A Popular History of France from the Earliest Times | Page 5

had taken in Holland;
they were made into a book which was worth four thousand pistoles,
and of which Racine and Boileau wrote the text; people of tact, like M.
de Langlee, paid court to the master through those whom he loved. "M.
de Langlee has given Madame de Montespan a dress of the most divine
material ever imagined; the fairies did this work in secret, no living
soul had any notion of it; and it seemed good to present it as
mysteriously as it had been fashioned. Madame de Montespan's
dressmaker brought her the dress she had ordered of him; he had made
the body a ridiculous fit; there was shrieking and scolding as you may
suppose. The dressmaker said, all in a tremble, 'As time presses,
madame, see if this other dress that I have here might not suit you for
lack of anything else.' 'Ah! what material! Does it come from heaven?
There is none such on earth.' The body is tried on; it is a picture. The
king comes in. The dressmaker says, 'Madame, it is made for you.'
Everybody sees that it is a piece of gallantry; but on whose part? 'It is
Langl4e,' says the king; 'it is Langlee.' 'Of course,' says Madame de
Montespan, 'none but he could have devised such a device; it is
Langlee, it is Langlee.' Everybody repeats, 'it is Langlee;' the echoes
are agreed and say, 'it is Langlee;' and as for me, my child, I tell you, to
be in the fashion, 'it is Langlle.' "
[Illustration: Bed-chamber Etiquette----15]
All the style of living at court was in accordance with the magnificence
of the king and his courtiers; Colbert was beside himself at the sums
the queen lavished on play. Madame de Montespan lost and won back
four millions, in one night at bassette; Mdlle. de Fontanges gave away
twenty thousand crowns' worth of New Year's gifts; the king had just
accomplished the dauphin's marriage. "He made immense presents on
this occasion; there is certainly no need to despair," said Madame de

Sevigne, "though one does not happen to be his valet; it may happen
that, whilst paying one's court, one will find one's self underneath what
he showers around. One thing is certain, and that is, that away from
him all services go for nothing; it used to be the contrary." All the court
were of the same opinion as Madame de Sevigne.
A new power was beginning to appear on the horizon, with such
modesty and backwardness that none could as yet discern it, least of all
could the king. Madame de Montespan had looked out for some one to
take care of and educate her children. She had thought of Madame
Scarron; she considered her clever; she was so herself, "in that unique
style which was peculiar to the Mortemarts," said the Duke of St.
Simon; she was fond of conversation; Madame Scarron had a
reputation of being rather a blue-stocking; this the king did not like;
Madame de Montespan had her way; Madame Scarron took charge of
the children secretly and in an isolated house. She was attentive, careful,
sensible. The king was struck with her devotion to the children
intrusted to her. "She can love," he said; "it would be a pleasure to be
loved by her." The confidence of Madame de Montespan went on
increasing. "The person of quality (Madame de Montespan) has no
partnership with the person who has a cold (Madame Scarron), for she
regards her as the confidential person; the lady who is at the head of all
(the queen) does the same; she is, therefore, the soul of this court,"
writes Madame de Sevigne in 1680. There were, however, frequent
storms; Madame de Montespan was jealous and haughty, and she grew
uneasy at the nascent liking she observed in the king for the correct and
shrewd judgment, the equable and firm temper, of his children's
governess. The favor of which she was the object did not come from
Madame de Montespan. The king had made the Parliament legitimatize
the Duke of Maine, Mdlle. de Nantes, and the Count of Vexin; they
were now formally installed at Versailles. Louis XIV. often chatted
with Madame Scarron. She had bought the estate of Maintenon out of
the king's bounty. He made her take the title. The recollection of
Scarron was displeasing to him. "It is supposed that I am indebted for
this present to Madame de Montespan," she wrote to Madame de St.
Geran; "I owe it to my little prince. The king was amusing himself with
him one day, and, being pleased with the manner with which he

answered his questions, told him that he was a very sensible little
fellow. 'I can't help being,' said the child, 'I have by me