat feather-headed, and I was then only twenty." This +petition was signed "Hathelin, prisoner of State." I had my horses put +in my carriage at once, and betook myself to the chateau of the Bastille, +the Governor of which I knew. + +When I set foot in this formidable fortress, in spite of myself I +experienced a thrill of terror. + +The attentions of public men are a thermometer, which, instead of our own +notions, is very capable of letting us know the just degree of our +favour. The Governor of the Bastille, some months before, would have +saluted me with his artillery; perhaps he still received me with a +certain ceremony, but without putting any ardour into his politeness, +or drawing too much upon himself. In such circumstances one must see +without regarding these insults of meanness, and, by a contrivance of +distraction, escape from vile affronts. The object of my expedition +being explained, the Governor found on his register that poor Hathelin, +aged thirty-two to thirty-four years, was an engraver by profession. +The lieutenant-general of police had arrested him long ago for a comic +or satirical engraving on the subject of M. le Marquis de Montespan and +the King. + +I desired to see Hathelin, quite determined to ask his pardon for all his +sufferings, with which I was going to occupy myself exclusively until I +was successful. The Governor, a man all formality and pride, told me +that he had not the necessary authority for this communication; I was +obliged to return to my carriage without having tranquillised my poor +captive. + +The same evening I called upon the lieutenant-general of police, and, +after having eloquently pleaded the cause of this forgotten young man, +I discovered that there was no 'lettre de cachet' to his prejudice, and +procured his liberation. + +He came to pay his respects and thanks to me, in my parlour at Saint +Joseph, on the very day of his liberation. He seemed to me much younger +than his age, which astonished me greatly after his misfortunes. I gave +him six thousand francs, in order to indemnify him slightly for that +horrible Bastille. At first he hesitated to take them. + +"Let your captivity be a lesson to you," I said to him; "the affairs of +kings do not concern us. When such actors occupy the scene, it is +permissible neither to applaud nor to hiss." + +Hathelin promised me to be good, and for the future to concern himself +only with his graver and his private business. He wished me a thousand +good wishes, with an expansion of heart which caused his tears and mine +to flow. But artists are not made like other men; he, for all his good +heart, was gifted with one of those ardent imaginations which make +themselves critics and judges of notable personages, and, above all, of +favourites of fortune. Barely five or six months had elapsed when +Hathelin published a new satirical plate, in which Madame de Maintenon +was represented as weeping, or pretending to weep, over the sick-bed of +M. Scarron. The dying man was holding an open will in his hand, in which +one could read these words: "I leave you my permission to marry again--a +rich and serious man--more so than I am." + +The print had already been widely distributed when the engraver and his +plate were seized. This time Hathelin had not the honour of the +Bastille; he was sent to some depot. And although his action was +absolutely fresh and unknown to me, all Paris was convinced that I had +inspired his unfortunate talent. Madame de Maintenon was convinced of +it, and believes it still. The King has done me the honour to assure me +lately that he had banished the idea from his mind; but he was so +persuaded of it at first that he could not pardon me for so black an +intrigue, and, but for the fear of scandal, would have hanged the +engraver, Hathelin, in order to provide my gentlemen, the engravers, with +a subject for a fine plate. + +About the same time, the Jesuits caused Madame de Maintenon a much more +acute pain than that of the ridiculous print. She endured this blow with +her accustomed courage; nevertheless, she conceived such a profound +aversion to the leaders of this ever-restless company, that she has never +been seen in their churches, and was at the greatest pains to rob them of +the interior of Saint Cyr. "They are men of intrigue," she said to +Madame de Montchevreuil, her friend and confidante. "The name of Jesus +is always in their mouths, he is in their solemn device, they have taken +him for their banner and namesake; but his candour, his humility are +unknown to them. They would like to order everything that exists, and +rule even in the palaces of kings. Since they have the privilege and +honour of confessing our monarch, they wish to impose the same bondage +upon me. Heaven preserve me from it! I do not want rectors of colleges +and professors to direct my unimportant conscience. I like a confessor +who lets you speak, and not those who put words into your mouth." + +With the intention of mortifying her and then of being able to publish +the adventure, they charged one of their instruments to seek her out at +Versailles in order to ask an audience of her, not as a Jesuit, but as a +plain churchman fallen upon adversity. + +The petition of this man having been admitted, he received a printed form +which authorised him to appear before madame at her time of good works, +for she had her regular hours for everything. He was introduced into the +great green salon, which was destined, as one knows, for this kind of +audience. There were many people present, and before all this company +this old fox thus unfolded himself: + +"Madame, I bless the Sovereign Dispenser of all things for what he has +done for you; you have merited his protection from your tenderest youth. +When, after your return from Martinique, you came to dwell in the little +town of Niort, with your lady mother, I saw you often in our Jesuit +church, which was at two paces from your house. Your modesty, your +youth, your respectful tenderness towards Madame la Baronne d'Aubigne, +your excellent mother, attracted the attention of our community, who saw +you every day in the temple with a fresh pleasure, as you can well +imagine. Madame la Baronne died; and we learnt that those tremendous +lawsuits with the family not having been completed before her death, she +left you, and M. Charles, your brother, in the most frightful poverty. +At that news, our Fathers (who are so charitable, so compassionate) +ordered me to reserve every day, for the two young orphans, two large +portions from the refectory, and to bring them to you myself in your +little lodging. + +"To-day, being no longer, owing to my health, in the congregation of the +Jesuit Fathers, I should be glad to obtain a place conformable with my +ancient occupations. My good angel has inspired me with the thought, +madame, to come and solicit your powerful protection and your good +graces." + +Madame de Maintenon, having sustained this attack with fortitude, and it +was not without vigour, replied to the petitioner: "I have had the honour +of relating to his Majesty, not so very long ago, the painful and +afflicting circumstance which you have just recalled to me. Your +companions, for one fortnight, were at the pains to send to my little +brother and to me a portion of their food. Our relations; who enjoyed +all our property, had reduced us to indigence. But, as soon as my +position was ameliorated, I sent fifteen hundred francs to the Reverend +Father Superior of the Jesuits for his charities. That manner of +reimbursement has not acquitted me, and I could not see an unfortunate +man begging me for assistance without remembering what your house once +did for me. I do not remember your face, monsieur, but I believe your +simple assertion. If you are in holy orders I will recommend you to the +Archbishop of Rouen, who will find you a place suitable for you. Are you +in holy orders?" + +"No, madame," replied the ex-Jesuit; I was merely a lay brother." + +"In that case," replied the Marquise, "we can offer you a position as +schoolmaster; and the Jesuit Fathers, if they have any esteem for you, +should have rendered you this service, for they have the power to do +that, and more." + + + + +ETEXT EDITOR'S BOOKMARKS: + +Always sold at a loss which must be sold at a given moment +Permissible neither to applaud nor to hiss +Respectful without servility +She awaits your replies without interruption +These liars in surplice, in black cassock, or in purple +Wish you had the generosity to show, now and again, less wit +You know, madame, that he generally gets everything he wants + + + + +End of this Project Gutenberg Etext of The Memoirs of Madame de Montespan, v6 +by Madame La Marquise De Montespan + + + + + + +MEMOIRS OF MADAME LA MARQUISE DE MONTESPAN, v7 + +Written by Herself + +Being the Historic Memoirs of the Court of Louis XIV. + + + +BOOK 7. + + +CHAPTER XXXVII + +The King Takes Luxembourg Because It Is His Will.--Devastation of the +Electorate of Treves.--The Marquis de Louvois.--His Portrait.-- +The Marvels Which He Worked.--The Le Tellier and the Mortemart.-- +The King Destines De Mortemart to a Colbert.--How One Manages Not to Bow. +--The Dragonades.--A Necessary Man.--Money Makes Fat.--Meudon.-- +The Horoscope. + +This journey to Flanders did not keep the King long away from his +capital. And, withal, he made two fine and rich conquests, short as the +space of time was. The important town of Luxembourg was necessary to +him. He wanted it. The Marechal de Crequi invested this place with an +army of thirty thousand men, and made himself master of it at the end of +a week. + +Immediately after the King marched to the Electorate of Treves, which had +belonged, he said, to the former kingdom of Austrasia. He had no trouble +in mastering it, almost all the imperial forces being in Hungary, +Austria, and in those cantons where the Ottomans had called for them. +The town of Treves humbly recognised the King of France as its lord and +suzerain. Its fine fortifications were levelled at once, and our +victories were, unhappily, responsible for the firing, pillage, and +devastation of almost the whole Electorate. For the Duke of Crequi, +faithful executor of the orders of Louvois, imagined that a sovereign is +only obeyed when he proves himself stern and inflexible. + +In the first years of my favour, the Marquis de Louvois enjoyed my entire +confidence, and, I must admit, my highest esteem. Independently of his +manners, which are, when he wishes, those of the utmost amiability, I +remarked in him an industrious and indefatigable minister, an intelligent +man, as well instructed in the mass as in details; a mind fertile in +resources, means, and expedients; an administrator, a jurist, a +theologian, a man of letters and of affairs, an artist, an agriculturist, +a soldier. + +Loving pleasure, yet knowing how to despise it in favour of the needs of +the State and the care of affairs, this minister concentrated in his own +person all the other ministries, which moved only by his impulse and +guiding hand. + +Did the King, followed by his whole Court, arrive in fearful weather by +the side of some vast and swollen river, M. de Louvois, alighting from +his carriage, would sweep the horizon with a single glance. He would +designate on the spot the farms, granaries, mills, and chateaux necessary +to the passage of a fastidious king on his travels. A general repast, +appropriate and sufficient, issued at his voice as it had been from the +bowels of the earth. An abundance of mattresses received provisionally +the more or less delicate forms, stretched out in slumber or fatigue. +And in the depth of the night, by the light of a thousand flaring +torches, a vast bridge, constructed hastily, in spite of wind and rain, +permitted the royal carriage and the host of other vehicles to cross the +stream, and find on the further bank succulent dishes and voluptuous +apartments. + +This prodigious energy, which created results by pulverising obstacles, +had rendered the minister not only agreeable but precious to a young +sovereign, who, unable to tolerate delays and resistance, desired in all +things to attain and succeed. The King, without looking too closely at +the means, loved the results which were the consequences of such a +genius, and he rewarded with a limitless confidence the intrepid and +often culpable zeal of a minister who procured him hatred. + +When the passions of the conqueror, owing to success, grew calm, he +studied more tranquilly both his own desires and his coadjutor's. +The King by nature is neither inhuman nor savage, and he knew that +Louvois was like Phalaris in these points. Then he was at as much pains +to repress this unpopular humour as he had shown indifference before in +allowing it to act. + +The Marquis de Louvois (who did not like me) had lavished his incense +upon me, in order that some fumes of it might float up to the prince. +He saw me beloved and, as it were, almost omnipotent; he sought my +alliance with ardour. The family of Le Tellier is good enough for a +judicial and legal family; but what bonds are there between the Louvois +and the Mortemart? No matter: ambition puts a thick bandage over the +eyes of those whom it inspires; the Marquis wished to marry his daughter +to my nephew, De Mortemart!!! + +I communicated this proposition to the King. His Majesty said to me: +"I am delighted that he has committed the grave fault of approaching any +one else than me about this marriage. Answer him, if you please, that it +is my province alone to marry the daughters, and even the sons of my +ministers. Louvois has thus far helped me to spend enormous sums. +M. Colbert has assisted me to heap up treasure. It is for one of the +Colberts that I destine your nephew; for I have made up my mind that the +three sisters shall be duchesses." + +In effect, his Majesty caused this marriage; and the Marquis de Louvois +had the jaundice over it for more than a fortnight. + +Since that time his assiduities have been enlightened. He puts respect +into his reverences; and when our two coachmen carried our equipages past +each other on the same, road, he read some documents in order to avoid +saluting me. + +In the affair of the Protestants, he caused what was at first only +anxiety, religious zeal, and distrust to turn into rebellion. In order +to make himself necessary, he proposed his universal and permanent +patrols and dragoons. He caused certain excesses to be committed in +order to raise a cry of disorder; and a measure which could have been +effective without ceasing to be paternal became, in his hands, an +instrument of dire persecution. + +Madame de Maintenon, having learnt that Louvois, to exonerate himself, +was secretly designating her as the real author of these rigorous and +lamentable counsels, made complaint of it to the King, and publicly +censured his own brother, who, in order to make himself agreeable to the +Jesuits, to Bossuet, and to Louvois, had made himself a little hero in +his provincial government. + +The great talents of M. de Louvois, and the difficulty of replacing him, +became his refuge and safeguard. But, from the moment that he no longer +received the intimate confidence of the King, and the esteem of the lady +in waiting who sits upon the steps of the throne, he can only look upon +himself at Versailles as a traveller with board and lodging. + +His revenues are incalculable. The people, seeing his enormous +corpulence, maintain, or pretend, that he is stuffed with gold. His +general administration of posts alone is worth a million. His other +offices are in proportion. + +His chateau of Meudon-Fleury, a magical and quite ideal site, is the +finest pleasure-house that ever yet the sun shone on. The park and the +gardens are in the form of an amphitheatre, and are, in my opinion, +sublime, in a far different way from those of Vaux. M. Fouquet, +condemned to death, in punishment for his superb chateau, died slowly in +prison; the Marquis de Louvois will not, perhaps, die in a stronghold; +but his horoscope has already warned that minister to be prepared for +some great adversity. He knows it; sometimes he is concerned about it; +and everything leads one to believe that he will come to a bad end. He +has done more harm than people believe. