A Popular History of France from the Earliest Times | Page 4

with a freedom worthy of the earliest ages
and the earliest bishops of the Church," says St. Simon. He saw the
inutility of his efforts; henceforth, prudence and courtly behavior put a
seal upon his lips. It was the time of the great king's omnipotence and
highest splendor, the time when nobody withstood his wishes. The
great Mademoiselle had just attempted to show her independence: tired
of not being married, with a curse on the greatness which kept her
astrand, she had made up her mind to a love-match. "Guess it in four,
guess it in ten, guess it in a hundred," wrote Madame de Sevigne to
Madame de Coulanges: "you are not near it; well, then, you must be
told. M. de Lauzun is to marry on Sunday at the Louvre, with the king's
permission, mademoiselle . . . mademoiselle de . .. mademoiselle, guess
the name . . . he is to marry Mademoiselle, my word! upon my word!
my sacred word! Mademoiselle, the great Mademoiselle, Mademoiselle
daughter of the late Monsieur, Mademoiselle grand-daughter of Henry
IV., Mademoiselle d'Eu, Mademoiselle de Dombes, Mademoiselle de
Montpensier, Mademoiselle d' Orleans, Mademoiselle, cousin-german
to the king, Mademoiselle destined to the throne, Mademoiselle, the
only match in France who would have been worthy of Monsieur!" The
astonishment was somewhat premature; Mademoiselle did not espouse
Lauzun just then, the king broke off the marriage. "I will make you so
great," he said to Lauzun, "that you shall have no cause to regret what I
am taking from you; meanwhile, I make you duke, and peer, and
marshal of France." "Sir," broke in Lauzun, insolently, "you have made
so many dukes that it is no longer an honor to be one, and as for the
baton of marshal of France, your Majesty can give it me when I have
earned it by my services." He was before long sent to Pignerol, where

he passed ten years. There he met Fouquet, and that mysterious
personage called the Iron Mask, whose name has not yet been
discovered to a certainty by means of all the most ingenious
conjectures. It was only by settling all her property on the Duke of
Maine after herself that Mademoiselle purchased Lauzun's release. The
king had given his posts to the Prince of Marcillac, son of La
Rochefoucauld. He at the same time overwhelmed Marshal Bellefonds
with kindnesses.
[Illustration: The Iron Mask----14]
"He sent for him into his study," says Madame de Sevigne,--and said to
him, 'Marshal, I want to know why you are anxious to leave me. Is it a
devout feeling? Is it a desire for retirement? Is it the pressure of your
debts? If the last, I shall be glad to set it right, and enter into the details
of your affairs.' The marshal was sensibly touched by this kindness:
'Sir,' said he, 'it is my debts; I am over head and ears. I cannot see the
consequences borne by some of my friends who have assisted me, and
whom I cannot pay.' 'Well,' said the king, 'they must have security for
what is owing to them. I will give you a hundred thousand francs on
your house at Versailles, and a patent of retainder (brevet de
retenue--whereby the emoluments of a post were not lost to the holder's
estate by his death) for four hundred thousand francs, which will serve
as a policy of assurance if you should die; that being so, you will stay
in my service.' In truth, one must have a very hard heart not to obey a
master who enters with so much kindness into the interests of one of
his domestics; accordingly, the marshal made no objection, and here he
is in his place again, and loaded with benefits."
The king entered benevolently into the affairs of a marshal of France;
he paid his debts, and the marshal was his domestic; all the court had
come to that; the duties which brought servants in proximity to the
king's person were eagerly sought after by the greatest lords. Bontemps,
his chief valet, and Fagon, his physician, as well as his surgeon
Marachal, very excellent men, too, were all-powerful amongst the
courtiers. Louis XIV. had possessed the art of making his slightest
favors prized; to hold the candlestick at bedtime (au petit coucher), to

make one in the trips to Marly, to play in the king's own game, such
was the ambition of the most distinguished; the possessors of grand
historic castles, of fine houses at Paris, crowded together in attics at
Versailles, too happy to obtain a lodging in the palace. The whole mind
of the greatest personages, his favorites at the head, was set upon
devising means of pleasing the king; Madame de Montespan had
pictures painted in miniature of all the towns he