Part 40 (1/2)
The King, by the last peace, signed at Nie to William, Stadtholder and Generalissimo of the Dutch This article was one of those which he had foundcan be compared with the profound aversion which the mere name inspired in theone day noticed froe, of which the body was painted with orange-coloured varnish, he sent and asked the na to hied to a provincial intendant, a relative of the Chancellor, his Majesty said, the saht to show more discretion in the choice of the colours he displays”
This coach appeared no more, and the silk and cloth h table, the King, seeing four bowls of big oranges brought in, said aloud before the public: ”Take away that fruit, which has nothing in its favour but its look There is nothing erous or unhealthy”
On the h the capital, and the courtiers dared eat oranges only privately and in secret
As for e blossoms, the monarch's petulance once ive it up, like the others, and take to amber, the favourite scent of my master, whichthe town of Orange to the co of France had the walls thron, all the fortifications razed, and the public buildings, certain convents, and the library of the town stripped of their works of art These measures irritated Prince William, who, on that account alone, wished to recommence the war; but the Emperor and the allies heard his coht hie is a real firebrand; he could not endure the severities of the King without reprisals, and no sooner was he once nty than he annoyed the Catholics in it, caused all possible alarms to the sisters of mercy and nuns, imposed enormous taxes on the monks, and drove out the Jesuits with unheard-of insults
The King received hospitably all these huiven to understand that the Orange Protestants were secretly sowing discontent ast his Calvinists and French Lutherans, he prepared the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, the faation of which took place a short ti, a docue, after its restitution, in which it was clearly specified that Hugh Capet had set hiularly, and in which the author went to the point of saying that the Catholic religion was only an idolatry, and that the peoples would only be happy and free after the general introduction of the Reformation The Marechal de Vivonne came and told me, in strict confidence, that the Jesuits, out of resented this document, and printed the pah his father, the Chancellor, and his brother, the Archbishop of Rheims, was associated with them, maintained that the incendiary libel was really the work of the Protestants
My residence at the Court having opened ive es and recri what I have seen
CHAPTER XXVIII
Sickness--Death of the Queen--Her Last Words--The King's Affliction--His Saying--Second Anonymous Letter--Conversation with La Dauphine--Madame de Maintenon Intervenes
While the Turks and the I, followed by all his Court, had made his way towards the frontiers of Alsace He reviewed countless battalions, he ave brilliant repasts and fetes
The season was a little trying, and the Queen, though born in Spain, did not accommodate herself to the June heat As soon as business permitted they took the road to the capital, and returned to Versailles with some speed
Scarcely had they arrived, when the Queen fell ill; it did not deserve the name of sickness It was only an indisposition, pure and sion, the boldest and most audacious of all who ever exercised the art of AEsculapius, decided that, to lessen the running, it was necessary to draw the blood to another quarter In spite of the opinion of his colleagues, he ordered her to be bled, and all her blood rushed to her heart In a short ti fashi+on, and in a few ony; in a fewwept bitterly at first, as we had seen him weep for Marie de Mancini, Louise de la Valliere, Henrietta of England, and the duchesse de Fontanges,--dead of his excesses He set out at once for the Chateau of Saint Cloud, which belonged to his brother; and Monsieur, wishi+ng to leave the field clear for hireeable wife and their numerous children
His Majesty returned two days afterwards to the Chateau of Versailles, where he, his son, and all the family sprinkled holy water over the deceased; and this little cereained in silence the Chateau of Saint Cloud
The aspect of that glooht of that sent as reposing; those silent i His tears began once more to flow abundantly, and he was heard to say these words:
”Dear, kind friend, this is the first grief you have caused me in twenty years!”
The Infanta, as I have already related, had granted in these latter days her entire confidence and affection to her daughter-in-law's lady in waiting Finding herself sick and in danger, she su soon that those famous Court physicians did not kno ill she was, and that she was drawing near her last hour, she begged this woood enough to prepare her for death
The Marquise wept bitterly, and perhaps even sincerely; for being unable to foresee, at that period, all that was to befall her in the issue, she probably entertained the hope of attaching herself for good to this excellent princess In losing her, she foresaw, or feared, if not adversity, at least a decline
The King was courting her, it is true, and favouring her already with htful and meditative as I knew her to be, could certainly not have failed to appreciate the voluptuous and inconstant character of the monarch She had seen several notorious friendshi+ps collapse in succession; and it is not at the age of forty-six or forty-seven that one can build castles in Spain to dwell in with young love
The Queen, before the beginning of her death agony, herself drew a splendid ring froer of the Marquise, to whoiven her portrait It was asserted that her last words were these: ”Adieu, ”
In accordance with a reco and so precise, Madareat afflictions are fain to be understood and shared, these two desolate hearts shut theroan in concert