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVIII. + +The Reformed Religion and Painting on Enamel--Petitot and Heliogabalus.-- +Theological Discussion with the Marquise.--The King's Intervention.-- +Louis XIV. Renders His Account to the Christian and Most Christian +Painter.--The King's Word Is Not to Be Resisted.--Revocation of the Edict +of Nantes. + +At the moment when the first edicts, were issued against the public +exercise of the Reformed Religion, the famous and incomparable Petitot, +refusing all the supplications of France and of Europe, executed for me, +in my chateau of Clagny, five infinitely precious portraits, upon which +it was his caprice only to work alternately, and which still demanded +from him a very great number of sittings. One of these five portraits +was that of the King, copied from that great and magnificent picture of +Mignard, where he was represented at the age of twenty, in the costume of +a Greek hero, in all the lustre of his youth. His Majesty had given me +this little commission for more than a year, and I desired, with all my +heart, to be able soon to fulfil his expectation. He destined this +miniature for the Emperor of China or the Sultan. + +I went to see M. Petitot at Clagny. When he saw me he came to me with a +wrathful air, and, presenting me his unfinished enamel, he said to me: +"Here, madame, is your Greek hero; his new edicts finish us, but, as for +me, I shall not finish him. With the best intentions in the world, and +all the respect that is due to him, my just resentment would pass into my +brush; I should give him the traits of Heliogabalus, which would probably +not delight him." + +"Do you think so, monsieur?" said I to my artist. "Is it thus you speak +of the King, our master,--of a King who has affection for you, and has +proved it to: you so many times?" + +"My memory, recalls to me all that his munificence: has done for my +talent in a thousand instances," went on the painter; "but his edicts, +his cruel decrees, have upset my heart, and the persecutor of the true +Christians no longer merits my consideration or good-will." + +I had been ignorant hitherto of the faith which this able man professed; +he informed me that he worshipped God in another fashion than ours, and +made common cause with the Protestants. + +"Well," said I to him then, "what have you to complain of in the new +edicts and decrees? They only concern, so far, your ministers,--I should +say, your priests; you are not one, and are never likely to be; what do +these new orders of the Council matter to you?" + +"Madame," resumed Petitot, "our ministers, by preaching the holy gospel, +fulfil the first of their duties. The King forbids them to preach; then, +he persecutes them and us. In the thousand and one religions which +exist, the cause of the priests and the sanctuary becomes the cause of +the faithful. Our priests are not imbecile Trappists and Carthusians, +to be reduced to inaction and silence. Since their tongues are tied, +they are resolved to depart; and their departure becomes an exile which +it is our duty to share. If you will entrust me with your portraits +which have been commenced, with the exception of that of Heliogabalus, +I will finish them in a hospitable land, and shall have the honour of +sending them to you, already fired and in all their perfection." + +Petitot, until this political crisis, had only exhibited himself to me +beneath an appearance of simplicity and good-nature. Now his whole face +was convulsed and almost threatening; when I looked at him he made me +afraid. I did not amuse myself by discussing with him matters upon which +we were, both of us, more or less ignorant. I did all that could be done +to introduce a little calm into his superstitious head, and to gain the +necessary time for the completion of my five portraits. I was careful +not to confide to the King this qualification of Heliogabalus; but as his +intervention was absolutely necessary to me, I persuaded him to come and +spend half an hour at this chateau of Clagny, which he had deserted for a +long time past. + +"Your presence," I said to him, "will perhaps take the edge off the +theological irritation of your fanatical painter. A little royal +amenity, a little conversation and blandishment, a la Louis XIV., will +seduce his artistic vanity. At the cost of that, your portrait, Sire, +will be terminated. It would not be without." + +The surprise of his Majesty was extreme when he had to learn and +comprehend that the prodigious talent of Petitot was joined to a Huguenot +conscience, and this talent spoke of expatriating itself. "I will go to +Clagny to-morrow," replied the prince to me; and he went there, in fact, +accompanied by the Marquise de Montchevreuil and Madame la Dauphine, in +an elaborate neglige. + +"Good-day, Monsieur Petitot," said the monarch to our artist, who rose on +seeing him enter. "I come to contemplate your new masterpieces. Is my +little miniature near completion?" + +"Sire," replied Petitot, "it will not be for another six weeks. All +these affairs and decrees have deprived me of many hours; my heart is +heavy over it!" + +"And why do you busy yourself with these discussions, with which your +great talent has no concern?" said the King to him, gently. + +"Sire, it is my religion that is more concerned than ever. I am a +Christian, and my law is dear to me." + +"And I am Most Christian," answered his Majesty, smiling. "I profess the +religion, I keep the law that your ancestors and mine kept before the +Reformation." + +"Sire, this reform has been adopted by a great number of monarchs,--a +proof that the Reformation is not the enemy of kings, as is said." + +"Yes, in the case of wise and honest men like yourself, my good friend +Petitot; but just as all your brothers have not your talents, so they +have not your rectitude and loyalty, which are known to me." + +"Sire, your Majesty overwhelms me; but I beg you to be persuaded that my +brothers have been calumniated." + +"Yes, if one is to accuse them in the mass, my dear Petitot; but there +are spoil-alls amongst your theologians; intercepted correspondences +depose to it. The allied princes, having been unable to crush me by +their invasions and artillery, have recourse to internal and clandestine +manoeuvres. Having failed to corrupt my soldiers, they have essayed to +corrupt my clergy, as they did at Montauban and La Rochelle, in the days +of Cardinal Richelieu." + +"Sire, do not believe in any such manoeuvres; all your subjects love and +admire you, whatever be their faith and communion." + +"Petitot, you are an admirable painter and a most worthy man. Do not +answer me, I beg you. If I believed you had as much genius and aptitude +for great affairs as for the wonders of the brush, I would make you a +Counsellor of State on the instant, and a half-hour spent with me and my +documents and papers of importance would be sufficient to make you +believe and think as I do touching what has been discussed between us. +Madame de Montespan, in great alarm, has told me that you wished to leave +me. You leave me, my good friend! Where will you find a sky so pure and +soft as the sky of France? Where will you find a King more tenderly +attached to men of merit, more particularly, to my dear and illustrious +Petitot?" + +At these words, pronounced with emotion, the artist felt the tears come +into his eyes. He bent one knee to the ground, respectfully kissed the +hand of the monarch, and promised to complete his portrait immediately. + +He kept his word to us. The King's miniature and my four portraits were +finished without hesitation or postponement; and Petitot also consented +to copy, for his Majesty, a superb Christine of Sweden, a full-length +picture, painted by Le Bourdon. But at the final revocation of the Edict +of Nantes, he thought his conscience, or rather his vanity, compromised, +and quitted France, although the King offered to allow him a chaplain of +his communion, and a dispensation from all the oaths, to Petitot himself, +to Boyer, his brother-in-law, and the chaplain whom they had retained +with them. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIV. + +Lovers' Vows.--The Body-guards.--Racine's Phedre.--The Pit.--Allusions.-- +The Duel.--M. de Monclar.--The Cowled Spy.--He Escapes with a Fright.-- +M. de Monclar in Jersey.--Gratitude of the Marquise.--Happy Memory. + +Lovers, in the effervescence of their passion, exaggerate to themselves +the strength and intensity of their sentiments. The momentary, pleasure +that this agreeable weakness causes them to feel, brings them, in spite +of themselves, to promise a long duration of it, so that they swear +eternal fidelity, a constancy, proof against all, two days after that one +which shone on their most recent infidelity. I had seen the King neglect +and abandon the amiable La Valliere, and I listened to him none the less +credulously and confidently when he said to me: "Athenais, we have been +created for each other: if Heaven were suddenly to deprive me of the +Queen, I would have your marriage dissolved, and, before the altar and +the world, join your destiny, to mine." + +Full of these fantastic ideas, in which my, hope and desire and credulity +were centred, I had accepted those body-guards of state who never left my +carriage. The poor Queen had murmured: I had disdained her murmurs. The +public had manifested its disapproval: I had hardened myself and fought +against the insolent opinion of that public. I could not renounce my +chimera of royalty, based on innumerable probabilities, and I used my +guards in anticipation, and as a preliminary. + +One of them, one day, almost lost his life in following my carriage, +which went along like a whirlwind. His horse fell on the high road to +Versailles; his thigh was broken, and his body horribly bruised. +I descended from my carriage to see after him. I confided him, with the +most impressive recommendations, to the physician or surgeon of Viroflai, +who lavished on him his attentions, his skill and zeal, and who sent him +back quite sound after a whole month of affectionate care. + +The young Baron de Monclar (such was the name of this guard) thought +himself happy in having merited my favour by this accident, and he +remained sincerely and finally attached to me. + +At the time of the temporary triumph of Mademoiselle de Fontanges, the +spell which was over my eyes was dissipated. The illusions of my youth +were lost, and I saw, at last, the real distance which divided me from +the steps of the throne. The health of a still youthful Queen seemed to +me as firm and unalterable then as it appeared to me weak and uncertain +before. The inconstancy of the monarch warned me of what might be still +in store for me, and I resolved to withdraw myself, voluntarily and with +prudence, within the just limits of my power. + +M. le Prince de Luxembourg was one of my friends, and in command; I +begged him to send me his guards no longer, but to reserve them for the +reigning divinity, who had already more than once obtained them. + +In these latter days, that is to say, since the eminent favour of the +lady in waiting, having become the friend, and no longer the spouse of +the prince, I frequently retired from this sight, so repugnant to me, +and went and passed entire weeks at Paris, where the works on my large +hotel, that had been suspended for divers reasons, were being resumed. + +A debutante, as beautiful as she was clever, was drawing the entire +capital to the Comedie Francaise. She obtained especial applause in the +difficult part of Phedre. My friends spoke marvels of it, and wished to +take me there with them. Their box was engaged. We arrived as the +curtain was going up. As I took my seat I noticed a certain stir in the +orchestra and pit. The majority of glances were directed at my box, in +which my apparition had attracted curiosity. I carried my fan to my +face, under the pretext of the excessive glow of the lights. Immediately +several voices were to be heard: "Take away the fan, if you please." +The young and foolish applauded this audacity; but all the better part +disapproved. + +The actress mentioned came on the scene and brought the incident to an +end. Although deeply moved by what had occurred, I paid great attention +to the magnificent part of Phedre, which often excited my admiration and +profound pity. At some passages, which every one knows by heart, two or +three insolent persons abandoned themselves to a petty war of allusions, +and accenting these aggressive phrases with their applause, succeeded in +directing general attention to me. Officers of the service noticed this +beginning of disorder, and probably were concerned at my embarrassment. +Some Gardes Francais were called within the barrier of the parterre in +order to restrain the disturbers. Suddenly a very lively quarrel broke +out in the centre. Two young men with great excitement had come to +blows, and soon we saw them sally forth with the openly expressed +intention of settling their quarrel on the field. + +Was it my name, or a contest as to the talent of the actress, which +caused this commotion? My nephew, De Mortemart, was concerned for me, +and the Comte de Marcilly assured us that all these wrangles were solely +with regard to the wife of Theseus. + +Between the two pieces our company learnt that a gentleman from the +provinces had insulted my name, and a body-guard, out of uniform, had +taken this insult for himself; they had gone out to have an explanation. + +The following day a religious minim of the House of Chaillot came to +inform me of the state of affairs. The Baron de Monclar, of the body- +guards of the King, had taken sanctuary in their monastery, after having +killed, in lawful duel, beneath the outer walls of the Bois du Boulogne, +the imprudent young man who, the night before, at the play, had exposed +me to the censure of the public. M. de Monclar was quite prepared for +the inflexible severity of the King, as well as for the uselessness of my +efforts. He only begged me to procure him a disguise of a common sort, +so that he might immediately embark from the neighbourhood of Gainville +or Bordeaux, and make for England or Spain; every moment was precious. + +The sad position in which M. de Monclar had put himself in my behalf +filled me with sorrow. I gave a long sigh, and dried my first tears. +I racked my sick and agitated head for the reply I ought to make to the +good monk, and, to my great astonishment, my mind, ordinarily so prompt +and active, suggested and offered me no suitable plan. This indecision, +perhaps, rendered the worthy ambassador impatient and humiliated me; +when, to end it, I made up my mind to request that M. de Monclar be +secretly transferred from the House of Chaillot to my