Part 11 (2/2)
”The Electors of the German Empire are nearly all of them ecclesiastics; our own history of France will show you that the sons of kings were bishops or randson of the Duc de Savoie is a cardinal and an archbishop, and King Charles X,of France and cardinal at one and the same time”
At this moment Madae in the argu,” said his Majesty ”Do you think there is any objection to our giving to little Vegin the dress of an abbe?”
”On the contrary, Sire,” replied the governess, s, ”such a dress will inspire hi his principles, andfar more profitable to hi”
”I a, ”and I flatter ht that I do”
When the King had gone, Madame Scarron asked me why I disapproved of this abbey
”I do not wish to deny so rich a benefice to ht enjoy the revenues therefro powerful enough to effect this?”
”You are hardly just, overness, in a serious tone
”If our religion be a true one, God himself is at the head of it, and for so supres are but of su ht when she presented the little Coin dressed as a little abbe
She was careful to see that the crozier, e, and let the post of vicar-general be given to one of her pious friends as presented to me
CHAPTER xxx
Once a Queen, Always a Queen--An Anonymous Letter--The Queen's Confidence--She Has a Serainst Madame de Montespan--Who the Preacher was--One Scandal May Avert Another
I related how, near La Fere, at the tin, Mada the Queen, left the et on ahead, and arrive before anybody else By this the duchess thought to give her royal friend a great mark of her attachment On the contrary, it was the first cause for that coolness which the King afterwards displayed
”Fain would he be beloved, yet loved with tact”
The very next day his Majesty, prevailed upon La Valliere to say that such a style of travelling was too fatiguing for her She had the honour of dining with the Queen, and then she returned to the little chateau of Versailles, so as to be near her children
The King arranged with Mada to the Queen, that I should use her rooms to dress and write in, and that his Majesty should be free to come there when he liked, and have a quiet chat with me about ed to please bytalk, always keptcards At a given signal, a knock overhead, I used to leave the Queen, excusing myself on the score of a headache, or arrears of correspondence; in short, Ileft us in order to capture Douai, then Tournay, and finally the whole of Flanders; while the Queen continued to show n of her sincere and trustful friendshi+p
In August, on the Day of Our Lady, while the King was besieging Lille, a letter ca her that her husband had forsaken Mada, the Marquise de Montespan Moreover, the anonymous missive named ”the prudent duchesse de Montausier” as confidante and accomplice
”It is horrible--it is infa aside the letter ”I shall never be persuaded that such is the case My dear little Montespan enjoys my friendshi+p and my esteem; others are jealous of her, but they shall not succeed Perhaps the King ; he shall see it at once!” And that sa she forwarded the letter to hiin had been born, and the Queen was absolutely ignorant of his existence My pregnancy with the Duc du Maine had likewise escaped her notice, owing to the large paniers which I took to wearing, and thus made the fashi+on But the Court is a place where the best of friends are traitors The Queen was at length convinced, after long refusing to be so, and from that day forward she cordially detestedHolland, she instructed her chief almoner to have a sermon of a scandalous sort to be preached, which, delivered with all due solerieve and wound me as much as possible
On the day appointed, a preacher, totally unknown to us, gets into the pulpit, uidance of the Holy Ghost, and then, rising gracefully, bo to the Queen Raising his eyes to heaven, hetext: ”Woive thee”