Memoirs of Madame de Montespan — Volume 6

127

pages

English

Documents

2010

Écrit par
Françoise-Athénaïs De Rochechouart De Mortemart Montespan

Publié par
irge

Lire

Le téléchargement nécessite un accès à la bibliothèque YouScribe Tout savoir sur nos offres

127

pages

English

Documents

2010

Lire

Le téléchargement nécessite un accès à la bibliothèque YouScribe Tout savoir sur nos offres

Publié par

irge

Publié le

01 décembre 2010

Nombre de lectures

Langue

English

The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Memoirs of Madame de Montespan, Volume VI., by Madame La Marquise DeMontespanThis eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it,give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online atwww.gutenberg.netTitle: The Memoirs of Madame de Montespan, Volume VI. Being the Historic Memoirs of the Court of Louis XIV.Author: Madame La Marquise De MontespanRelease Date: September 29, 2006 [EBook #3852]Language: English*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MARQUISE DE MONTESPAN ***Produced by David WidgerMEMOIRS OF MADAME LA MARQUISE DEMONTESPANWritten by HerselfBeing the Historic Memoirs of the Court of Louis XIV.BOOK 6.CHAPTER XIX.The Court Travels in Picardy and Flanders.—The Boudoir Navy.—Madame deMontespan Is Not Invited.—The King Relates to Her the Delights of theJourney.—Reflections of the Marquise.The King, consoled as he was for the death of the Duchesse de Fontanges, did not, on that account, return to that sweetand agreeable intimacy which had united us for the space of eleven or twelve years. He approached me as one comesto see a person of one's acquaintance, and it was more than obvious that his only bond with me was his children.Being a man who loved pomp and show, he resolved upon a journey in Flanders,—a journey destined to furnish him, aswell as his Court, with numerous and agreeable ...

Voir

Publié par

irge

Publié le

01 décembre 2010

Langue

English

MEMOIRS OF MADAMELA MARQUISE DEMONTESPANWritten by HerselfBeing the Historic Memoirs of the Court of LouisXIV.

BOOK 6.CHAPTER XIX.The Court Travels in Picardy and Flanders.—TheBoudoir Navy.—Madame deMontespan Is Not Invited.—The King Relates toHer the Delights of theJourney.—Reflections of the Marquise.The King, consoled as he was for the death of theDuchesse de Fontanges, did not, on that account,return to that sweet and agreeable intimacy whichhad united us for the space of eleven or twelveyears. He approached me as one comes to see aperson of one's acquaintance, and it was morethan obvious that his only bond with me was hischildren.Being a man who loved pomp and show, heresolved upon a journey in Flanders,—a journeydestined to furnish him, as well as his Court, withnumerous and agreeable distractions, and to givefresh alarm to his neighbours.Those "Chambers of Reunion," as they werecalled, established at Metz and at Brisach,competed with each other in despoiling roundly ahost of great proprietors, under the pretext thattheir possessions had formerly belonged to Alsace,and that this Alsace had been ceded to us by the

last treaties. The Prince Palatine of the Rhine sawhimself stripped, on this occasion, of the greaterpart of the land which he had inherited from hisancestors, and when he would present a memoiron this subject to the ministers, M. de Croissy-Colbert answered politely that he was in despair atbeing unable to decide the matter himself; but thatthe Chambers of Metz and Brisach having beeninstituted to take cognisance of it, it was beforethese solemn tribunals that he must proceed.The Palatine lost, amongst other things, the entirecounty of Veldentz, which was joined to the churchof the Chapter of Verdun.The King, followed by the Queen and all his Court,—by Monsieur le Dauphin, Madame la Dauphineand the legitimate princes, whom their householdsaccompanied as well,—set out for Flanders in themonth of July. Madame de Maintenon, as lady inwaiting, went on this journey; and of me,superintendent of the Queen's Council, they did noteven speak.The first town at which this considerable Courtstopped was at Boulogne, in Picardy, thefortifications of which were being repaired. On thenext day the King went on horseback to visit theport of Ambleteuse; thence he set out for Calais,following the line of the coast, while the ladies tookthe same course more rapidly. He inspected theharbours and diverted himself by taking a sail in awherry. He then betook himself to Dunkirk, wherethe Marquis de Seignelay—son of Colbert—had

made ready a very fine man-of-war with which toregale their Majesties. The Chevalier de Ury, whocommanded her, showed them all the handling ofit, which was for those ladies, and for the Court, aspectacle as pleasant as it was novel. The wholecrew was very smart, and the vessel magnificentlyequipped. There was a sham fight, and then thevessel was boarded. The King took as muchpleasure in this sight as if Fontanges had been theheroine of the fete, and our ladies, to please him,made their hands sore in applauding. This navalfight terminated in a great feast, which left nothingto be desired in the matter of sumptuousness anddelicacy.On the following day, there was a more formal fightbetween two frigates, which had also beenprepared for this amusement.The King was in a galley as spectator; the Queenwas in another. The Chevalier de Lery took thehelm of that of the King; the Capitaine de Selinguesteered that of the Queen. The sea was calm, andthere was just enough wind to set the two frigatesin motion. They cannonaded one another brisklyfor an hour, getting the weather gauge in turn;after this, the combat came to an end, and theyreturned to the town to the sound of instrumentsand the noise of cannon.The King gave large bounties to the crew, as atoken of his satisfaction.The prince was on board his first vessel, when the