dwelling, where I +should have time and all possible facilities to take concert with him as +to the best means of action. + +Suddenly raising my eyes to the monk of Chaillot, I surprised in his a +ferocious look of expectation. This horrible discovery unnerved me,-- +I gave a cry of terror; all my lackeys rushed in. I ordered the traitor +to be seized and precipitated from the height of my balcony into the +gardens. His arms were already bound ruthlessly, and my people were +lifting him to throw him down, when he eluded their grasp, threw himself +at my feet, and confessed that his disguise was assumed with the intent +to discover the sanctuary of the Baron de Monclar, the assassin of his +beloved brother. "It is asserted, madame," added this man, rising, "that +the Baron is confided to the Minim Fathers of Chaillot. I imagined that +you were informed of it, and that by this means my family would succeed +in reaching him." + +"If he has killed the nobody who yesterday insulted me so unjustly," I +said then to this villain who was ready for death, "he has done a +virtuous act, but one which I condemn. I condemn it because of the law +of the Prince, which is formal, and because of the dire peril into which +he has run; for that my heart could almost praise and thank him. I was +ignorant of his offence; I am ignorant of his place of refuge. Whoever +you may be,--the agent of a family in mourning, or of a magistrate who +forgets what is due to me,--leave my house before my wrath is rekindled. +Depart, and never forget what one gains by putting on the livery of +deceit in order to surprise and betray innocence." + +My people conducted this unworthy man to the outer gate, and refused to +satisfy some prayers which he addressed to them to be released from his +disagreeable bonds. The public, with its usual inconsequence, followed +the monk with hooting, without troubling as to whether it were abusing a +vile spy or a man of worth. + +We waited for a whole month without receiving any news of our guard. +At last he wrote to me from the island of Jersey, where he had been cast +by a storm. I despatched the son of my intendant, who knew him +perfectly; I sent him a letter of recommendation to his Majesty the King +of England, who had preserved me in his affections, and to those matters +of pure obligation, which I could not refrain from without cruelty, +I added a present of a hundred thousand livres, which was enough to +furnish an honourable condition for my noble and generous cavalier in the +land of exile. + +The humour of my heart is of the kind which finishes by forgetting an +injury and almost an outrage; but a service loyally rendered is graven +upon it in uneffaceable characters, and when (at the solicitation of the +King of England) our monarch shall have pardoned M. de Monclar, I will +search all through Paris to find him a rich and lovely heiress, and will +dower him myself, as his noble conduct and my heart demand. + +I admire great souls as much as I loathe ingratitude and villainy. + + + + +CHAPTER XL. + +Parallel between the Diamond and the Sun.--Taste of the Marquise for +Precious Stones.--The King's Collection of Medals.--The Crown of +Agrippina.--The Duchess of York.--Disappointment of the Marquise.-- +To Lend Is Not to Give.--The Crown Well Guarded.--Fright of the Marquise. +--The Thief Recognised.--The Marquise Lets Him Hang.--The Difference +between Cromwell and a Trunkmaker.--Delicate Restitutions.--The Bourbons +of Madame de Montespan. + +The diamond is, beyond contradiction, the most beautiful creation of the +hands of God, in the order of inanimate objects. This precious stone, +as durable as the sun, and far more accessible than that, shines with the +same fire, unites all its rays and colours in a single facet, and +lavishes its charms, by night and day, in every clime, at all seasons; +whilst the sun appears only when it so pleases; sometimes shining, +sometimes misty, and shows itself off with innumerable pretensions. + +From my tenderest childhood, I was notable amongst all my brothers and +sisters for my distinct fondness for precious stones and diamonds. +I have made a collection of them worthy of the Princes of Asia; and if my +whole fortune were to fail me to-day, my pearls and diamonds, being left +to me, would still give me opulence. The King, by a strange accident, +shares this taste with me. He has in his third closet two huge +pedestals, veneered in rosewood, and divided within, like cabinets of +coins, into several layers. It is there that he has conveyed, one by +one, all the finest diamonds of the Crown. He consecrates to their +examination, their study, and their homage, the brief moments that his +affairs leave him. And when, by his ambassadors, he comes to discover +some new apparition of this kind in Asia or Europe, he does all that is +possible to distance his competitors. + +When he loved me with a tender love, I had only to wish and I obtained +instantly all that could please me, in rare pearls, in superfine +brilliants, sapphires, emeralds, and rubies. One day, his Majesty +allowed me to carry home the famous crown of Agrippina, executed with +admirable art, and formed of eight sprays of large brilliants handsomely +mounted. This precious object occupied me for several days in +succession, and the more I examined the workmanship, the more I marvelled +at its lightness and excellence, which was so great that our jewellers, +compared with those of Nero and Agrippina, were as artisans and workmen. + +The King, having never spoken to me again of this ornament, I persuaded +myself that he had made me a present of it,--a circumstance which +confirmed me in the delusions of my hope. I thought then that I ought +not to leave in its light case an article of such immense value, and +ordered a strong and solid casket in which to enshrine my treasure. + +The imperial crown having been encased and its clasps well adjusted by as +many little locks of steel, I shut the illustrious valuable in a cupboard +in which I had a quantity of jewelry and precious stones. This beautiful +crown was the constant object of my thoughts, my affections and my +preference; but I only looked at it myself at long intervals, every six +months, very briefly, for fear of exciting the cupidity of servants, and +exposing the glory of Agrippina to some danger. + +When the Princess of Mantua passed through France on her way to marry the +Duke of York, whose first wife had left him a widower, the King gave a +brilliant reception to this young and lovely creature, daughter of a +niece of Cardinal Mazarin. + +The conversation was uniformly most agreeable, for she spoke French with +fluency, and employed it with wit. There was talk of open-work crowns +and shut crowns. The Marquis de Dangeau, something of a savant and +antiquary, happened to remark that, under Nero, that magnificent prince, +the imperial crown had first been wrought in the form of an arch, such as +is seen now. + +The King said then: "I was ignorant of that fact; but the crown of the +Empress, his mother, was not closed at all. The one which belongs to me +is authentic; Madame la Marquise will show it to us:" + +A gracious invitation in dumb show completed this species of summons, +and I was obliged to execute it. I returned to the King in the space of +a few minutes, bringing back in its new case the fugitive present, which +a monarch asked back again so politely and with such a good grace. + +The crown of Agrippina, being placed publicly on a small round table, +excited general attention and admiration. The Italian Princess, Madame +de Maintenon, the Duc de Saint Aignan, and Dangeau himself went into +raptures over the rare perfection of these marvellously assorted +brilliants. The King, drawing near, in his turn examined the masterpiece +with pleasure. Suddenly, looking me in the face, he cried: + +"But, madame, this is no longer my crown of Agrippina; all the diamonds +have been changed!" + +Imagine my trouble, and, I must say, my confusion! Approaching the +wretched object, and casting my eyes over it with particular attention, +I was not slow in verifying the King's assertion. The setting of this +fine work had remained virtually the same; but some bold hand had removed +the antique diamonds and substituted--false! + +I was pale and trembling, and on the verge of swooning. The ladies were +sorry for me. The King did me the honour of declaring aloud that I had +assuredly been duped, and I was constrained to explain this removal of +the crown into a more solid and better case for its preservation. + +At this naive explanation the King fell to laughing, and said to the +young Princess: "Madame, you will relate, if you please, this episode to +the Court of London, and you will tell the King, from me, that nothing is +so difficult to preserve now as our crowns; guards and locks are no more +of use." + +Then, addressing me, his Majesty said, playfully: + +"You should have entrusted it to me sooner; I should have saved it. It +is said that I understand that well." + +My amour-propre, my actual honour, forbade me to put a veil over this +domestic indignity. I assembled all my household, without excepting my +intendant himself. I was aggrieved at the affront which I had met with +at the King's, and I read grief and consternation on all faces. After +some minutes' silence, my intendant proposed the immediate intervention +of authority, and made me understand with ease that only the casket-maker +could be the culprit. + +This man's house was visited; he had left Paris nearly two years before. +Further information told us that, before disposing of his property, he +had imprudently indulged in a certain ostentation of fortune, and had +embarked for the new settlements of Pondicherry. + +M. Colbert, who is still living, charged our governor to discover the +culprit for him; and he was sent back to us with his hands and feet +bound. + +Put to the question, he denied at first, then confessed his crime. One +of my chamber--maids, to whom he had made feigned love, introduced him +into my house while I was away, and by the aid of this imprudent woman he +had penetrated into my closets. The crown of Agrippina, which it had +been necessary to show him because of the measures, had become almost as +dear to him as to myself; and his ambition of another kind inspired him +with his criminal and fatal temerity. + +He did no good by petitioning me, and having me solicited after the +sentence; I let him hang, as he richly deserved. + +The King said on this occasion: "This casketmaker has, at least, left us +the setting, but M. Cromwell took all." + +The fortunate success of this affair restored me, not to cheerfulness, +but to that honourable calm which had fled far away from me. I made a +reflection this time on my extreme imprudence, and understood that all +the generosities of love are often no more than loans. I noticed amongst +my jewels a goblet of gold, wrought with diamonds and rubies, which came +from the first of the Medici princesses. I waited for the King's fete to +return this magnificent ornament to him nobly. I had a lily executed, +all of emeralds and fine pearls; I poured essence of roses into the cup, +placed in it the stem of the lily, in the form of a bouquet for the +prince, and that was my, present for Saint Louis's day. + +I gave back to the King, by degrees, at least three millions' worth of +important curiosities, which were like drops of water poured into the +ocean. But I was anxious that, if God destined me to perish by a sudden +death, objects of this nature should not be seen and discovered amid my +treasure. + +As to my other diamonds, either changed in form or acquired and collected +by myself, I destine them for my four children by the King. These pomps +will have served to delight my eyes, which are pleased with them, and +then they will go down to their first origin and source, belonging again +to the Bourbons whom I have made. + + + + +CHAPTER XLI. + +The Duchesse de Lesdiguieres.--Her Jest.--"The Chaise of Convenience."-- +Anger of the Jesuits.--They Ally Themselves with the Archbishop of Paris. +--The Forty Hours' Prayers.--Thanks of the Marquise to the Prelate.-- +His Visit to Saint Joseph.--Anger of the Marquise.--Her Welcome to the +Prelate. + +The insult offered me at the Comedie Francaise by a handful of the +thoughtless immediately spread through the capital, and became, as it is +easy to imagine, the talk of all the salons. I was aware that the +Duchesse de Lesdiguieres was keenly interested in this episode, and had +embellished and, as it were, embroidered it with her commentaries and +reflections. All these women who misconduct themselves are pitiless and +severe. The more their scandalous conduct brands them on the forehead, +the more they cry out against scandal. Their whole life is bemired with +vice, and their mouth articulates no other words than prudence and +virtue, like those corrupt and infected doctors who have no indulgence +for their patients. + +The Duchesse de Lesiguieres, for a long time associated with the +Archbishop of Paris, and known to live with that prelate like a miller +with his wife, dared to say, in her salon that my presence at Racine's +tragedy was, at the least, very useless, and the public having come there +to see a debutante, certainly did not expect me. + +The phrase was repeated to me, word for word by my sister De Thianges, +who did not conceal her anger, and wished to avenge me, if I did not +avenge myself. The Marquise then informed me of another thing, which she +had left me in ignorance of all along, from kind motives chiefly, and to +prevent scandal. + +"You remember, my sister," said the Marquise to me, "a sort of jest which +escaped you when Pere de la Chaise made the King communicate, in spite of +all the noise of his new love affair and the follies of Mademoiselle de +Fontanges? You nicknamed that benevolent Jesuit 'the Chaise of +Convenience.' Your epigram made all Paris laugh except the hypocrites +and the Jesuits. Those worthy men resolved to have full satisfaction for +your insult by stirring up the whole of Paris against you. The +Archbishop entered readily into their plot, for he thought you +supplanted; and he granted them the forty Hours' Prayers, to obtain from +God your expulsion from Court. Harlay, who is imprudent only in his +debauches, preserved every external precaution, because of the King, +whose temper he knows; he told the Jesuits that they must not expect +either his pastoral letter or his mandate, but he allowed them secret +commentaries, the familiar explanations of the confessional; he charged +them to let the other monks and priests into the secret, and the field of +battle being decided, the skirmishes began. With the aid and assistance +of King David, that trivial breastplate of every devotional insult, the +preachers announced to their congregations that they must fast and +mortify themselves for the cure of King David, who had fallen sick. The +orators favoured with some wit embellished their invectives; the ignorant +and coarse amongst the priests spoiled everything. The Blessed Sacrament +was exposed for a whole week in the churches, and it ended by an +announcement to Israel, that their cry had reached the firmament, that +David had grown cold to Bathsheba (they did not add, nevertheless, that +David preferred another to Bathsheba with his whole heart). But the +Duchesse de Fontanges gave offence neither to the Archbishop of Paris nor +to the Jesuits. Her mind showed no hostility. The beauty was quite +incapable