is so perswaded that one cannot be an honest welbred man without being in love that I despair of ever seeing you satisfied if you do not learn to be beloved by others than himself but let not this allarm you Madam as I have begun to serve you I will never abandon you in the Condition you are in You know that jealousie has some times more virtue to reclaim a heart than Charms and Merit I advise you to make your Husband jealous my fair Cosin and to that end I offer my self I have so much love for you as to act over my former part of your Agent to him and to sacrifice my self likewise to render you happy and if he must needs escape you love me my Cosin and I will help you to take your revenge on him by loving you as long as I live The Page I gave this Letter to carrying it to Madam de Sevigny found her asleep and as he waited till she was awake Sevigney arrived from the Country He having known from the Page whom I had not given instructions therein not foreseeing that the Husband was to return so suddenly having known I say that he had a Letter to deliver from me to his Wife asked him for it without suspecting any thing and having read it at the same time he bid him be gone and that there was no Answer to be made to it You may judge how I received him I was upon the point of killing him seeing the danger he had exposed my Cosin to and I slept not an hour that Night Sevigny for his part was no more at case than I and on the Morrow after the great reproaches he made his Wife he forbid her to see one she sent me word of it and that with a little patience all this would be shortly reconciled Six Months after Sevigny was killed in a Duel by the Chevalier d' Albert his Wife seemed inconsolable for his death the reasons she had to hate him being known by all the World they fancied that her grief was only feigned For my part who had more familiarity with her than others I did not wait so long as they to speak to her of agreeable things and presently after I made love to her but without Ceremonies and as if I had never done nothing else She made me one of her Oracle answers which Women make usually in the beginning that my Passion was so much at rest that it made me appear but little favourable and perhaps it might be so I know not Tho Madam de Sevigny had no intention to love it is impossible to have more Complaisance for her than I had in that Encounter However as I was her near Relation on the most honourable side she made me a thousand proffers to be her Friend and for my part finding in her a sort of Wit which diverted me I was not sorry to be so I saw her almost every day I wrote to her I made love to her after a raillying way I fell out with my nearest Relations to serve with my Credit and Estate those persons she recommended to me In short if she had occasion for all I have in the World I should have thought my self extreamly obliged to her if she would have given me an occasion of assisting her As my Friendship was pretty like love Madam de Sevigny was very well satisfied as long as I did not love elsewhere but Chance as I shall tell you in the Sequel having made me fall in love with Madam de Preey my Cosin she did not show me so much affection as she had done when she thought that I loved nothing but her From time to time we had little quarrels which indeed were made up but which left in my heart and I believe in here such seeds of Division for the first occasion we should both have and which were even capable to imbitter indifferent things In short an occasion being offered wherein I had need of Madam de Sevigny and wherein without her assistance I was in danger of losing my Fortune this ungrateful Woman abandoned me and did me in Friendship the greatest infidelity in the World This my Dear made me fall out with her and far from sacrificing her to Madam de Monglas as was reported This Lady whom I had long been in love with hindred me from having all the resentment which such an ingratitude deserved Bussy having done speaking Vivonne told him all that was said of the Count de Lude and of Madam de Sevigny Was he ever much in her favour Before I answer to that replyed Bussy it is necessary I give you an account of this Count de Lude He has a little ugly Face a great head of Hair a fine Shape he was not born to be sat but the fear of being incommode and disagreable makes him take such extraordinary care to be lean that at length he has effected his design his fine Shape has indeed cost him something of his health he has spoiled his stomack in the Summer by the Dyets he has taken and the Vinegar he has made use of He is active on Horseback he dances and fences well which is brave he fought very well with Vardes and they do him injury when they suspect his Valour the ground of this slander is that all the Sparks of his Circumstances having ingaged themselves in the War he would needs make one Campaign as a Voluntier but the reason of this was that he is idle and loves