The Memoirs of Madame de Montespan, vol 4 | Page 9

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