of saying in the face of the world that a Jesuit resembled a +'Chaise of Convenience.' + +"The Duchesse de Lesdiguieres, covered with rouge and crimes, has put +herself at the head of all these intrigues," added my sister; "and +without having yet been able to subdue herself to the external parade of +devotion, she has allowed herself to use against you all the base tricks +of the most devout hypocrites." + +"Let me act," I said to my sister; "this lady's good offices call for a +mark of my gratitude. The Forty Hours' Prayer is an attention that is +not paid to every one; I owe M. de Paris my thanks." + +I went and sat down at my writing-table, and wrote this fine prelate the +following honeyed missive: + + I have only just been informed, monseigneur, of the pains you have + been at with God for the amelioration of the King and of myself. + The gratitude which I feel for it cannot be expressed. I pray you + to believe it to be as pure and sincere as your intention. A good + bishop, as perfect and exemplary as yourself, is worthy of taking a + passionate interest in the regularity of monarchs, and ours must owe + you the highest rewards for this new mark of respect which it has + pleased you to give him. I will find expressions capable of making + him feel all that he owes to your Forty Hours' Prayer, and to that + Christian and charitable emotion cast in the midst of a capital and + a public. To all that only your mandate of accusation and + allegorical sermons are lacking. Cardinals' hats, they say, are + made to the measure of strong heads; we will go seek, in the robing- + rooms of Rome, if there be one to meet the proportions of your + ability. If ladies had as much honourable influence over the Vicar + of Jesus Christ as simple bishops allow them, I should solicit, this + very day, your wished-for recompense and exaltation. But it is the + monarch's affair; he will undertake it. I can only offer you, in my + own person, M. Archbishop of Paris, my prayers for yours. My little + church of Saint Joseph has not the same splendour as your cathedral; + but the incense that we burn there is of better quality than yours, + for I get it from the Sultan of Persia. I will instruct my little + community to-morrow to hold our Forty Hours' Prayer, that God may + promptly cure you of your Duchesse de Lesdiguieres, who has been + damning you for fourteen years. + + Deign to accept these most sincere reprisals, and believe me, + without reserve, Monsieur the Archbishop, + + THE MARQUISE DE MONTESPAN. + + +This letter cast the camp into alarm. There were goings and comings +between the Episcopal Palace and the Jesuits of the Rue Saint Antoine, +and from this professed house to their College of Louis le Grand. The +matadores of the society were of opinion that I should be conciliated by +every possible means, and it was arranged that the Archbishop should pay +me a visit at Saint Joseph's, on the earliest possible occasion, +to exculpate his virtuous colleagues and make me accept his disclaimers. +He came, in effect, the following week. I made him wait for half an hour +in the chapel, for half an hour in my parlour, and I ascended into my +carriage, almost in his presence, without deigning either to see or +salute him. + +The mother of four legitimised princes was not made to support such +outrages, nor to have interviews with their insolent authors. + +Alarms, anxieties of consciences, weak but virtuous, have always found me +gentle, and almost resigned; the false scruples of hypocrites and +libertines will never receive from me aught but disdain and contempt. + + + + +CHAPTER XLII. + +The Verse of Berenice.--Praises of Boileau.--The King's Aversion to +Satirical Writers.--The Painter Le Brun.--His Bacchus.--The Waterbottle. +--The Pyramid of Jean Chatel Injurious to the Jesuits.--They Solicit Its +Demolition.--Madame de Maintenon's Opposition.--Political Views of Henri +IV. on This Matter.--The Jesuits of Paris Proclaim the Dedication of +Their College to Louis the Great.--The Gold Pieces. + +Whatever be the issue of a liaison which cannot probably be eternal, +I have too much judgment and equity to deny the King the great talents +which are his by nature, or to dispute the surname of Great which has +been given him in his lifetime, and which the ages to come must surely +preserve. But here I am writing secret Memoirs, where I set down, as in +a mirror, the most minute traits of the personages whom I bring on the +stage, and I wish to relate in what manner and with what aim this +apotheosis affected the mind of those who flattered the prince in their +own interest. + +The painters and sculptors, most artful of courtiers in their calling, +had already represented the King, now with the attributes of Apollo, now +in the costume of the god Mars, of Jupiter Tonans, Neptune, lord of the +waves; now with the formidable and vigorous appearance of the great +Hercules, who strangled serpents even in his cradle. + +His Majesty saw all these ingenious allegories, examined them without +vanity, with no enthusiasm, and seemed to regard them as accessories +inherent to the composition, as conventional ornaments, the good and +current small change of art. The adulations of Racine, in his +"Berenice," having all a foundation of truth, please him, but chiefly for +the grace of the poetry; and he sometimes recited them, when he wished to +recall and quote some fine verse. + +The praises of Boileau, although well versified, had not, however, the +fortune to please him. He found those verses too methodical for poetry; +and the poet, moreover, seemed to him somewhat a huckster, and in bad +taste. The satirists might do what they liked, they never had his +friendship. Perhaps he feared them. + +When Le Brun started preparing the magnificent cradle of the great +gallery, he composed for the ceiling rich designs or cartoons, which in +their entirety should represent the victories and great military or +legislative achievements of the prince. His work being finished, he came +to present it to his Majesty, who on that day was dining with me. In one +of the compartments the painter had depicted his hero in the guise of +Bacchus; the King immediately took up a bottle of clear water and drank a +big glass. I gave a great peal of laughter, and said to M. le Brun, "You +see, monsieur, his Majesty's decision in that libation of pure water." + +M. le Brun changed his design, seeing the King had no love for Bacchus, +but he left the Thundering Jove, and all the other mythological +flatteries, in regard to which no opinion had been given. + +The Jesuits for a long time past had groaned at seeing, exactly opposite +the Palace,--[In the midst of the semicircle in front of the Palais de +Justice. ]--in the centre of Paris, that humiliating pyramid which +accused them of complicity with, or inciting, the famous regicide of the +student, Jean Chatel, assassin of Henri IV. Pere de la Chaise, many +times and always in vain, had prayed his Majesty to render justice to the +virtues of his order, and to command the destruction of this slanderous +monument. The King had constantly refused, alleging to-day one motive, +to-morrow another. One day, when the professed House of Paris came to +hand him a respectful petition on the subject, his Majesty begged Madame +de Maintenon to read it to him, and engaged us to listen to it with +intelligence, in order to be able to give an opinion. + +The Jesuits said in this document that the Parliament, with an excessive +zeal, had formerly pushed things much too far in this matter. "For that +Jean Chatel, student with the Jesuit Fathers, having been heard to say to +his professor that the King of Navarre, a true Huguenot, ought not to +reign over France, which was truly Catholic, the magistrates were not, +therefore, justified in concluding that that Jesuit, and all the Jesuits, +had directed the dagger of Jean Chatel, a madman." + +The petition further pointed out that "the good King Henri IV., who was +better informed, had decided to recall the Society of Jesus, had +reestablished it in all his colleges, and had even chosen a confessor +from their ranks. + +"This fearful pyramid, + + [This monument represented a sort of small square temple, built of + Arcueil stone and marble. Corinthian fluted pillars formed its + general decoration, and enshrined the four fulminatory inscriptions. + Independently of the obelisk, the cupola of this temple bore eight + allegorical statues, of which the one was France in mourning; the + second, Justice raising her sword, and the others the principal + virtues of the King. On the principal side these words occurred: + "Passer-by, whosoever thou be, abhor Jean Chatel, and the Jesuits + who beguiled his youth and destroyed his reason."--EDITOR'S NOTE.] + +surcharged with wrathful inscriptions," added the petition, "designates +our Society as a perpetual hotbed of regicidal conspiracy, and presents +us to credulous people as an association of ambitious, thankless and +corrupt assassins!" + +"In the name of God, Sire, do away with this criminal and dangerous +memento of old passions, unjust hatreds, and the spirit of impiety which, +after having led astray magistrates devoid of light, serves to-day only +to beguile new generations, whom excess of light blinds," etc., etc. + +When this letter was finished, the King said: + +"I have never seen, the famous pyramid; one of these days I will escape, +so that I can see it without being observed." And then his Majesty asked +me what I thought of the petition. I answered that I did not understand +the inconsistency of M. de Sully, who, after consenting to the return of +the Jesuits, had left in its place the monument which accused and branded +them. I put it on Sully, the minister, because I dared not attack Henri +IV. himself. + +The King answered me: "There are faults of negligence such as that in +every government and under the best administrations. King Henri my +grandfather was vivacity itself. He was easily irritated; he grew calm +in the same way. For my part, I think that he pardoned the Jesuits, as +he had the Leaguers, in the hope that his clemency would bring them all +into peaceful disposition; in which he was certainly succeeding when a +miscreant killed him." + +Madame de Maintenon, begged to give her opinion, expressed herself in +these terms: "Sire, this petition cannot be other than extremely well +done, since a society of clever minds have taken the work in hand. We +have not the trial of Jean Chatel before our eyes, with his +interrogatories; it is impossible for us, then, to pronounce on the +facts. In any case, there is one thing very certain: the Jesuits who are +living at present are innocent, and most innocent of the faults of their +predecessors. + +"The sentences and anathemas which surcharge the pyramid, as they say, +can in no way draw down upon them the anger of passers-by and the +populace, for these inscriptions, which I have read, are in bad Latin. +This monument, which is very rich and even elegant in itself, is placed +upon the site of the destroyed house of the assassin Chatel. The most +ignorant of your Parisians knows this circumstance, which he has learnt +from family traditions. It is good that the people see every day before +their eyes this solitary pyramid, which teaches how King's assassins are +punished and what is done with the houses in which they were born. + +"King Henri IV., for all his gaiety, had wits enough for four; he left +the pyramid standing, like those indulgent people who compromise a great +lawsuit, but do not on that account destroy the evidence and documents. + +"This monument, besides, is the work of the Parliament of Paris; that +illustrious assembly has raised it, and perhaps your Majesty might seem +to accuse justice by destroying what it has once done for a good cause." + +The King smiled at the conclusions of the lady in waiting, and said to +both of us: "This is between us three, I pray you, ladies; I will keep +Pere de la Chaise amused with promises some day." + +Madame de Maintenon, for a brief time in her first youth a Calvinist, +cherished always in the bottom of her heart a good share of those +suspicions that Calvin's doctrine is careful to inspire against the +Jesuits. + +On the other hand, she retained amongst the Parliament a large number of +friends whom she had known formerly at M. Scarron's, the son of a +counsellor of the chamber. I understood that in those circumstances she +was well pleased to prove to the gentlemen of Parliament that the +interests of their house were kept in good hands, and that she would not +abandon her friends of the Place Royale and the Marais for all the +Jesuits and all the pyramids in the world. + +The Parliament, which was informed of her conduct and fidelity, bore her +infinite good-will for it. The first president, decorated with his blue +riband, came; to express his formal thanks, and begged her to accept in +perpetuity a key of honour to the High Chamber. + + [In famous and unusual causes, princes, ambassadors, and keys of + honour came and occupied the lanterns, that is to say, elegant and + well furnished tribunes, from which all that passed in the grand hall + of the Parliament could be seen.] + +The Jesuits, for perseverance and tenacity, can be compared with spiders +who repair, or start again every instant at a damaged or broken thread. +When these good fathers knew that their petition had not triumphed +offhand, they struck out for some new road to reach the generous heart of +the monarch. Having learnt that an alderman, full of enthusiasm, had +just proposed in full assembly at the Hotel de Ville to raise a triumphal +monument to the Peacemaker of Europe, and to proclaim him Louis the Great +at a most brilliant fete, the Jesuit Fathers cleverly took the +initiative, and whilst the Hotel de Ville was deliberating to obtain his +Majesty's consent, the College of Clermont, in the Rue Saint Jacques, +brought out its annual thesis, and dedicated it to the King,--Louis the +Great (Ludovico Magno). + +On the following day the masons raised scaffolding before the great door +of the college, erased the original inscription--which consisted of the +words: "College of Clermont"--to substitute for it, in letters of gold: +"Royal College of Louis the Great." These items of news reached +Versailles one after the other. The King received them with visible +satisfaction, and if only Pere de la Chaise had known how to profit at +the time by the emotion and sentiment of the prince, he would have +carried off the tall pyramid as an eagle does a sparrow. The confessor, +a man of great circumspection, dared not force his penitent's hand; +he was tactful with him in all things, and the society had the trouble of +its famous cajolery without gaining anything more at the game than +compliments and gold pieces in sufficient plenty. + +Some days afterwards the monarch, of his own accord and without any +incentive, remembered the offensive and mortifying pyramid; but Madame de +Maintenon reminded him that it was desirable to wait, for scoffers would +not be wanting to say that this demolition was one of the essential +conditions of the bargain. + +The King relished this advice. At the Court one must make haste to +obtain anything; but to be forgotten, a few minutes' delay is sufficient. + + [This pyramid was taken down two or three years before the + Revolution by the wish of Louis XVI., after having stood for two + hundred years.--EDITOR'S NOTE.] + + + + +CHAPTER XLIII. + +Little Opportune.--M. and Madame Bontems.