his pleasures In a word he has Courage and no Ambition he has a soft Wit he is pleasing with Women he has ever been well used by them but does not love them long the reasons that he is so happy in their savours are besides the reputation he has of being secret his good Meen and his being well provided for love Engagements but that which makes him so successful every where is that he cries when he will and nothing perswades Women so much that we are in love as tears However whether some mischance has hapned to him in his intrigues or that these who Envy say that it is his sault they have no Children he does not much dishonour the Women he has to do with Madam de Sevigny is one of those for whom he has had a love but his passion ending then when that fair one begun to make returnes to it Thus Cross accidents have saved her their passions could never meet And as he has ever visited her since tho without applications it has occasioned the report that he has had to do with her And tho it is not true there is great likehood it was so He has however been the weakside of Madam de Savigny and the Man for whom she has had the most inclination notwithstanding the jeasts she had made of it this puts me in mind of a Song she made wherein she causes Madam de Sourdis who was with Child to speak after this manner That you have both I
his Rivals could not have Servants nor Secrets but what he knew otherwise the best Man in the World It was twelve years since he began to love the Countess of Fiesque a Woman as extraordinary as he was a Man that is to say as singular in Merits as he was in ill Qualities but as of those twelve years she had been banished five from Mademoiselle d' Orleans Gaston's of France's Daughter a Princess whom Fortune persecuted because she had Vertue and could not reduce her great Courage to the basenesses that the Court demands During their absence the Chevalier had tied himself to a very regular Constancy and tho the Countess was very lovely he merited some excuse for his Lightness being he had never received any favour from her He had however caused several to be jealous Rouville was one of those who were so As he was one day reproaching the Countess that she loved the Chevalier that fair One told him that he was mad to believe she could love the greatest Cheat in the World This is a pleasant reason Madam which you alledge I know you are a greater Cheat than he and yet I cannot forbear loving you Tho the Chevalier was in love with all Women the Countess however had that power over him that what engagement soever he had elsewhere so soon as he knew that any One visited her oftner that ordinary he quitted all to return to her And he was in the Right for the Countess was a lovely Woman she had blew and sparkling Eyes a handsome Nose an agreable Mouth of a fine Colour and white and smooth Skin the forme of her Face was long and never any One but she in the world was embelished with a long Chin her hair was brown and she was ever Gallantly drest but her finery proceeded rather from Art than the magnificence of her Clothes her Will was free and naturall her Humour cannot be described for it was with the Modesty of her Sex of the Humour of all the World People by much thinking of what they have to do think usually better at the end than at the beginning The contrary happened usually to the Countess her Reflections spoyled her first Motions I know not if the Confidence she had in her Merit made her careless of seeking Lovers for she took no pains at all to have them And indeed when any One of himself made his addresses to her she neither affected Rigour to be rid of him nor Kindness to retain him he left of his Courtship if he pleased if he pleased he continued it and what course soever he took he did not subsist to her cost So that the Chevalier as I have said had not visited her in five years time and during that absence that he might not lose time he had had a thousand Mistresses amongst others Victoria Manciri Duchess of Mercoeur and three dayes after her Death Madam de Villars and it was for this reason that Benserade who was in love with her made this Sonnet upon the Chevalier Can you rejoice after the Mortall stroak That kill'd the loveliest Object e're was seen A real Lovers heart would have been broke In the same Tomb he would have buryed been A Heart so Charm'd can it new flames receive I is an unheard of infidelity When a fair Mistress's death you ought to grieve You turn Gallant and at new Game would fly For this unworthy weakness you will smart You love have fail'd love will fail your heart And you 're already fall'n into the Snare I. know the Beauty who does you decoy I love her and that all I may declare What gives you ease alas does me destray The Countess returning some time after to Paris the Chevalier not being tyed to Madam Villars by any favours quitted her to return to the Countess but as he was never long in the same state and being tyred