Part 21 (1/2)
[Footnote 192: _Introduction par M. le Comte d' Haussonville, aux Souvenirs sur Mme. de Maintenon._]
[Footnote 193: _Kant als Mensch_, by Erich Ad.i.c.kes.]
[Footnote 194: Romain Rolland.]
[Footnote 195: _Memoires_ of Mademoiselle.]
[Footnote 196: _OEuvres galantes en vers et en prose_, by M. Cotin.]
[Footnote 197: For this see _Les Ennemis de Racine_, by F. Deltour; _Les epoques du Theatre francais_, and _Les etudes critiques sur l'Histoire de la Litterature francaise_ by M. F. Brunetiere; the memoirs and correspondence of the times; the collection of _Mercure galant_; _les prefaces de Racine_, etc.]
[Footnote 198: Criticism by Boursault.]
[Footnote 199: Deltour, _Les Ennemies de Racine_.]
[Footnote 200: _Gazette de Loret_, January 13, 1663.]
[Footnote 201: _Memoires sur la vie et les ouvrages de Jean Racine_, by Louis Racine.]
[Footnote 202: See the volume by MM. Jean Lemoine and Andre Lichtenberger, _De La Valliere a Montespan_.]
[Footnote 203: _Souvenirs sur Mme. de Maintenon._--_Les Cahiers de Mlle.
d'Aumale_, with an _Introduction_ by M. G. Hanotaux.]
[Footnote 204: May 27, to M. de Montchevreuil.]
[Footnote 205: ”_Frappez_” would have been misunderstood.]
[Footnote 206: _Remerciement au Roi_ (1663).]
[Footnote 207: The Convent of Saint-Joseph, rue Saint Dominique; Mme. de Montespan had constructed in it an apartment for herself.]
[Footnote 208: The Comte de Vexin, who died young.--Mme. de Sevigne, letter dated June 14, 1675.]
CHAPTER V
The Grande Mademoiselle in Love--Sketch of Lauzun and their Romance--The Court on its Travels--Death of Madame--Announcement of the Marriage of Mademoiselle--General Consternation--Louis XIV. Breaks the Affair.
In the spring of 1669, Louis XIV. one day was listening to the Comtesse de Soissons sing. She was the second of the Mazarin nieces, and the only really wicked one in the family. She sang a new song containing many naughty couplets, in which mud was thrown upon some of the courtiers.
Men and women received their packet under the guise of mock praise, according to a fas.h.i.+on much in vogue. The phrase ”mock praise” had become the name of a form of satire, which made an almost unique literature. The King permitted the couplets to pa.s.s in silence. He did not even protest at this one:
Et pour M. Le Grand,[209]
Il est tout mystere; Quand il est galant, Il a comme La Valliere L'esprit penetrant.
The Countess then arrived at a couplet on Puyguilhem, better known under the name of Lauzun.[210]
De la cour La vertu la plus pure Est en Peguilin....
At this place the King interrupted: ”If it is wished to vex him, they are wrong, but when people act as he has done, they must be let alone; as for others, they are badly treated.” The sudden displeasure of the King at the mention of Puyguilhem caused a general silence, and the song stopped at this point.
The Grande Mademoiselle was present at this scene, and was surprised to discover that she was not indifferent to its import. Up to this time, she had scarcely known Lauzun, who did not belong to her coterie. ”It pleased me,” says her _Memoires_, ”to hear the manner in which the King spoke of him; I felt some instinct of the future.” This was the first warning of the pa.s.sion which had already insinuated itself into the depths of her heart; but she did not yet comprehend it. The idea came to her, however, of seizing an occasion to converse with Lauzun. She felt an inclination for this at once. ”He has,” said she, ”a manner of explaining himself which is very extraordinary.” Mademoiselle was interested, but she still believed that it was only the conversational capacity which pleased her in the little cadet of Gascony. She began to query, however, why, having been sufficiently content during her five years of exile, she was now so willing to remain a fixture. The year had ended before she found a satisfactory response to this question: ”I went in the month of December (the 6th) to Saint-Germain, from which I did not depart. I soon accustomed myself to it. Ordinarily, I only stayed three or four days, and my present long sojourn surprised every one.”