--The Young Moor Weaned.-- +The Good Cure.--The Blessed Virgin.--Opportune at the Augustinians of +Meaux.--Bossuet Director.--Mademoiselle Albanier and Leontine.-- +Flight of Opportune.--Her Threats of Suicide.--Visit of the Marquise.-- +Prudence of the Court. + +The poor Queen had had several daughters, all divinely well made and +pretty as little Cupids. They kept in good health up to their third or +fourth year; they went no further. It was as though a fate was over +these charming creatures; so that the King and Queen trembled whenever +the accoucheurs announced a daughter instead of a son. + +My readers remember the little negress who was born to the Queen in the +early days,--she whom no one wanted, who was dismissed, relegated, +disinherited, unacknowledged, deprived of her rank and name the very day +of her birth; and who, by a freak of destiny, enjoyed the finest health +in the world, and surmounted, without any precautions or care, all the +difficulties, perils, and ailments of infancy. + +M. Bontems, first valet de chambre of the cabinets, served as her +guardian, or curator; even he acted only through the efforts and +movements of an intermediary. It was wished that this young Princess +should be ignorant of her birth, and in this I agree that, in the midst +of crying injustice, the King kept his natural humanity. This poor child +not being meant, and not being able, to appear at Court, it was better, +indeed, to keep her from all knowledge of her rights, in order to deprive +her, at one stroke, of the distress of her conformation, the hardship of +her repudiation, and the despair of captivity. The King destined her for +a convent when he saw her born, and M. Bontems promised that it should be +so. + +At the age of three, she was withdrawn from the hands of her nurse, and +Madame Bontems put her to be weaned in her own part of the world. +Opportune,--[She was born on Sainte Opportune's Day.]-- clothed and +nourished like the other children of the farmer, who was her new patron, +played with them in the barns or amongst the snow; she followed them into +the orchards and fields; she filled, like them, her little basket with +acorns that had been left after the crop was over, or ears of corn that +the gleaners had neglected, or withered branches and twigs left by the +wood-cutters for the poor. Her nude, or semi-nude, arms grew rough in +the burning sun, and more so still in the frosts. Her pretty feet, so +long as the fine season lasted, did not worry about being shod, and when + +November arrived with its terrors, Opportune took her little heeled +sabots like the other country children. M. and Madame Bontems wrote +every six months to inquire if she were dead, and each time the answer +came that the little Moor was in wonderful health. + +The pastor of the neighbouring hamlet felt pity for this poor child, +who was sometimes tormented by her companions on account of her colour. +The good cure even went so far as to declare, one day when there was a +sermon, that the Virgin Mary, if one was to believe respectable books, +was black from head to foot, which did not prevent her from being most +beautiful in the sight of God and of men. + +This good cure taught the gentle little orphan to read and pray. +He often came to her farm to visit her, and probably he knew her birth; +he was in advanced age, and he died. Then Opportune was placed with the +Augustinian ladies of Meaux, where Bossuet charged himself with the task +of instructing her well in religion and of making her take the veil. + +The lot of this young victim of pride and vain prejudices touched me in +spite of myself, and often I made a firm resolution to take her away from +her oppressors and adopt her in spite of everybody. The poor Queen, +forgetting our rivalry, had taken all my children into her affections. +Why should not I have shown a just recognition by protecting an innocent +little creature animated with her breath, life, and blood,--a child whom +she would have loved, I do not doubt, if she had been permitted to see +and recognise her? This idea grew so fixed in my, mind, that I resolved +to see Opportune and do her some good, if I were able. + +The interest of my position had led me once to assure myself of the +neighbourhood of the King by certain little measures, not of curiosity +but of surveillance. I had put with M. Bontems a young man of +intelligence and devotion, who, without passing due limits, kept me +informed of many things which it is as well to know. + +When I knew, without any doubt, the new abiding-place of Opportune, +I secretly sent to the Augustinians of Meaux the young and intelligent +sister of my woman of the bedchamber, who presented herself as an +aspirant for the novitiate. They were ignorant in the house of the +relations of Mademoiselle Albanier with her sister Leontine Osselin, so +that they wrote to each other, but by means of a cipher, and under seal, +addressing their missives to a relative. + +Albanier lost no time in informing us that the little Opportune had begun +to give her her confidence, and that the nuns took it in very good part, +believing them both equally called to take the veil in their convent. +Opportune knew, though in a somewhat vague way, to what great personage +she owed her life, and it appeared that the good cure had informed her, +out of compassion, before he left this world. Albanier wrote to +Leontine: + +"Tell Madame la Marquise that Opportune is full of wit; she resembles M. +le Duc du Maine as though she were his twin; her carriage is exactly that +of the King; her body is built to perfection, and were it not for her +colour, the black of which diminishes day by day, she would be one of the +loveliest persons in France; she is sad and melancholy by temperament, +but as I have succeeded in attracting her confidence, and diverting her +as much as one can do in a purgatory like this, we dance sometimes in +secret, and then you would think you saw Mademoiselle de Nantes dance and +pirouette. + +"When any one pronounces the name of the King, she trembles. She asked +me to-day whether I had seen the King, if he were handsome, if he were +courteous and affable. It seemed to me as though she was already +revolving some great project in her brain, and if I am not mistaken, she +has quite decided to scale the fruit-trees against our garden wall and +escape across country. + +"M. Bossuet, in his quality of Bishop of Meaux, has the right of entry +into this house; he has come here three times since my arrival; he has +given me each time a little tap on my check in token of goodwill, and +such as one gets at confirmation; he told me that he longs to see me take +the veil of the Ursulines, as well as my little scholar; it is by that +name he likes to call her. + +"Opportune answers him with a stately air which would astound you; she +only calls him monsieur, and when told that she has made an error, and +that she should say monseigneur, she replies with great seriousness, +'I had forgotten it.'" + +Mademoiselle Albanier, out of kindness to me, passed nearly two years in +this house, which she always called her purgatory, but the endeavours of +the superior and of M. Bossuet becoming daily more pressing, and her +health, which had suffered, being unable to support the seclusion longer, +she made up her mind to retire. + +Her departure was a terrible blow to the daughter of the Queen. This +young person, who was by nature affectionate, almost died of grief at the +separation. We learnt that, after having been ill and then ailing for +several weeks, she found the means of escaping from the convent, and of +taking refuge with some lordly chatelaine. M. de Meaux had her pursued, +but as she threatened to kill herself if she were taken back to the Abbey +of Notre Dame, the prelate wrote to M. Bontems, that is to say, to the +real father, and poor Opportune was taken to Moret, a convent of +Benedictines, in the forest of Fontainebleau. There they took the course +of lavishing care, and kindness, and attentions on her. But as her +destiny, written in her cradle, was an irrevocable sentence, she was +finally made to take the veil, which suited her admirably, and which she +wears with an infinite despair. + +I disguised myself one day as a lady suitor who sought a lodging in the +house. I established myself there for a week, under the name of the +Comtesse de Clagny, and I saw, with my own eyes, a King's daughter +reduced to singing matins. Her air of nobility and dignity struck me +with admiration and moved me to tears. I thought of her four sisters, +dead at such an early age, and deplored the cruelty of Fate, which had +spared her in her childhood to kill her slowly and by degrees. + +I would have accosted her in the gardens, and insinuated myself into her +confidence, but the danger of these interviews, both for her and me, +restrained what had been an ill-judged kindness. We should both have +gone too far, and the monarch would have been able to think that I was +opposing him out of revenge, and to give him pain. + +This consideration came and crushed all my projects of compassion and +kindness. There are situations in life where we are condemned to see +evil done in all liberty, without being able to call for succour or +complain. + + + + +CHAPTER XLIV. + +The Aristocratic Republic of Genoa Offends the King.--Its Punishment.-- +Reception of the Doge at Paris and Versailles. + +M. de Louvois--by nature, as I have said, hard and despotic--was quite +satisfied to gain the same reputation for the King, in order to cover his +own violence and rigour beneath the authority of the monarch. + +The King, I admit, did not like to be contradicted or opposed. He became +irritated if one was unfortunate enough to do so; but I know from long +experience that he readily accepted a good excuse, and by inclination +liked neither to punish nor blame. The Marquis de Louvois was +unceasingly occupied in exciting him against one Power and then another, +and his policy was to keep the prince in constant alarm of distrust in +order to perpetuate wars and dissensions. This order of things pleased +that minister, who dreaded intervals of calm and peace, when the King +came to examine expenses and to take account of the good or bad +employment of millions. + +The Republic of Genoa, accustomed to build vessels for all nations, built +some of them, unfortunately, for the King's enemies. These constructions +were paid for in advance. M. de Louvois, well-informed of what passed in +Genoa, waited till the last moment to oppose the departure of the four or +five new ships. The Genoese, promising to respect the King's will in the +future, sent these vessels to their destination. + +On the report and conclusions of M. de Louvois, his Majesty commanded the +senators of Genoa to hand over to his Minister of War the sums arising +from the sale of these, and to send their Doge and four of the most +distinguished senators to beg the King's pardon in his palace at +Versailles. + +The senate having replied that, by a fundamental law, a Doge could not +leave the, city without instantly losing his power and dignity, the King +answered this message to the effect that the Doge would obey as an +extraordinary circumstance, that in this solitary case he would derogate +from the laws of the Genoese Republic, and that, the King's will being +explicit and unalterable, the Doge would none the less maintain his +authority. + +Whilst waiting, his Majesty sent a fleet into Italian waters, and the +city of Genoa immediately sustained the most terrible bombardment. + +The flag of distress and submission having been flown from all the +towers, our admirals ceased, and the Doge set out for Versailles, +accompanied by the four oldest senators. + +At the news of their approach, all Paris echoed the songs of triumph that +M. de Louvois had had composed. A spacious hotel was prepared to receive +these representatives of a noble, aristocratic republic; and, to withdraw +them from the insults of the populace, they were given guards and +archers. + +Although the chateau of Versailles was in all the lustre of its novelty, +since it had been inhabited for only two years, I perceived that they had +even been adding to its magnificence, and that everywhere were new +curtains, new candelabra, new carpets. The throne on which the monarch +was to sit surpassed all that we had ever seen. + +On the eve of the solemn presentation the astonished ambassadors appeared +incognito before the minister, who dictated to them their costumes, their +reverences, and all the substance of their address. The influx of +strangers and Parisians to Versailles, to be witnesses of such a +spectacle, was so extraordinary and prodigious that the hostels and other +public inns were insufficient, and they were obliged to light fires of +yew in all the gardens. + +In the great apartments there were persons of the highest rank who sought +permission to pass the night on benches, so that they might be all there +and prepared on the following day. On the two sides of the great gallery +they had raised tribunes in steps, draped in 'Cramoisi' velvet. It was +on these steps, which were entirely new, that all the ladies were placed. +The lords stood upright below them, and formed a double hedge on each +side. + +When his Majesty appeared on his throne, the fire of the diamonds with +which he was covered for a moment dazzled all eyes. The King seemed to +me less animated than was his wont; but his fine appearance, which never +quits him, rendered him sufficiently fit for such a representation and +his part in it. + +The Doge of the humiliated Republic exhibited neither obsequiousness nor +pride. We found his demeanour that of a philosopher prepared for all +human events. His colleagues walked after him, but at a little distance. +When the Doge Lescaro had asked for pardon, as he had submitted to do, +two of his senators fell to weeping. The King, who noticed the general +emotion, descended from his throne and spoke for some minutes with the +five personages, and, smiling on them with his most seductive grace, he +once more drew all hearts to him. + +I was placed at two paces from Madame de Maintenon. The Doge,--who was +never left by a master of ceremonies, who named the ladies to him,--in +passing before me, made a profound reverence. He then drew near Madame +de Maintenon, who heard all his compliments, said to him, in Italian, all +that could be said, and did him the honour to lean on his hand when +descending from her tribune to return to the King's. + +On the next day the Doge and senators came to present their homage to my +children, and did not forget me in their visits of ceremony. + + + + +CHAPTER XLV. + +The Comte de Vermandois.--His Entrance into the World.--Quarrels with the +Dauphin.--Duel.--Siege of Courtrai.