with her he made his addresses to Madam d' Olonne at the same time that Marsillac entred into an engagement with her and tho the Chevalier was less Modest than Marsillac with the Ladies he was not however the more pressing on the contrary provided he might toy with 'em have it said in the world that he was in love find some People of easie belief to flatter his vanity put a Rival in pain be better received than he he was not at all fond of a surrender One thing he did that made it more difficult for him to perswade than it was for another was that he never spoke seriously Insomuch that a Woman must needs flatter her self extreamely to beleive he was in love with her I have already said that never any Gallant that was not beloved was more incommode than he he had ever two or three Lacquies without Liveries whom he called his Bloodhounds whom he caused to dog and observe his Rivals and his Mistresses Madam d' Olonne being in pain One day how she should go to an Assignation she had made with Marsillac without being discovered by the Chevalier resolved for her pleasure to go hooded up with her Chamber Maid and to Pass the River in a Boat after having given orders to her servants to go wait for her at Fauxbourgs Saint Germain the first Man who gave her his hand to help her into the Boat was the Chevaliers Bloodhound before whom without knowing him she had been merry with her Chamber Maid for that she had deceived the Chevalier and talked of what they were going to do that day this Blood-hound went immediately to acquaint his Master who strangly surprised Madam d' Olonne the next day when he acquainted her with the perticulars of her Rendevouz of the Evening before An honest welbred Man having convicted his Mistress of loving another than himself withdraws immediately and without noise particularly if she had not made him any promise but the Chevalier was not of that humour when he could not procure being beloved he would rather chose to have been stabbed than leave his Mistress and Rival in repose Now Madam d' Olonne having reckoned for nothing the Assiduities that the Chevalier had payed her for three Months together and turned into Raillery all that he had told her of his Passion and the more for that she was perswaded that he had as great an one for the Countess as he could have for her she hated him as the Devil Then this Lover fancying that a Letter would do his buisness much better than all he had done or said thitherto in that Opinion he writ to her in these termes IS it possible my Goddess that you should be ignorant of the love that your fair Eyes my Suns have kindled in my heart Tho it be useless to have recourse with you to those Declarations which we are forced to have with mortal Beauties and that mental Prayers ought to suffice you I have told you athousand times that I loved you yet you laugh and make me no answer Is this a good or an ill sign
While that Digby began to fall in love with Madam de Chastillon my Lord Crofts who in the time the Disorders of England had followed Charles into France had taken a House in the Neighbourhood of Marlou and leisure conveniency and the insinuating ways of Madam de Chastillon had inflamed this Lord's heart with love but as he was of a milder disposition than the Earl his Passion had not made such progress as the Earl of Bristol's Things were in these terms when that the Abbot Foucquett seeing that his Affairs did not advance with Madam de Chastillon made use of this Stratagem to hastem them He had learnt that Ricoux Brother in Law to one of Madam de Chastillon's Women was concealed in Paris where he had Correspondence with them for the Prince's Interests he sent so many People in quest of Ricoux that he was taken and carried to the Bastille The Abbot Foucquett having caused him to be examined he accused Madam de Chastillon of several things and amongst others of having promised him ten thousand Crowns to kill the Cardinal and said that she had already given him two thousand beforehand upon that account The Abbot Foucquett suppressed these Informations and caused others to be given by which Ricoux still confessed that he was at Paris with design to kill the Cardinal but did not accuse the Duchess of having any hand in this Conspiracy And all that he said against her was That she kept Correspondence with the Prince and received a Pension of Four thousand Crowns from the Spaniards He shewed these last Informations to the Cardinal and the first to Madam de Chastillon by which having as may be imagined extreamly terrified her He told her he would save her if out of acknowledgment she would give him the least marks of Love Madam de Chastillon who feared death more then all things did not stick to satisfie the Abbot Foucquett but resisted just as long as was necessary to make him value this last Favour The Abbot Foucquett his whole thoughts were now how to love his Mistress and to that end he caused her to leave Marlou one