Earl of Oxford, and the Colonel, afterwards theDuke of Marlborough, despatched by the King ofEngland, came to pay him a visit of compliment onbehalf of that sovereign.The Duke of Villa-Hermosa, Spanish Governor ofthe Low Countries, paid him the same complimentin the name of his master.Both parties were given audience on thismagnificent vessel, where M. deSeignelay had raised a sort of throne of immenseheight.(All this time Mademoiselle de Fontanges lay in hercoffin, recovering from her confinement.)From Dunkirk the Court moved to Ypres, visiting allthe places on the way, and arrived at Lille inFlanders on the 1st of August. From Lille, wherethe diversions lasted five or six days, they movedto Valenciennes, thence to Condo, meetingeverywhere with the same honours, the sametokens of gladness. They returned to Sedan by LeQuenoy, Bouchain, Cambrai; and the end of themonth of August found the Court once more atVersailles.I profited by this absence to go and breathe a littleat my chateau of Petit-Bourg, where I wasaccompanied by Mademoiselle de Blois, and theyoung Comte de Toulouse; after which I betookmyself to the mineral waters of Bourbonne, forwhich I have a predilection.

On my return, the King related to me all thesefrivolous diversions of frigates and vessels that Ihave just mentioned; but with as much fire as if hehad been but eighteen years old, and with thesame cordiality as if I might have taken part inamusements from which he had excluded me.How is it that a clever man can forget theproprieties to such a degree, and expose himself tothe secret judgments which must be formed ofhim, in spite of himself and however reluctantly?

CHAPTER XX.The Duchesse d'Orleans.—The Duchesse deRichelieu.—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 afew moments afterwards gave the title of the Dukeof Burgundy. We had become accustomed, little bylittle, to the face of this Dauphine, who (thanks tothe counsels and instruction of her lady in waiting)adopted French manners promptly enough,succeeded in doing her hair in a satisfactorymanner, and in making an appearance which metwith general approval. Madame de Maintenon, forall her politeness and forethought, neversucceeded in pleasing her; and these two women,obliged to see each other often from their relativepositions, suffered martyrdom when they met.The King, who had noticed it, began by resenting itfrom his daughter-in-law. The latter, proud andhaughty, like all these petty German royalties,thought herself too great a lady to give way.Madame de Maintenon had, near the person of theyoung Bavarian, two intermediaries of importance,who did not sing her praises from morn till eve. Theone was that Charlotte Elizabeth of Bavaria, whomI have already described to the life, who, furious ather personal monstrousness, could not as a rule

her personal monstrousness, could not as a ruleforgive pretty women. The other was the Duchessede Richelieu, maid of honour to the Princess ofBavaria, once the protector of Madame Scarron,and now her antagonist, probably out of jealousy.These two acid tongues had taken possession ofthe Dauphine,—a character naturally prone tojealousy,—and they permitted themselves againstthe lady in waiting all the mockery and all thedepreciation that one can permit oneself againstthe absent.Insinuations and abuse produced their effect sothoroughly that Madame de Maintenon grewdisgusted with the duties of her office, and with theconsent of the monarch she no longer appeared atthe house of his daughter-in-law, except on stateand gala occasions. Madame de Richelieu relatedto me one day the annoyance and mortification ofthe new Marquise."Madame d'Orleans came in one day," said she tome, "to Madame la Dauphine, where Madame deMaintenon was. The Princess of the Palais Royal,who does not put herself about, as every oneknows, greeted only the Dauphine and me. Shespoke of her health, which is neither good nor bad,and pretended that her gowns were growing toolarge for her, in proof that she was going thin. 'I donot know,' she added, brusquely, 'what MadameScarron 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 deMaintenon nonplussed the Palatine for themoment; she wished to demand an explanationfrom 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 heranswer exceedingly. Madame is one of those greathermaphrodite bodies which the two sexesrecognise and repulse at the same time. She is anaggressive personage, whom her hideous facemakes one associate naturally, with mastiffs; she issurly, like them, and, like them, she exposesherself to the blows of a stick. It makes very littledifference to me if she hears from you the portrait Ihave just made of her; you can tell her, and I shallcertainly not give you the lie."Monsieur, having come some days afterwards tothe King, complained ofMadame de Maintenon, who, he said, had givenoffence to his wife."You have just made a great mistake," said theKing; "you who pride yourself on speaking yourtongue so well, and I am going to put you right.This is how you ought rather to have expressedyourself: 'I complain of Madame de Maintenon,who, by ambiguous words, has given offence, orwished to give offence to my wife.'"

Voir