--The Cathedral of Arras. + +When Madame de la Valliere (led by suggestions coming from the Most High) +left the Court and the world to shut herself up in a cloister, she +committed a great imprudence; I should not know how to repeat it: The +Carmelites in the Rue Saint Jacques could easily do without her; her two +poor little children could not. The King confided them, I am well aware, +to governors and governesses who were prudent, attentive, and capable; +but all the governors and preceptors in the world will never replace a +mother,--above all, in a place of dissipation, tumult, and carelessness +like the Court. + +M. le Comte de Vermandois was only seven years old when exaggerated +scruples and bad advice deprived him of his mother. This amiable child, +who loved her, at first suffered much from her absence and departure. +He had to be taken to the Carmelites, where the sad metamorphosis of his +mother, whom he had seen so brilliant and alluring, made him start back +in fright. + +He loved her always as much as he was loved by her, and in virtue of the +permission formally given by the Pope, he went every week to pass an hour +or two with her in the parlour. He regularly took there his singing and +flute lessons; these were two amiable talents in which he excelled. + +About his twelfth year he was taken with the measles, and passed through +them fairly well. The smallpox came afterwards, but respected his +charming brown face. A severe shower of rain, which caught him in some +forest, made him take rheumatism; the waters of Vichy cured him; he +returned beaming with health and grace. + +The King loved him tenderly, and everybody at Court shared this +predilection of the monarch. M. de Vermandois, of a stature less than +his father, was none the less one of the handsomest cavaliers at the +Court. To all the graces of his amiable mother he joined an ease of +manner, a mixture of nobility and modesty, which made him noticeable in +the midst of the most handsome and well made. I loved him with a +mother's fondness, and, from all his ingenuous and gallant caresses, it +was easy to see that he made me a sincere return. + +This poor Comte de Vermandois, about a year before the death of the +Queen, had a great and famous dispute with Monsieur le Dauphin, a jealous +prince, which brought him his first troubles, and deprived him suddenly +of the protecting favour of the Infanta-queen. + +At a ball, at the Duchesse de Villeroi's, all the Princes of the Blood +appeared. Monseigneur, who from childhood had had a fancy for +Mademoiselle de Blois, his legitimised sister, loved her far more +definitely since her marriage with M. le Prince de Conti. Monseigneur is +lacking in tact. At this ball he thought he could parade his sentiments, +which were visibly unpleasant, both to the young husband and to the +Princess herself. He danced, nevertheless, for some minutes with her; +but, suddenly, she feigned to be seized with a sharp pain in the spleen, +and was conducted to a sofa. The young Comte de Vermandois came and sat +there near her. They were both exhibiting signs of gaiety; their chatter +amused them, and they were seen to laugh with great freedom. Although +Monsieur le Dauphin was assuredly not in their thoughts, he thought they +were making merry at his expense. He came and sat at the right of the +Princess and said to her: + +"Your brother is very ill-bred!" + +"Do you think so?" the Princess answered immediately. "My brother is the +most amiable boy in the world. He is laughing at my talking to myself. +He assures me that my pain is in my knee instead of being in the spleen, +and that is what we were amusing ourselves at, quite innocently." + +"Your brother thinks himself my equal," added the Prince; "in which he +certainly makes a mistake. All his diamonds prove nothing; I shall have, +when I like, those of the crown." + +"So much the worse, monsieur," replied the Comte de Vermandois, quickly. +"Those diamonds should never change hands,--at least, for a very long +time." + +These words degenerating into an actual provocation, Monseigneur dared to +say to his young brother that, were it not for his affection for the +Princess, he would make him feel that he was---- + +"My elder brother," resumed the Comte de Vermandois, "and nothing more, +I assure you." + +Before the ball was over, they met in an alcove and gave each other a +rendezvous not far from Marly. Both of them were punctual; but Monsieur +le Dauphin had given his orders, so that they were followed in order to +be separated. + +The King was informed of this adventure; he immediately gave expression +to his extreme dissatisfaction, and said: + +"What! is there hatred and discord already amongst my children?" + +I spoke next to elucidate the facts, for I had learnt everything, and I +represented M. de Vermandois as unjustly provoked by his brother. His +Majesty replied that Monsieur le Dauphin was the second personage in the +Empire, and that all his brothers owed him respect up to a certain point. + +"It was out of deference and respect that the Count accepted the +challenge," said I to the King; "and here the offending party made the +double attack." + +"What a misfortune!" resumed the King. "I thought them as united amongst +themselves as they are in my heart. Vermandois is quick, and as +explosive as saltpetre; but he has the best nature in the world. I will +reconcile them; they will obey me." + +The scene took place in my apartment, owing to my Duc du Maine. "My +son," said his Majesty to the child of the Carmelite, "I have learned +with pain what has passed at Madame de Villeroi's and then in the Bois de +Marly. You will be pardoned for this imprudence because of your age; but +never forget that Monsieur le Dauphin is your superior in every respect, +and must succeed me some day." + +"Sire," replied the Count, "I have never offended nor wished to offend +Monseigneur. Unhappily for me, he detests me, as though you had not the +right to love me." + +At these words Monsieur le Dauphin blushed, and the King hastened to +declare that he loved all his children with a kindness perfectly alike; +that rank and distinctions of honour had been regulated, many centuries +ago, by the supreme law of the State; that he desired union and concord +in the heart of the royal family; and he commanded the two brothers to +sacrifice for him all their petty grievances, and to embrace in his +presence. + +Hearing these words, the Comte de Vermandois, with a bow to his father, +ran in front of Monseigneur, and, spreading out his arms, would have +embraced him. Monsieur le Dauphin remained cold and dumb; he received +this mark of good-will without returning it, and very obviously +displeased his father thereby. + +These little family events were hushed up, and Monseigneur was almost +explicitly forbidden to entertain any other sentiments for Madame de +Conti than those of due friendship and esteem. + +Some time after that, Messieurs de Conti, great lovers of festivity, +pleasure, and costly delights, which are suited only for people of their +kind, dragged the Comte de Vermandois, as a young debutant, into one of +those licentious parties where a young man is compelled to see things +which excite horror. + +His first scruples overcome, M. de Vermandois, naturally disposed to what +is out of the common, wished to give guarantees of his loyalty and +courage; from a simple spectator he became, it is said, an accomplice. + +There is always some false friend in these forbidden assemblies. The +King heard the details of an orgy so unpardonable, and the precocious +misconduct of his cherished son gave him so much pain, that I saw his +tears fall. The assistant governor of the young criminal was dismissed; +his valet de chambre was sent to prison; only three of his servants were +retained, and he himself was subjected to a state of penitence which +included general confessions and the most severe discipline. He resigned +himself sincerely to all these heavy punishments. He promised to +associate only with his mother, his new governor, his English horses, and +his books; and this manner of life, carried out with a grandeur of soul, +made of him in a few months a perfect gentleman, in the honourable and +assured position to which his great heart destined him. + +The King, satisfied with this trial, allowed him to go and prove his +valour at the sieges of Digmude and Courtrai. All the staff officers +recognised soon in his conversation, his zeal, his methods, a worthy +rival of the Vendomes. They wrote charming things of him to the Court. +A few days afterwards we learned at Versailles that M. de Vermandois was +dead, in consequence of an indisposition caught whilst bivouacking, which +at first had not seemed dangerous. + +The King deplored this loss, as a statesman and a good father. I was a +witness of his affliction; it seemed to me extreme. One knew not whom to +approach to break the news to the poor Carmelite. The Bishop of Meaux, +sturdy personage, voluntarily undertook the mission, and went to it with +a tranquil brow, for he loved such tasks. + +To his hoarse and funereal voice Soeur Louise only replied with groans +and tears. She fell upon the floor without consciousness, and M. Bossuet +went on obstinately preaching Christian resignation and stoicism to a +senseless mother who heard him not. + +About a fortnight after the obsequies of the Prince (which I, too, had +celebrated in my church of Saint Joseph), the underprioress of that +little community begged me to come to Paris for a brief time and +consecrate half an hour to her. I responded to her invitation. This is +the important secret which the good nun had to confide to me: Before +expiring; the young Prince had found time to interview his faithful valet +de chambre behind his curtains. "After my death," said he, "you will +repair, not to the King, my father, but to Madame la Marquise de +Montespan, who has given me a thousand proofs of kindness in my behalf. +You will remit to her my casket, in which all my private papers are kept. +She will be kind enough to destroy all which ought not to survive me, and +to hand over the remainder, not to my good mother, who will have only too +much sorrow, but to Madame la Princesse de Conti, whose indulgence and +kindness are known to me." + +Sydney, this valet de chambre, informed me that the Count was dead, not +through excessive brandy, as the Dauphin's people spread abroad, but from +a cerebral fever, which a copious bleeding would have dissipated at once. +All the soldiers wept for this young Prince, whose generous affability +had charmed them. Sydney had just accompanied his body to Arras, where, +by royal command, it had been laid in a vault of the cathedral. I opened +his pretty casket of citron wood, with locks of steel and silver. The +first object which met my eyes was a fine and charming portrait of Madame +de la Valliere. The face was smiling in the midst of this great tragedy, +and that upset me entirely, and made my tears flow again. Five or six +tales of M. la Fontaine had been imitated most elegantly by the young +Prince himself, and to these rather frivolous verses he had joined some +songs and madrigals. All these little relics of a youth so eager to live +betokened a mind that was agreeable, and not libertine. In any case the +sacrifice was accomplished; reflections were in vain. I burned these +papers, and all those which seemed to me without direct importance or +striking interest. That was not the case with a correspondence, full of +wit, tenderness, and fire, of whose origin the good Sydney pretended +ignorance, but which two or three anecdotes that were related +sufficiently revealed to me. The handsome Comte de Vermandois, barely +seventeen years old, had won the heart of a fair lady, of about his own +age, who expressed her passion for him with an energy, a delicacy, and a +talent far beyond all that we admire in books. + +I knew her; the King loved her. Her husband, a most distinguished field- +officer, cherished her and believed her to be faithful. I burned this +dangerous correspondence, for M. de Vermandois, barely adolescent, was +already a father, and his mistress gloried in it. + +On receiving this casket, in which she saw once more the portraits of her +mother, her brother, and her husband, Madame la Princesse de Conti felt +the most sorrowful emotion. I told her that I had acquitted myself, out +of kindness and respect, of a commission almost beyond my strength, and I +begged her never to mention it to the King, who, perhaps, would have +liked to see and judge himself all that I had destroyed. + +M. le Comte de Vermandois left by his death the post of High Admiral +vacant. The King begged me to bring him my little Comte de Toulouse; and +passing round his neck a fine chain of coral mixed with pearls, to which +a diamond anchor was attached, he invested him with the dignity of High +Admiral of France. "Be ever prudent and good, my amiable child," he said +to him, raising his voice, which had grown weak; "be happier than your +predecessor, and never give me the grief of mourning your loss." + +I thanked the King for my son, who looked at his decoration of brilliants +and did not feel its importance. I hope that he will feel that later, +and prove himself worthy of it. + + + + +CHAPTER XLVI. + +The House of Saint Cyr.--Petition of the Monks of Saint Denis to the +King, against the Plan of Madame de Maintenon.--Madame de Maintenon +Summons Them and Sends Them Away with Small Consolation. + +At the time when I founded my little community of Saint Joseph, Madame de +Maintenon had already collected near her chateau at Rueil a certain +number of well-born but poor young persons, to whom she was giving a good +education, proportioned to their present condition and their birth. She +had charged herself with the maintenance of two former nuns, noble and +well educated, who, at the fall of their community, had been recommended, +or had procured a recommendation, to her. Mesdames de Brinon and du +Basque were these two vagrant nuns. Madame de Maintenon, instinctively +attracted to this sort of persons, welcomed and protected them. + +The little pension or community of Rueil, having soon become known, +several families who had fallen into distress or difficulty solicited the +kindness of the directress towards their daughters, and Madame de +Maintenon admitted more inmates than the space allowed. A more roomy +habitation was bought nearer Versailles, which was still only temporary +and the King, having been taken into confidence with regard to these +little girls, who mostly belonged to his own impoverished officers, +judged that the moment had come to found a fine and large educational +establishment for the young ladies of his nobility. + +He bought, at the entrance to the village of Saint Cyr, in close +proximity to Versailles, a large old chateau, belonging to M. Seguier; +and on the site of this chateau, which he pulled down, the royal house of +Saint Cyr was speedily erected. I will not go into the nature and aim of +a foundation which is known nowadays through the whole of Europe. I will +content myself with observing that if Madame de Maintenon conceived the +first idea of it, it is the great benefactions of the monarch and the +profound recognition of the nobility which have given stability and +renown to this house. + +Madame de Maintenon received much praise and incense as the foundress of +this community. It has been quite easy for her to found so vast an +establishment with the treasures of France, since she herself had +remained poor, by her own confession, and had neither to sell nor +encumber Maintenon, her sole property. + +In founding my community of Saint Joseph, I was neither seconded nor +aided by anybody. Saint Joseph springs entirely from myself, from good +intentions, without noise or display. Saint Joseph is one of my good +actions, and although it makes no great noise in the world, I would +rather have founded it than Saint Cyr, where the most exalted houses +procure admission for their children with false certificates of poverty. + +The buildings of Saint Cyr, in spite of all the sums they have absorbed, +have no external nobility or grandeur. The foundress put upon it the +seal of her parsimony, or, rather, of her general timidity. She is like +Moliere's Harpagon, who would like to do great things for little money. + + [Here Madame de Montespan forgets what she has just said, that Saint + -Cyr cost "immense sums,"--an ordinary effect of passion.