night and carried her into Normandy where he made her change her Abode every day disguised sometimes like a Gentleman sometimes like a Religious and sometimes like a Fryer This lasted six Weeks during which the Abbot Foucquet went and came from Court to the place where Madam de Chastillon was At length he procured her an Amnesty when Ricoux had been Executed and caused her to return to Marlou where she was not long in repose for she cast her Eyes upon the Mareshal d' Hocquincourt as well for the Advantages she might draw from him by the Posts he held upon the Somme as to free her from the tyranny of the Abbot Foucquett who began to become insupportable to her Charles Marshal d' Hocquincourt had black sparkling Eyes a handsome Nose a little Forehead a long Visage and black frized Hair and his Shape was very fine He had but little Wit and yet was cunning by being very distrustful he was brave and ever in love and his Valour served him instead of Wit and good Carriage amongst the Ladies Madam de Chastillon knowing him by Reputation fancied that he was a proper Person to commit the Follies she had occasion for Monsieur de Vignacourt a Gentleman of Picardy her Neighbour was the Person she employed to him Whereupon the Marshal having agreed with Vignacourt that at his going to Command the Army of Catalonia he would see her as he passed thorow Marlou as if Chance had occasioned this Interview The thing hapned as it had been projected and Madam de Chastillon took Horse to go to Conduct the Marshal two Leagues from Marlou On the way she related to him the sad Circumstances of her Fortune desired him to be her Protectour flattered him with the Title of the Refuge of the Afflicted and the Resource of the Miserable In short she so inspired him with Generosity that he promised to serve her with and against all and even gave her his Table-Book in which he gave order to the Governours of Towns and Places to receive her and hers as often as she had occasion This Interview was discovered by the Abbot Foucquett who seeing the Marshal d' Hocquincourt upon the point of returning to Court judging his and Madam de Chastillon's Neighbourhood dangerous for his and the Courts Interests perswaded the Cardinal to remove her to the Frontiers of Picardy and caused an Order to be sent her to go to her Dutchy As Madam de Chastillon was on her Journey she met with the Marshal d' Hocqiuncourt at Montarquis with whom she renewed the Measures she had taken six Months before and after having mutually given one another he positively words to protect her against the Court and she hopes to grant him one day marks of her Passion They parted The Marshal went to find out the King and she to her Dutchy where she passed the Winter during which the Marshal d' Hocquincourt and the Abbot Foucquett who being the most difficult Patron to be satisfied impatiently supported the Interviews that passed between the Marshal d' Hocquincourt and Madam de Chastillon and the Commerce she kept with him To excuse herself she told him that the Marshal used his endeavours with the Cardinal that she might have Bordeaux again who was taken from her and to obtain of him for herself leave to return to Court She added That she could have wished she might not have been indebted for those Favours to any other than himself but that she was willing to spare his Credit for Affairs of greater moment What perswaded the Abbot Foucquett that the Intrigue between the Marshal did only concern the Court was that in the Spring she returned through his Intercession first to Marlou afterwards to Paris and Bordeaux with her During the Mareshal's Campaign in Catalonia the King of England whom the misfortunes of his Family obliged to stay in France and who had found the Dutchess much to his mind saw her at Marlou in the little Journeys he made to my Lord Crofts's his House and this Commerce had inspired this Prince with so much love for her that he resolved to marry her Crofts perswading his Master to satisfie her at any rate upon the promises that Madam de Chastillon had given this Lord that he should enjoy her in case he would contribute to the making her Queen And indeed she had been so if God who took care of the Fortune and Reputation of that King had not amused Madam de Chastillon with a foolish hope which made her fail of so fair an Occasion Charles King of England had great black Eyes his Eye-brows were thick and met together was of a brown Complexion a handsome Nose a long Visage his Hair was black and curled he was tall and finely shaped he had an austere Presence and yet loft and civil more in good than in ill Fortune
