Part 16 (2/2)
”To this mystic pool herdsman and monarchs alike receive su must, for his own sake, accomplish his own sanctification; his sanctification provides for that of his subjects
”Chosen by God to this royal priesthood, he comprehends the duties imposed upon him by such noble office The passions of the heart are maladies from which man may recover, just as he recovers from physical disease The physicians of the soul have lifted up their voice, have taken sage counsel together; and I come to inform you of theyou this ireater care is required than for others; the King, and the whole of France, beseech you, with my voice, to have respect and care for the convalescence of ouryou, madame, to leave at once for Fontevrault”
”For Fontevrault?” I cried, without betraying my emotion ”Fontevrault is near Poitiers; it is too far away No, I would rather go to Petit-Bourg, near the forest of Fontainebleau”
”Fontainebleau is but eighteen leagues froerous I must insist upon Fontevrault, madame”
”But I cannot take my children to Fontevrault,” I retorted; ”the nuns, and the Abbess herself, would never admit them You know better than I do that it is a nunnery”
”Your children,” said he, ”are not necessary to you; Madaood and all”
”Yes; and in forsaking them she committed a crime,” I answered; ”only ferocious-hearted persons could have counselled her or coave hientler in manner as he sloent on, ”His Majesty will take care of your children; it behoves you to save their mother
And, in order to prove to you that I have not come here ofa formal command, here is a letter of farewell addressed to you by the King”
I took the letter, which was couched in the following terht, madame, that on so solemn an occasion I should set an example myself I must ask you henceforth to consider our intimacy entirely at an end You must retire to Fontevrault, where Madame de Montemart will take care of you and afford you distraction by her charood hands; do not be in the least uneasy about the possible LOUISON
In the first flush of nation I was about to trample under foot so offensive a communication But the final phrase shocked ain, and understood that if the King recommended me to be firm, it was because he needed to be firs in their real light It was easy to see that sancti to act Bossuet was not sanctimonious, but, to serve his own ends, proffered hi anxious to prove to his old colleagues that he was on the side of what they styled ood example
For a while I walked up and down uesthe er, whom it was not necessary to treat with any respect He was bold, and asked me for a definite anshich he could take back to his Majesty I stared hard at him for about a minute, and then said: ”My Lord Bishop of Condo are very pleased that he should set an example to his people of self-sacrifice I am of their opinion; I think as they do, as you do, as the Pope does; but feeling convinced that to us, the innocent sheep, the shepherds ought first to show an example, I will consent to break off my relationshi+p with his Majesty when you, M de Condom, shall have broken off your intimacy with Mademoiselle de Mauleon des Vieux!”
By a retort of this kind I adreatly to e his face redden with confusion But he was nowise disconcerted, and I confess to-day that this circumstance proved to me that there was but little truth in the ruard to this subject
”Made half-bitterly, half-pityingly ”Surely, et what you say Everybody knows that she is an acquaintance ofconfidence in my doctrines and uide How can you institute a comparison between such a relationshi+p and your own?” Then, after walking up and down for a ain his self-possession, he continued:
”However, I shall not insist further; it was signally foolish of , when I should have invoked that of the King of Heaven I have received an insulting answer So be it
”Farewell, ly, is so tranquil that I blaht to disturb it”
With these words he departed, leaving me much aant and haughty, had received such an onslaught upon his private life and reputation
I need scarcely say that, next day, the species of pastoral letter which my lords the Bishops of Aleth, Orleans, Soissons, and Condo was succeeded by another letter, which he had dictated himself, and by which ed e that the King should have commissioned M de Bossuet to deliver this second missive, and I believe I said as ave rise to a ru But the purveyors of such gossip could surely know nothing of Bossuet's inflexible principles, and of the subtlety of his policy He ell aware that by lending himself to such a, and that if by his loyalty he had won royal attachard, all this would have been irretrievably lost Thus M de Bossuet was of those who say, ”Hate me, but fear me,” rather than of those who strive to be loved Such people know that friendshi+ps are generally frail and transient, and that esteeain with ot my way, and he is still where he was
CHAPTER xxxVIII
Madame de Montespan Back at Court--Her Friends--Her Ene Conversions--The Archbishop of Paris