--ED. NOTE] + +The only beauty about the house is in the laundry and gardens. All the +rest reminds you of a convent of Capuchins. The chapel has not even +necessary and indispensable dignity; it is a long, narrow barn, without +arches, pillars, or decorations. The King, having wished to know +beforehand what revenue would be needed for a community of four hundred +persons, consulted M. de Louvois. That minister, accustomed to calculate +open-handedly, put in an estimate of five hundred thousand livres a year. +The foundress presented hers, which came to no more than twenty-five +thousand crowns. His Majesty adopted a middle course, and assigned a +revenue of three hundred thousand livres to his Royal House of Saint Cyr. + +The foundress, foreseeing the financial embarrassments which have +supervened later, conceived the idea of making the clergy (who are +childless) support the education of these three hundred and fifty young +ladies. In consequence, she cast her eyes upon the rich abbey of Saint +Denis, then vacant, and suggested it to the King, as being almost +sufficient to provide for the new establishment. + +This idea astonished the prince. He found it, at first, audacious, not +to say perilous; but, on further reflection, considering that the monks +of Saint Denis live under the rule of a prior, and never see their abbot, +who is almost always a great noble and a man of the world, his Majesty +consented to suppress the said abbey in order to provide for the +children. + +The monks of Saint Denis, alarmed at such an innovation (which did not, +however, affect their own goods and revenues), composed a petition in the +form of the factum that our advocates draw up in a suit. They exclaimed +in this document "on the disrepute which this innovation would bring upon +their ancient, respectable, and illustrious community. In suppressing +the title of Abbot of Saint Denis," they said further, "your Majesty, in +reality, suppresses our abbey; and if our abbey is reduced to nothing, +our basilica, where the Kings, your ancestors, lie, will be no more than +a royal church, and will cease to be abbatial." + +Further on, this petition said: "Sire, may it please your Majesty, whose +eyes can see so far, to appreciate this innovation in all its terrible +consequences. By striking to-day dissolution and death into the first +abbey of your kingdom, do you not fear to leave behind you a great and +sinister precedent? . . . What Louis the Great has looked upon as +possible will seem righteous and necessary to your successors; and it +will happen, maybe, before long, that the thirst for conquests and the +needs of the State (those constant and familiar pretexts of ministers) +will authorise some political Attila to extend your work, and wreak +destruction upon the tabernacle by depriving it of the splendour which +is its due, and which sustains it." + +Madame de Maintenon, to whom this affair was entrusted, summoned the +administrative monks of Saint Denis to Versailles. She received them +with her agreeable and seductive courtesy, and, putting on her dulcet and +fluted voice, said to them that their alarm was without foundation; that +his Majesty did not suppress their abbey; that he simply took it from the +male sex to give it to the female, seeing that the Salic law never +included the dignities of the Church nor her revenues. + +"The King leaves you," she added, "those immense and prodigious treasures +of Saint Denis, more ancient, perhaps, than the Oriflamme. That is your +finest property, your true and illustrious glory. In general, your +abbots have been, to this very day, unknown to you. Do you find, +gentlemen, that religion was more honoured and respected when men of +battle, covered with murders and other crimes, were called Abbots of +Saint Denis? Beneath the government of the King such nominations would +never have affected the Church; and after the present M. le Chevalier de +Lorraine, we shall hear no more of nominating an abbot-commandant on the +steps of the Opera. + +"Our little girls are cherubim and seraphim, occupied unceasingly with +the praise of the Lord. I recommend them to your holy prayers, and you +can count on theirs." + +With this compliment she dismissed the monks, and what she had resolved +on was carried out. + +The King, who all his life had loved children greatly, did not take long +to contract an affection for this budding colony. He liked to assist +sometimes at their recreations and exercises, and, as though Versailles +had been at the other end of the world, he had a magnificent apartment +built at Saint Cyr. This fine armorial pavilion decorates the first long +court in the centre. The mere buildings announce a king; the royal crown +surmounts them. + +At first the education of Saint Cyr had been entrusted to canonesses; but +a canoness only takes annual vows; that term expired, she is at liberty +to retire and marry. Several of these ladies having proved thus +irresolute as to their estate, and the house being afraid that a greater +number would follow, the Abbe de Fenelon, who cannot endure limited or +temporary devotion, thought fit to introduce fixed and perpetual vows +into Saint Cyr, and that willynilly. + +This elegant abbe says all that he means, and resolutely means all that +he can say. By means of his lectures, a mixed and facile form of +eloquence, which is his glory, he easily proved to these poor canonesses +that streams and rivers flow ever since the world began, and never think +of suspending their current or abandoning their direction. He reminded +them that the sun, which is always in its place and always active, never +dreams of abandoning its functions, either from inconstancy or caprice. +He told them that wise kings are never seized with the idea or temptation +of abdicating their crown, and that God, who serves them as a model and +example, is ceaselessly occupied, with relation to the world, in +preserving, reanimating, and maintaining it. Starting from there, the +ingenious man made them confess that they ought to remain at their post +and bind themselves to it by a perpetual vow. + +The first effect of this fine oration having been a little dissipated, +objections broke out. One young and lovely canoness dared to maintain +the rights of her freedom, even in the face of her most amiable enemy. +Madame de Maintenon rushed to the succour of the Abbe of Saint Sulpice, +and half by wheedling, half by tyranny, obtained the cloister and +perpetual vows. + +I must render this justice to the King; he never would pronounce or +intervene in this pathetic struggle. His royal hand profited, no doubt, +by a submission which the Abbe de Fenelon imposed upon timidity, +credulity, and obedience. The House of Saint Cyr profited thereby; but +the King only regretted a new religious convent, for, as a rule, he liked +them not. How many times has he unburdened himself before me on the +subject + + + + +CHAPTER XLVII. + +Final Rupture.--Terrible Scene.--Madame de Maintenon in the Brocaded +Chair. + +To-day, when time and reflection, and, perhaps, that fund of contempt +which is so useful, have finally revealed to me the insurmountable +necessities of life, I can look with a certain amount of composure at +the; injury which the King did me. I had at first resolved to conclude, +with the chapter which you have just read, my narrative of the more or +less important things which have passed or been unfolded before my eyes. +For long I did not feel myself strong enough to approach a narrative +which might open up all my old wounds and make my blood boil again; but I +finished by considering that our monarch's reign will be necessarily the +subject of a multitude of commentaries, journals, and memoirs. All these +confidential writings will speak of me to the generations to be; some +will paint me as one paints an object whom one loves; others, as the +object one detests. The latter, to render me more odious, will probably +revile my character, and, perhaps, represent me as a cowardly and +despairing mistress, who has descended even to supplications!! It is my, +part, therefore, to retrace with a firm and vigorous hand this important +epoch of my life, where my destiny, at once kind and cruel, reduced me to +treat the greatest of all Kings both as my equal and as an inconstant +friend, as a treacherous enemy, and as my inferior or subject. He had, +at first, the intention of putting me to death,--of that I am persuaded, +--but soon his natural gentleness got the better of his pride. He +grasped the wounds in my heart from the deplorable commotion of my face. +If his former friend was guilty in her speech, he was far more guilty by +his actions. Like an equitable judge he pardoned neither of us; he did +not forgive himself and he dared not condemn me. + +Since this sad time of desertion and sorrow, into which the new state of +things had brought me, MM. de Mortemart, de Nevers, and de Vivonne had +been glad to avoid me. They found my humour altered, and I admit that a +woman who sulks, scolds, or complains is not very attractive company. + +One day the poor Marechal de Vivonne came to see me; he opened my +shutters to call my attention to the beauty of the sky, and, my health +seeming to him a trifle poor, he suggested to me to embark at once in his +carriage and to go and dine at Clagny. I had no will left that day, so I +accompanied my brother. + +Being come to Clagny, the Marshal, having shut himself up with me in his +closet, said to me the words which follow: + +"You know, my, sister, how all along you have been dear to me; the grief +which is wearing you out does me almost as much harm as you. To-day I +wish to hurt you for your own good; and get you away from this locality +in spite of yourself. Kings are not to be opposed as we oppose our +equals; our King, whom you know by heart, has never suffered +contradiction. He has had you asked, two or three times already, to +leave his palace and to go and live on your estates. Why do you delay to +satisfy him, and to withdraw from so many eyes which watch you with +pity?" + +"The King, I am very sure, would like to see me away," I replied to the +Marshal, "but he has never formally expressed himself, and it is untrue +that any such wish has been intimated or insinuated to me." + +"What! you did not receive two letters last year, which invited you to +make up your mind and retire!" + +"I received two anonymous letters; nothing is more true. Could those two +letters have been sent to me by the King himself?" + +"The Marquis de Chamarante wrote them to you, but beneath the eyes, and +at the dictation, of his Majesty." + +"All, God! What is it you tell me? What! the Marquis de Chamarante, +whom I thought one of my friends, has lent himself to such an embassy!" + +"The Marquis is a good man, a man of honour; and his essential duty is to +please his sovereign, his master. Moreover, at the time when the letters +were sent you, time remained to you for deliberation. To-day, all time +for delay has expired; you must go away of your own free will, or receive +the affront of a command, and a 'lettre de cachet' in form." + +"A 'lettre de cachet' for me! for the mother of the Duc du Maine and the +Comte de Toulouse! We shall see that, my brother! We shall see!" + +"There is nothing to see or do but to summon here all your people, and +leave to-morrow, either for my chateau of Roissy, or for your palace at +Petit-Bourg; things are pressing, and the day after to-morrow I will +explain all without any secrecy." + +"Explain it to me at once, my brother, and I promise to satisfy you." + +"Do you give me your word?" + +"I give it you, my good and dear friend, with pleasure. Inform me of +what is in progress." + +"Madame de Maintenon, whom, having loved once greatly, you no longer +love, had the kindness to have me summoned to her this morning." + +"The kindness!" + +"Do not interrupt me--yes, the kindness. From the moment that she is in +favour, all that comes from her requires consideration. She had me taken +into her small salon, and there she charged me to tell you that she has +always loved you, that she always will; that your rupture with her has +displeased the King; that for a long time, and on a thousand occasions, +she has excused you to his Majesty, but that things are now hopeless; +that your retreat is required at all costs, and that it will be joined +with an annual pension of six hundred thousand livres." + +"And you advise me--?" I said to my brother. + +"I advise you, I implore you, I conjure you, to accept these propositions +which save everything." + +My course was clear to me on the instant. Wishing to be relieved of the +importunities of the Marshal (a courtier, if ever there was one), I +embraced him with tears in my eyes. I assured him that, for the honour +of the family and out of complacence, I accepted his propositions. I +begged him to take me back to Versailles, where I had to gather together +my money, jewels, and papers. + +The Duc de Vivonne, well as he knew me, did not suspect my trickery; he +applied a score of kisses to my "pretty little white hands," and his +postilions, giving free play to their reins, speedily brought us back to +the chateau. + +All beaming with joy and satisfaction, he went to convey his reply to +Madame de Maintenon, who was probably expecting him. Twenty minutes +hardly elapsed. The King himself entered my apartment. + +He came towards me with a friendly air, and, hardly remarking my +agitation, which I was suppressing, he dared to address the following +words to me: + +"The shortest follies are the best, dear Marquise; you see things at last +as they should be seen. Your determination, which the Marechal de +Vivonne has just informed me of, gives me inexpressible pleasure; you are +going to take the step of a clever woman, and everybody will applaud you +for it. It will be eighteen years to-morrow since we took a fancy for +each other. We were then in that period of life when one sees only that +which flatters, and the satisfaction of the heart surpasses everything. +Our attachment, if it had been right and legitimate, might have begun +with the same ardour, but it could not have endured so long; that is the +property of all contested affections. + +"From our union amiable children have been born, for whom I have done, +and will do, all that a father with good intentions can do. The Act +which acknowledged them in full Parliament has not named you as their +mother, because your bonds prevented it, but these respectful children +know that they owe you their existence, and not one of them shall forget +it while I live. + +"You have charmed by your wit and the liveliness of your character the +busiest years of my life and reign. That pleasant memory will never +leave me, and separated though we be, as good sense and propriety of +every kind demands, we shall still belong to each other in thought. +Athenais will always be to me the mother of my, dear children. I have +been mindful up to this day, to increase at different moments the amount +of your fortune: I believe it to be considerable, and wish, nevertheless, +to add to it even more. If the pension that Vivonne had just suggested +to you appear insufficient, two lines from your pen will notify me that I +must increase it. + +"Your children being proclaimed Princes of France, the Court