some Story worse if possible than the former And yet I need not know more to have the utmost Contempt for you you cannot add any thing to your Infamy Wherefore expect all the Resentment that a a Woman without Honour deserves from an honest Man that has loved her extreamly I shall not come to particulars with you because I do not seek for your Justification for you are Convicted in my Opinion and I will never have more to do with you The Duke of Candale wrote this Letter just as he was upon returning to Court he had newly lost a Battail which did not a little contribute to the bitterness of his Letter He could not suffer being beaten every where and it would have been some Comfort to him in the Misfortunes of the War if he had been more happy in Love So that he began his Journey under a terrible Melancholy At another time he would have come Post but as if he had had some fore-knowledge of his ill Fortune he came as slowly as possible he began to find himself something Indisposed upon the way At Vienna he fell very ill but being but a days Journey from Lyons he resolved to go thither knowing he should be better looked to But the Fatigues of the Campagnia having brought him very low his Troubles made an end of him for notwithstanding he was young and had the assistance of the best Physicians yet they could not save his Life But as his greatest Sufferings could not make him forget Madam d' Olonne's Infidelity he wrote to her this Letter just before his Death IF I could preserve any kindness for you upon my Death-bed I should be very loath to dye but not being able to esteem you any longer it is without Regret that I leave the World I only loved it that I might pass it the more sweetly with you But since some little Merit I had and the greatest Passion imaginable could not procure me your Affection I do not desire to live any longer but perceive that Death will free me from a great many Troubles If you were capable of any tenderness you could not see me in the Condition I am in without dying for grief But God be thanked Nature has done the business and since you could daily torment the Man of the World who loved you the most you may well see him die without being concerned Adieu The first Letter that the Duke of Candale wrote to Madam d' Olonne about Jeannin had made her so much affraid of his Return that she dreaded it like Death and I fancy she wished she might never see him more And yet the rumour of his being in that Extremity grieved her to the heart and the News of his Death which her Friend the Countess of Fiesque brought her had like to have made her dye her self She lost her Senses for some moments and came only to herself at the Name of Merillus whom she was told asked to speak with her Merille was the Duke's principal Confident and brought Madam d' Olonne the Letter from his Master that he had written to her as he lay a dying and the little Trunk wherein he put his Letters and all the other Favours he had received from her After having read this last Letter she fell a Crying more bitterly than before The Countess not being willing to leave her in so deplorable Condition proposed the opening that Trunck for the amusing her grief The Countess found at first a Handkerchief stained with blood in several places Ah! my God cryed Madam d' Olonne how has that poor Man who had so many other things of greater Consequence kept this Handkerchief till now is there any thing in the world so kind And thereupon she related to the Countess that having cut her Finger as she was working by him some years ago he had asked that Handkerchief of hen with which she had wiped her hand and had kept it ever since After that they found Bracelets Purses Hair and Pictures of Madam d' Olonne and coming to the Letters the Countess desired her Friend that she might read some of them Madam d' Olonne having given her Consent the Countess opened this first IT is reported here you have been beaten this is perhaps a false Rumour and set on foot by those who envy you But perhaps it is a Truth Ah! My God! in this uncertainty I require my Lovers life of you and I abandon to you the Army yes my God and not only the Army but the State and all the World together Since I have been told this sad News without particularizing any thing of you I have made twenty visits a day I fell to talk of the War to see if I could learn any thing that might give me ease I am told every where that you have been beaten but they donot speak particularly of you and I dare not ask what is become of you not that I am affraid of making appear thereby that I love you I am in too great a fright to take care of my Reputation but I fear to learn more than I am willing to know This is the state I am and shall be in till the arrival of the first Post if I am able to expect it What redoubles my disquiets is that you have so often promised to send me express Couriers upon all extraordinary Affairs that I take it ill I have had none in this While the Countess was reading this Letter with motions of Concern and Pity Madam d' Olonne was melting into tears after having perused it they were both some time without speaking I 'le read no more now said the Countess for since it puts me in pain it must needs trouble you much more No No replyed Madam d' Olonne