The Memoirs of Madame de Montespan, vol 6 | Page 5

coffin, recovering
from her confinement.)
From Dunkirk the Court moved to Ypres, visiting all the places on the
way, and arrived at Lille in Flanders on the 1st of August. From Lille,
where the diversions lasted five or six days, they moved to
Valenciennes, thence to Condo, meeting everywhere with the same
honours, the same tokens of gladness. They returned to Sedan by Le
Quenoy, Bouchain, Cambrai; and the end of the month of August found
the Court once more at Versailles.
I profited by this absence to go and breathe a little at my chateau of
Petit-Bourg, where I was accompanied by Mademoiselle de Blois, and
the young Comte de Toulouse; after which I betook myself to the
mineral waters of Bourbonne, for which I have a predilection.
On my return, the King related to me all these frivolous diversions of
frigates and vessels that I have just mentioned; but with as much fire as
if he had been but eighteen years old, and with the same cordiality as if
I might have taken part in amusements from which he had excluded
me.
How is it that a clever man can forget the proprieties to such a degree,
and expose himself to the secret judgments which must be formed of
him, in spite of himself and however reluctantly?

CHAPTER XX
.
The Duchesse d'Orleans.--The Duchesse de Richelieu.--An Epigram of
Madame de Maintenon.--An Epigram of the King to His Brother.
Madame la Dauphine brought into the world a son, christened Louis at
the font, to whom the King a few moments afterwards gave the title of
the Duke of Burgundy. We had become accustomed, little by little, to
the face of this Dauphine, who (thanks to the counsels and instruction
of her lady in waiting) adopted French manners promptly enough,
succeeded in doing her hair in a satisfactory manner, and in making an
appearance which met with general approval. Madame de Maintenon,

for all her politeness and forethought, never succeeded in pleasing her;
and these two women, obliged to see each other often from their
relative positions, suffered martyrdom when they met.
The King, who had noticed it, began by resenting it from his daughter-
in-law. The latter, proud and haughty, like all these petty German
royalties, thought herself too great a lady to give way.
Madame de Maintenon had, near the person of the young Bavarian, two
intermediaries of importance, who did not sing her praises from morn
till eve. The one was that Charlotte Elizabeth of Bavaria, whom I have
already described to the life, who, furious at her personal
monstrousness, could not as a rule forgive pretty women. The other
was the Duchesse de Richelieu, maid of honour to the Princess of
Bavaria, once the protector of Madame Scarron, and now her
antagonist, probably out of jealousy.
These two acid tongues had taken possession of the Dauphine,--a
character naturally prone to jealousy,--and they permitted themselves
against the lady in waiting all the mockery and all the depreciation that
one can permit oneself against the absent.
Insinuations and abuse produced their effect so thoroughly that
Madame de Maintenon grew disgusted with the duties of her office,
and with the consent of the monarch she no longer appeared at the
house of his daughter-in-law, except on state and gala occasions.
Madame de Richelieu related to me one day the annoyance and
mortification of the new Marquise.
"Madame d'Orleans came in one day," said she to me, "to Madame la
Dauphine, where Madame de Maintenon was. The Princess of the
Palais Royal, who does not put herself about, as every one knows,
greeted only the Dauphine and me. She spoke of her health, which is
neither good nor bad, and pretended that her gowns were growing too
large for her, in proof that she was going thin. 'I do not know,' she
added, brusquely, 'what Madame Scarron does; she is always the same.'
"The lady in waiting answered on the spot: 'Madame, no one finds you
changed, either, and it is always the same thing.'
"The half-polite, half-bantering tone of Madame de Maintenon
nonplussed the Palatine for the moment; she wished to demand an
explanation from the lady in waiting. She took up her muff, without
making a courtesy, and retired very swiftly."

"I am scarcely, fond of Madame de Maintenon," said I to Madame de
Richelieu, "but I like her answer exceedingly. Madame is one of those
great hermaphrodite bodies which the two sexes recognise and repulse
at the same time. She is an aggressive personage, whom her hideous
face makes one associate naturally, with mastiffs; she is surly, like
them, and, like them, she exposes herself to the blows of a stick. It
makes very little difference to me if she hears from you the portrait I
have just