Category: Biographies
After six months of wedlock, Henrietta of England had become so beautiful that the King drew every one's attention to this change, as if he were not unmindful of the fact that he had given this charming person to his brother instead of reserving her for himself by marrying her.
M. de Lauzun Proposes for the Hand of Mademoiselle de Thianges.--Letter from the Duc de Lorraine.--Madame de Thianges Thinks that Her Daughter Has Married a Reigning Prince.--Th...
18. Chapter 18My second sister, Mademoiselle de Mortemart, was so unfortunate as to fall in love with a young Knight of Malta, doomed from his birth and by his family to celibacy. Having set...
8. Chapter 8Mademoiselle de Valois.--Mademoiselle d'Orleans.--Mademoiselle d'Alencon.--M. de Savoie.--His Love-letters.--His Marriage with Mademoiselle de Valois.--M. de Guise and Mademoise...
4. Chapter 4The King became ever more attached to me personally, as also to the peculiarities of my temperament. He had witnessed with satisfaction the birth of Madame de la Valliere's two...
15. Chapter 15The King Alters His Opinion about Madame Scarron.--He Wants Her to Assume Another Name.--He Gives Her the Maintenon Estates.--She and Madame de Montespan Visit These.--A Strange...
14. Chapter 14Once a Queen, Always a Queen.--An Anonymous Letter.--The Queen's Confidence.--She Has a Sermon Preached against Madame de Montespan.--Who the Preacher was.--One Scandal May Aver...
7. Chapter 7The Abbe d'Estrees.--Singular Offers of Service.--Madame de Montespan Declines His Offer of Intercession at the Vatican.--He Revenges Himself upon the King of Portugal.--Differe...
2. Chapter 2Madame Scarron.--Her Petition.--The King's Aversion to Her.--She is Presented to Madame de Montespan.--The Queen of Portugal Thinks of Engaging Her.--Madame de Montespan Keeps H...
9. Chapter 9Random Recollections.--Madame de Montespan Withdraws from Politics.--The Queen's Dowry.--First Campaign in Flanders.--The Queen Meets the King.--Some One Else Sees Him First.--T...
10. Chapter 10The King Contemplates the Conquest of Holland.--The Grand Seignior's Embassy.--Madame de Montespan's Chance of Becoming First Lady of the Harem.--Anxiety to Conclude Negotiation...
1. Chapter 1After six months of wedlock, Henrietta of England had become so beautiful that the King drew every one's attention to this change, as if he were not unmindful of the fact that h...
13. Chapter 13Comte de Vegin, Abbe of Saint Germain des Pres.--Revenues Required, but Not the Cowl.--Discussion between the King and the Marquise.--Madame Scarron Chosen as Arbiter.--An Unans...
11. Chapter 11The petty princes placed too near a great potentate are just like the shrubs that grow beside an old oak tree, whose broad shade blights them, while its roots undermine and sap...
3. Chapter 3The King's studies with his preceptor, Perefixe, had been of only a superficial sort, as, in accordance with the express order of the Queen-mother, this prelate had been mainly...
12. Chapter 12Embassy of the King of Arda.--Political Influence Exercised by the Good Looks of Madame de Montespan.--Gifts of the Envoys.--What the Comte de Vegin Takes for a Horse.--Madame d...
16. Chapter 16My poor little Comte de Vegin died. We all mourned for him as he deserved; his pretty face would have made every one love him; his extreme gentleness had nothing of the savage w...
5. Chapter 5One evening I was walking at the far end of the long terrace of Saint Germain. The King soon came thither, and pointing to Saint Denis, said, "That, madame, is a gloomy, funerea...
6. Chapter 6M. de Lauzun.--His Pretensions.--Erroneous Ideas of the Public.--The War in Candia.--M. de Lauzun Thinks He Will Secure a Throne for Himself.--The King Does Not Wish This.