will be +their customary residence, but you will see them frequently, and can +count on my commands. Here they are coming,--not to say good-bye to you, +but, as of old, to embrace you on the eve of a journey. + +"If you are prudent, you will write first to the Marquis de Montespan, +not to annul and revoke the judicial and legal separation which exists, +but to inform him of your return to reasonable ideas, and of your resolve +to be reconciled with the public." + +With these words the King ceased speaking. I looked at him with a fixed +gaze; a long sigh escaped from my heaving breast, and I had with him, as +nearly as I can remember, the following conversation: + +"I admire the sang-froid with which a prince who believes himself, and is +believed by the whole universe, to be magnanimous, gives the word of +dismissal to the tender friend of his youth,--to that friend who, by a +misfortune which is too well known, knew how to leave all and love him +alone. + +"From the day when the friendship which had united us cooled and was +dissipated, you have resumed with regard to me that distance which your +rank authorises you, and on my side, I have submitted to see in you only +my King. This revolution has taken effect without any shock, or noise, +or scandal. It has continued for two years already; why should it not +continue in the same manner until the moment when my last two children no +longer require my eyes, and presence, and care? What sudden cause, what +urgent motive, can determine you to exclude me? Does not, then, the +humiliation which I have suffered for two years any longer satisfy your +aversion?" + +"What!" cried the prince, in consternation, "is your resolution no longer +the same? Do you go back upon what you promised to your brother?" + +"I do not change my resolution," I resumed at once; "the places which you +inhabit have neither charm nor attraction for my heart, which has always +detested treachery and falseness. I consent to withdraw myself from your +person, but on condition that the odious intriguer who has supplanted me +shall follow the unhappy benefactress who once opened to her the doors of +this palace. I took her from a state of misery, and she plunges daggers +into my breast." + +"The Kings of Europe," said the prince, white with agitation and anger, +"have not yet laid down the law to me in my palace; you shall not make me +submit to yours, madame. The person whom, for far too long, you have +been offending and humiliating before my eyes, has ancestors who yield in +nothing to your forefathers, and if you have introduced her to this +palace, you have introduced here goodness, sweetness, talent, and virtue +itself. This enemy, whom you defame in every quarter, and who every day +excuses and justifies you, will abide near this throne, which her fathers +have defended and which her good counsel now defends. In sending you +today from a Court where your presence is without motive and pretext, +I wished to keep from your knowledge, and in kindness withdraw from your +eyes an event likely to irritate you, since everything irritates you. +Stay, madame, stay, since great catastrophes appeal to and amuse you; +after to-morrow you will be more than ever a supernumerary in this +chateau." + +At these words I realised that it was a question of the public triumph of +my rival. All my firmness vanished; my heart was, as it were, distorted +with the most rapid palpitations. I felt an icy coldness run through my +veins, and I fell unconscious upon my carpet. + +My woman cameo to bring me help, and when my senses returned, I heard the +King saying to my intendant: "All this wearies me beyond endurance; she +must go this very day." + +"Yes, I will go," I cried, seizing a dessert-knife which was on my +bureau. I rushed forward with a mechanical movement upon my little Comte +de Toulouse, whom I snatched from the hands of his father, and I was on +the verge of sacrificing this child. + +I shudder every time I think of that terrible and desperate scene. But +reason had left me; sorrow filled my soul; I was no longer myself. My +reader must be penetrated by my misfortune and have compassion on me. + +Madame de Maintenon, informed probably of this storm, arrived and +suddenly showed herself. To rush forward, snatch away the dagger and my +child was but one movement for her. Her tears coursed in abundance; and +the King, leaning on the marble of my chimney-piece, shed tears and +seemed to feel a sort of suffocation. + +My women had removed my children. My intendant alone had remained in the +deep embrasure of a shutter; the poor man had affliction and terror +painted on his face. Madame de Maintenon had slightly wounded herself in +seizing my knife. I saw her tearing her handkerchief, putting on +lavender water in order to moisten the bandage. As she left me she took +my hand with an air of kindness, and her tears began again. + +The King, seeing her go out, retired without addressing me a word. I +might call as much as I would; he did not return. + +Until nightfall I seemed to be in a state of paralysis. My arms were +like lead; my will could no longer stir them. I was distressed at first, +and then I thanked God, who was delivering me from the torments of +existence. All night my body and soul moved in the torrent and waves of +a fever handed over to phantoms; I saw in turn the smiling plains of +Paradise and the dire domain of Hell. My children, covered with wounds, +asked me for pardon, kneeling before me; and Madame de Maintenon, one +mass of blood, reproached me for having killed her. + +On the following day a copious blood-letting, prescribed by my doctor, +relieved my head and heart. + +The following week Madame de Maintenon, entirely cured of her scratch, +consented to the King's will, which she had opposed in order to excite +it, and in the presence of the Marquis and Marquise de Montchevreuil, the +Duc de Noailles, the Marquis de Chamarante, M. Bontems, and Mademoiselle +Ninon, her permanent chambermaid, was married to the King of France and +Navarre in the chapel of the chateau. + +The Abbe de Harlay, Archbishop of Paris, assisted by the Bishop of +Chartres and Pere de la Chaise, had the honour of blessing this marriage +and presenting the rings of gold. After the ceremony, which took place +at an early hour, and even by torchlight, there was a slight repast in +the small apartments. The same persons, taking carriages, then repaired +to Maintenon, where the great ceremony, the mass, and all that is +customary in such cases were celebrated. + +At her return, Madame de Maintenon took possession of an extremely +sumptuous apartment that had been carefully arranged and furnished for +her. Her people continued to wear her livery, but she scarcely ever rode +any more except in the great carriage of the King, where we saw her in +the place which had been occupied by the Queen. In her interior the +title of Majesty was given her; and the King, when he had to speak of +her, only used the word Madame, without adding Maintenon, that having +become too familiar and trivial. + +He was desirous of proclaiming her; she consistently opposed it, and this +prudent and wise conduct regained for her, little by little, the opinions +which had been shocked. + +A few days after the marriage, my health being somewhat reestablished, +I went to Petit-Bourg; but the Marechal de Vivonne, his son Louis de +Vivonne, all the Mortemarts, all the Rochehouarts, Thianges, Damas, +Seignelays, Blainvilles, and Colberts,--in a word, counts, marquises, +barons, prelates, and duchesses, came to find me and attack me in my +desert, in order to represent to me that, since Madame de Maintenon was +the wife of the monarch, I owed her my homage and respectful compliments. +The whole family has done so, said these cruel relations; you only have +not yet fulfilled this duty. You must do it, in God's name. She has +neither airs nor hauteur; you will be marvellously well received. Your +resistance would compromise us all. + +Not desiring to harm or displease my family, and wishing, above all, to +reinstate myself somewhat in the King's mind, I resolutely prepared for +this distressing journey, and God gave me the necessary strength to +execute it. + +I appeared in a long robe of gold and silver before the new spouse of the +monarch. The King, who was sitting at a table, rose for a moment and +encouraged me by his greeting. I made the three pauses and three +reverences as I gradually approached Madame de Maintenon, who occupied a +large and rich armchair of brocade. She did not rise; etiquette forbade +it, and principally the presence of the all-powerful King of kings. Her +complexion, ordinarily pale, and with a very slight tone of pink, was +animated suddenly, and took all the colours of the rose. She made me a +sign to seat myself on a stool, and it seemed to me that her amiable gaze +apologised to me. She spoke to me of Petit-Bourg, of the waters of +Bourbon, of her country-place, of my children, and said to me, smiling +kindly: "I am going to confide in you. Monsieur le Prince has already +asked Mademoiselle de Names for his grandson, M. le Duc de Bourbon, and +his Highness promises us his granddaughter for our Duc du Maine. Two or +three years more, and we shall see all that." + +After half an hour spent thus, I rose from this uncomfortable stool and +made my farewell reverences. Madame de Maintenon, profiting by the King +having leaned over to write, rose five or six inches in her chair, and +said to me these words: "Do not let us cease to love one another, +I implore you." + +I went to rest myself in the poor apartment which was still mine, since +the keys had not yet been returned, and I sent for M. le Duc du Maine, +who said to me coldly: "I have much pleasure in seeing you again; we were +going to write to you." + +I had come out from Madame de Maintenon by the door of mirrors, which +leads to the great gallery. There was much company there at the moment; +M. le Prince de Salm came to me and said: "Go and put on your peignoir; +you are flushed, and I can perfectly well understand why." He pressed my +hand affectionately. In all the salons they were eager to see me pass. +Some courageous persons came even within touch of my fan; and all were +more or less pleased with my mishap and downfall. I had seen all these +figures at my feet, and almost all were under obligations to me. I left +Versailles again very early. When I was seated in my carriage I noticed +the King, who, from the height of his balcony in the court of marble, +watched me set off and disappear. + +I settled at Paris, where my personal interest and my great fortune gave +me an existence which many might have envied. I never returned to +Versailles, except for the weddings of my eldest daughter, and of my son, +the Serious;--[Louis Augusts de Bourbon, Duc du Maine, a good man, +somewhat devout and melancholy. (See the Memoirs of Dubois and +Richelieu.)--EDITOR'S NOTE.]--I always loved him better than he did me. + +Pere de Latour, my director, obtained from me then, what I had refused +hitherto to everybody, a letter of reconciliation to M. le Marquis de +Montespan: I had foreseen the reply, which was that of an obstinate, ill- +bred, and evil man. + +Pere de Latour, going further, wished to impose hard, not to say +murderous, penances on me; I begged him to keep within bounds, and not to +make me impatient. This Oratorian and his admirers have stated that +I wore a hair shirt and shroud. Pious slanders, every word of them! +I give many pensions and alms, that is to say, I do good to several +families; the good that I bestow about me will be more agreeable to God +than any harm I could do myself, and that I maintain. + +The Marquis d'Antin, my son, since my disgrace....... + +HERE END THE MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MONTESPAN. + + + + +ETEXT EDITOR'S BOOKMARKS: + +Ambition puts a thick bandage over the eyes +Says all that he means, and resolutely means all that he can say +Situations in life where we are condemned to see evil done +Women who misconduct themselves are pitiless and severe + + + + +End of this Project Gutenberg Etext of The Memoirs of Madame de Montespan, v7 +by Madame La Marquise De Montespan + + + + + + +ETEXT EDITOR'S BOOKMARKS FOR THE ENTIRE MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE MONTESPAN: + +All the death-in-life of a convent +Always sold at a loss which must be sold at a given moment +Ambition puts a thick bandage over the eyes +And then he would go off, laughing in his sleeve +Armed with beauty and sarcasm +Cannot reconcile themselves to what exists +Conduct of the sort which cements and revives attachments +Console me on the morrow for what had troubled me to-day +Cuddlings and caresses of decrepitude +Depicting other figures she really portrays her own +Domestics included two nurses, a waiting-maid, a physician +Extravagant, without the means to be so +Grow like a dilapidated house; I am only here to repair myself +Happy with him as a woman who takes her husband's place can be +Hate me, but fear me +He contradicted me about trifles +He was not fool enough for his place +I myself being the first to make merry at it (my plainness) +In the great world, a vague promise is the same as a refusal +In Rome justice and religion always rank second to politics +In ill-assorted unions, good sense or good nature must intervene +In England a man is the absolute proprietor of his wife +Intimacy, once broken, cannot be renewed +It is easier to offend me than to deceive me +Jealous without motive, and almost without love +Kings only desire to be obeyed when they command +Knew how to point the Bastille cannon at the troops of the King +Laws will only be as so many black lines on white paper +Love-affair between Mademoiselle de la Valliere and the King +Madame de Sevigne +Madame de Montespan had died of an attack of coquetry +Not show it off was as if one only possessed a kennel +Permissible neither to applaud nor to hiss +Poetry without rhapsody +Present princes and let those be scandalised who will! +Respectful without servility +Satire without bitterness +Says all that he means, and resolutely means all that he can say +She awaits your replies without interruption +Situations in life where we are condemned to see evil done +Talent without artifice +That Which Often It is Best to Ignore +The King replied that "too much was too much" +The monarch suddenly enough rejuvenated his attire +The pulpit is in want of comedians; they work wonders there +Then comes discouragement; after that, habit +There is an exaggeration in your sorrow +These liars in surplice, in black cassock, or in purple +Time, the irresistible healer +Trust not in kings +Violent passion had changed to mere friendship +Weeping just as if princes had not got to die like anybody else +Went so far as to shed tears, his most difficult feat of all +What they need is abstinence, prohibitions, thwartings +When women rule their reign is always stormy and troublous +When one has seen him, everything is excusable +When one has been pretty, one imagines that one is still so +Wife: property or of furniture, useful to his house +Wish you had the generosity to show, now and again, less wit +Women who misconduct themselves are pitiless and severe +Won for himself a great name and great wealth by words +Would you like to be a cardinal? I can manage that +You know, madame, that he generally gets everything he wants + + + + +End of this Project Gutenberg Etext of Memoirs of Madame de Montespan +by Madame La Marquise De Montespan + |