A Popular History of France from the Earliest Times | Page 6

François Pierre Guillaume Guizot
a lady who is
sense itself.' 'Go and tell her,' replied the king, 'that you will give her
this evening a hundred thousand francs for your sugar-plums.' The
mother gets me into trouble with the king, the son makes my peace
with him; I am never for two days together in the same situation, and I
do not get accustomed to this sort of life, I who thought I could make
myself used to anything." She often spoke of leaving the court. "As I
tell you everything honestly," she wrote in 1675 to her confessor, Abbe
Gobelin, "I will not tell you that it is to serve God that I should like to
leave the place where I am; I believe that I might work out my
salvation here and elsewhere, but I see nothing to forbid us from
thinking of our repose, and withdrawing from a position that vexes us
every moment. I explained myself badly if you understood me to mean
that I am thinking of being a nun; I am too old for a change of
condition, and, according to the property I shall have, I shall look out
for securing one full of tranquillity. In the world, all reaction is towards
God; in a convent, all reaction is towards the world; there is one great
reason; that of age comes next." She did not, however, leave the court
except to take to the waters the little Duke of Maine, who had become a
cripple after a series of violent convulsions. "Never was anything more
agreeable than the surprise which Madame de Maintenon gave the
king," writes Madame de Sdvigne to her daughter. "He had not
expected the Duke of Maine till the next day, when he saw him come
walking into his room, and only holding by the hand of his governess;
he was transported with joy. M. do Louvois on her arrival went to call
upon Madame de Maintenon; she supped at Madame de Richelieu's,
some kissing her hand, others her gown, and she making fun of them
all, if she is not much changed; but they say that she is." The king's
pleasure in conversing with the governess became more marked every
day; Madame de Montespan frequently burst out into bitter complaints.
"She reproaches me with her kindnesses, with her presents, with those
of the king, and has told me that she fed me, and that I am strangling
her; you know what the fact is; it is a strange thing that we cannot live
together and that we cannot separate. I love her, and I cannot persuade
myself that she hates me." They found themselves alone together in one
of the court carriages. "Let us not be duped by such a thing as this,"

said Madame de Montespan, rudely; "let us talk as if we had no
entanglements between us to arrange; it being understood, of course,"
added she, "that we resume our entanglements when we get back."
"Madame de Maintenon accepted the proposal," says Madame de
Caylus, who tells the story, "and they kept their word to the letter."
Madame de Maintenon had taken a turn for preaching virtue. "The king
passed two hours in my closet," she wrote to Madame de St. Geran; "he
is the most amiable man in his kingdom. I spoke to him of Father
Bourdaloue. He listened to me attentively. Perhaps he is not so far from
thinking of his salvation as the court suppose. He has good sentiments
and frequent reactions towards God." "The star of Quanto (Madame de
Montespan) is paling," writes Madame de Sevigne to her daughter;
"there are tears, natural pets, affected gayeties, poutings--in fact, my
dear, all is coming to an end. People look, observe, imagine, believe
that there are to be seen as it were rays of light upon faces which, a
month ago, were thought to be unworthy of comparison with others. If
Quanto had hidden her face with her cap at Easter in the year she
returned to Paris, she would not be in the agitated state in which she
now is. The spirit, indeed, was willing, but great is human weakness;
one likes to make the most of a remnant of beauty. This is an economy
which ruins rather than enriches." "Madame de Montespan asks advice
of me," said Madame de Maintenon; "I speak to her of God, and she
thinks I have some understanding with the king; I was present
yesterday at a very animated conversation between them. I wondered at
the king's patience, and at the rage of that vain creature. It all ended
with these terrible words: 'I have told you already, madame; I will not
be interfered with.'"
Henceforth Madame de Montespan "interfered with" the king. He gave
the new dauphiness Madame de Maintenon as
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