continue I beseech you my Dear it makes me weep but it puts me in mind of him The Countess having opened a Letter found it in these terms HOw Will you never leave me at rest Shall I always be in fear of losing you either by your Death or Inconstancy As long as the Campaigne lasts I am in perpetual Alarms the Enemies do not fire a Shot but what I imagine is aimed at you and then I hear you have lost a Battail without knowing what is become of you and though after a thousand mortal Apprehensions I know at length my good fortune has saved you for you know by Experience you are not at all obliged to your own I am told you are at Avignon in the Arms of Madam de Castillanne where you comfort your self for your Misfortunes If it be so I am very unhappy you did not lose your Life with the Battail Yes my Dear I should choose rather to see you Dead than Inconstant for I should have had the pleasure to believe that had you lived longer you would have still loved me whereas my Heart is only filled with rage to see my self abandoned for another who does not love you so much as I do Is
of it the reproaches and noise he would make would occasion more vexation to the Cocquet Mistress than all those managements could have procured her Pleasure There are Cocquets who fancy they have so ill a repute in the World that they dare not be cruel and rigorous to any man for fear it should pass for a Sacrifice to some other and never think that it would be better for their Honour that they were convicted of Sacrifice This is Madam the Course the Coquets take I must let you see that of honest Mistresses As for them they are either satisfied with their Lovers or they are not If they are not they endeavour to reduce them to their Devoir by a tender and civil Carriage If this cannot absolutely be they break off without noise upon a pretext of Devotion or the Jealousie of a Husband after having got from them if they can their Letters and all that could Convict them And above all things they so contrive it that their Lovers do not fancy they abandom them for others If they are satisfied with their Lovers they love them with all their hearts they are continually telling it them and they write them the kindest Letters they can But as this does not prove their love because Coquets say as much or more every day their Actions and their Carriage does sufficiently justifie the meaning of their Hearts because there is only that insallible We can indeed say We love tho we do not but we cannot seem kind to any one long without having an affection for him An honest Mistress is more afraid of giving Jealousie to her Gallant than of Death and when she sees him alarmed with any Suspicion that the obstinacy of his Rival might give him she does not content herself with the testimony of her Conscience she redoubles her Cares and Caresses for him and her rigours for the other she does not defer the extreamest Severity till another time fancying she could never be soon enough rid of an importunate Person She knows that as many Moments as she defers the chacing away this Rival she should give as many stabs in his Heart she is in love with She knows that as soon as her Lover begins to have Suspicious the least care she should take to remove them would preserve in him the esteem and love he has for her whereas if she neglected to satisfie and cure him he would come again to have so little Confidence in her that she should not be able to recover his good Opinion tho she even offered him to lose her Reputation for his sake She knows that a Lover would ever believe that it would be the fear she was in of him had forced those Sacrifices from her that at another time he would have took for great Marks of love She knows that in the Woman a Man confides in all is excused and that nothing is pardoned in her that is distrusted She knows that at length a Man comes to be fatigued with the trouble a Mistress gives him and the reproaches that he has made her after having pardoned her a thousand considerable Faults that he breaks off upon a Trifle the measures being plain and he not able to suffer any longer so much vexation There are Women who love their Gallants extreamly and yet make them jealous by their ill carriage and this proceeds from their slattering themselves too much with the assurance they have of their good Intentions and for that they do not sufficiently quash the hopes of those men who make Court to them or who only seem to love them by their Cares and their Assiduities and they are ignorant that the Civilities of a Woman one loves are such Favours as all Lovers flatter themselves with sometimes because they have Merit or often because they think they have so Sometimes because they have no good Opinion of the Persons they make their Addresses to and who fancy that the resistance that they make is only to set a greater value upon themselves Insomuch that if a Woman who has never given occasion to be talked of is