Memoirs of Louis XIV, vol 4 | Page 8

To appear tolerably well, it is necessary for her to keep her
mouth shut; for when she opens it, she opens it very wide, and shows
her irregular teeth. She is not very stout, uses a great quantity of paint,
has fine eyes, a white skin, and fair hair. If she were well disposed, she
might pass, but her wickedness is insupportable.
She has good sense, is accomplished, and can talk agreeably on most
subjects. This brings about her a host of learned men and wits. She
flatters the discontented very adroitly, and says all ill things of my son.
This is the secret by which she has made her party. Her husband is fond
of her, and she in turn piques herself upon her love for him; but I
should be sorry to swear to her sincerity. This at least is certain, that
she rules the Duc du Maine absolutely. As he holds several offices, he
can provide for a great number of persons, either in the regiment of
Guards, of which he is General; or in the Artillery, of which he is

Grand Master; or in the Carabineers, where he appoints all the officers;
without reckoning his regiments, by which he attracts a great number of
persons.
Madame du Maine's present lover is the Cardinal de Polignac; but she
has, besides, the first Minister and some young men. The Cardinal is
accused of having assisted in the refutation of Fitz-Morris's letters,
although he has had this very year (1718) a long interview with my son,
and has sworn never to engage in anything against his interests,
notwithstanding his attachment to the Duchesse du Maine.
The Comte d'Albert, who was here last winter, took some pains to
make himself agreeable to Madame du Maine, and succeeded so well
as to make the Cardinal de Polignac very jealous. He followed them
masked to a ball; but upon seeing the Duchess and the Count tete-a-tete,
he could not contain his anger this betrayed him; and when the people
learned that a Cardinal had been seen at a masked ball it caused them
great diversion.
Her being arrested threw Madame du Maine into such a transport of
rage that she was near choking, and only recovered herself by slow
degrees.
[The Marquis d'Ancenis, Captain of the Guards, who came early in the
morning to arrest the Princess, had supped with her on the preceding
evening, when he entered, the. Duchess cried out to him, "Mon Dieu!
what have I done to you, that you should wake me so early?" The chief
domestics of the household were taken to the Bastille or to Vincennes;
the Prince of Dombes and the Comte d'Eu were carried to Eu.]
She is now said to be quite calm, and, it is added, she plays at cards all
day long. When the play is over, she grows angry again, and falls upon
her husband, his children, or her servants, who do not know how to
appease her. She is dreadfully violent, and, it is said, has often beaten
her husband.
All the time of her residence at Dijon she was playing the Orlando
Furioso: sometimes she was not treated with the respect due to her rank;
sometimes she complains of other things; she will not understand that
she is a prisoner, and that she has deserved even a worse fate. She had
flattered herself that when she should reach Chalons-sur-Saone she
would enjoy more liberty, and have the whole city for her prison; but
when she learnt that she was to be locked up in the citadel, as at Dijon,

she would not set out. Far from repenting her treason, she fancies she
has done something very praiseworthy.
Melancholy as I am, my son has made me laugh by telling me what has
been found in Madame du Maine's letters, seized at the Cardinal de
Polignac's. In one of her letters, this very discreet and virtuous
personage writes, "We are going into the country tomorrow; and I shall
so arrange the apartments that your chamber shall be next to mine. Try
to manage matters as well as you did the last time, and we shall be very
happy."
The Princess knows very well that her daughter has had an intrigue
with the Cardinal, and has endeavoured to break it off. For this purpose
she has convinced her by the Cardinal's own letters that he is unfaithful
to her, and prefers a certain Montauban to her. This, however, has had
no effect. The Duc du Maine has been informed of everything, and he
writes to her sister, "I ought not to be put into prison, but into petticoats,
for having suffered myself to be so led by the nose."
He has resolved never to see his wife again, although he does