still very jealous of her Reputation she ought to take care as I have already said not to entertain in any manner the hopes of all that has the Air of a Lover and if it is a Woman who has not thitherto been careful enough of her Carriage but designs to be so for the future which is your case Madam it is requisite that she be more rude than another and especially that she be impartial in her Severity for the least favour she shall let herself loose to does more reingage a Lover than a thousand Refusals does disgust him An honest Mistress has so much sincerity for her Lover that rather than fail to tell him things of consequence she tells him even what are trifles Well knowing that if he came to be informed by other means of certain indifferent things that are rendred Criminal at their being told again it would have the worst effect imaginable She keeps no Measures with him in point of Confidence she tells him not only her own secrets but even those she knew before or what she learns elsewhere every day She calls those people ridiculous Who say that being Mistress of anothers Secrets we ought not to tell it our Lovers She answers to that that if they still love us they will never say any thing of it And if they happen to abandon us we should have much more to lose than our Friends secret but she fancies we ought never to consider them as such as will one day leave off loving us and that otherwise we should be Fools to grant them Favours In a word her Maxim is That who gives her heart has nothing more to manage she knows that there are only two Encounters that can dispence her from telling all to her Lover the one if he was indiscreet and the other if he had any Gallantry before hers For it would be imprudence in her to speak to him in that case at least without he pressed her extreamly and then it would be he himself that occasioned his own Vexation Finally an honest Mistress believes that what justifies her Love even with the most severe Men is when she is deeply smitten when she takes pleasure in making it appear to her Lover when she surprizes him by a thousand little favours that he did not expect when she has no reserve for him when she applies herself to procure him esteem amongst all People and that in a word she makes of her Passion the greatest business of her Life Without this Madam she holds Love for a Debauche and that it is a Brutal Commerce and a Trade by which ruined Women subsist Mademoiselle de Cornuelle having left off speaking Good God! said Madam d' Olonne what fine things have you now said but how difficult are they to be put in practice I even find therein some injustice for in a word since we even deceive
our Husbands whom the Laws have made our Masters why should our Gallants come off at a better rate They whom nothing obliges us to love but the choice we make and whom we take to serve us as long and as little as we please I did not say answered Mademoiselle de Cornuelle that we ought not to abandon our Gallants when they displease us either by their own defects or our weariness but I have shown you the nice manner by which you ought to disengage your self from them not to give them any reason to cry out upon you in the world For in a word Madam since they have imposed that tyranny upon the Honour of Ladies not to love what they find lovely we must comply with Custome and conceal our selves at least when we will love Well! my Dear said Madam d' Olonne to her I am going to act wonders I am fully resolved of it but withal I ground the greatest hopes of my Conduct upon avoiding Occasions Whether it be by avoiding or resistance said Mademoiselle de Cornuelle it is no matter provided your Lover be satisfied with you and thereupon having exhorted her to remain firm in her good Intentions she took her leave During Madam d' Olonne's separation from Marsillac they wrote to one another very often but as there was nothing therein remarkable I shall not mention their Letters which spoke of their love and of their impatience to see one another again but in a very common manner Madam d' Olonne was the first who returned to Paris the Count de Guiche during the Progress to Lyons perswaded Monsieur the King's Brother with whom he was much in favour to have a Gallantry at his return to Paris with Madam d' Olonne and had offered himself to serve him in it and to procure him content in a short time This Prince had promised the Count de Guiche to make the necessary Paces to engage that Cocquet insomuch that in the Conversations he had with Madam d' Olonne he only spoke to her of the love that Prince had for her He told her that he had declared it to him more than an hundred times upon the Journey and that she would certainly see him sigh assoon as he was returned A Woman who had Citizens and Gentlemen her Gallants some handsome others ugly might well love a comely Prince Madam a' Olonne received the Count de Guiche's Proposition with an unexpressible joy and it was so great that she did not so much as make those Excuses which Coquets make in such like Encounters Another would have said that she would not love any one but less a Prince than any man soever because he would not have so much application Madam d' Olonne who was the most natural Woman in the World and the most passionate kept no bounds of Modesty but answered the Count de Guiche That she esteemed herself more than she had yet done since she pleased so great and so rational a Prince When the Court was returned to Paris the Duke of Orleans did not answer the eagernesses the Count had prepared Madam d' Olonne for who delivered herself all entirely All this produced nothing and made her but the more know how indifferent she was to that Prince The Count de Guiche seeing that the Duke of Orleans did not bite at the Hook changed his Design and was desirous at least that the Services he would have rendred to Madam d' Olonne should be of some advantage to him Whereupon he resolved to act the part of a Lover himself and being the Commerce he had had with her upon the Amours of the Duke of Orleans had made him very familiar he did not balance to write to her this Letter WE have laboured hitherto in vain Madam the Queen haters you and the Duke of Orleans apprehends displeasing her I have reason to be in despair Madam but you can comfort me if you please and I do Conjure you to do it since the natural sharpness of the Mother and the weakness of the Son have ruined our Projects other Measures are to be taken Let us love one another Madam it is already done on my part and I easily perceive that had the Duke of Orleans loved you I should quickly have fallen out with him because I should not have been able to have resisted the inclination I have for you I do not question but that at first you will be shocked at the difference but lay aside your Ambition and you will not find your self so miserable as you imagine I am certain that when Spight shall have cast you into my Arms Love will there retain you Let People say what they will against Women there is sometimes more imprudence than malice in their Conduct Most of them no longer think when they are courted that they ought never to love In the mean time they proceed further than they imagine they do things sometimes thinking they shall be always Cruel which they extreamly repent of when they are become more Humane The same thing happened to Madam d' Olonne she was stung to the quick that she had failed of the Prince's Heart after having reckoned it amongst her Conquests in seeking some one to apply herself to for the amusing her grief she found nothing more likely to believe than that the Count de Guiche for his own Interest had hindred him from loving her Insomuch that as well to revenge herself of him as to reassure Marsillac whom this Intrigue had alarmed she sacrificed to him the Count de Guiche's Letter without considering that Love would perhaps oblige her to do the same with those of Marsillac and he whom Madam d' Olonne gave a thousand Favours to made the use of them that is common when one is satisfied with his Mistress he rendred her a thousand thanks for her Sincerity and contented himself with triumphing over his Rivals without showing any indiscreet Pride In the mean time the Count de Guiche not knowing the Destiny of his Letter went the day after to Madam d' Olonne's House but so much Company was there that day that he could not speak to her about business at that time He only observed that she had eyed him very much and from her House he went to acquaint Fiesque with the state of his Affairs who since his return from Lyons he had made his Consident he went likewise to tell the same to Vinevil and they both judged by the weakness of the Lady and the Gentleness of the Spark that his pursuit would neither be long nor in vain And the truth is Madam d' Olonne had found the Count de Guiche so handsome and so much to her mind that she repented the Sacrifice she had newly made to Marsillac The day after the Count de Guiche returned to her House and having found her alone he spoke to her of his Passion the fair One was pleased and received that Declaration the most agreably imaginable but after having
agreed upon loving one another as they were upon certain Conditions People came in which obliged the Count de Guiche to go out a Moment after Madam d' Olonne having disingaged herself from her Company as soon as she was able took Coach being desirous to discover if the Countess de Fiesque took no Interest any longer in the Count de Guiche She went to her and after some Conversations upon other subjects she asked her advice in the Designes she told her the Count de Guiche had for her The Countess told her that she was only to consult her Heart in such Occasions My heart does not say to me much in favour of the Count replyed Madam d' Olonne and my Reason tells me a thousand things against him He is a Spark I can never love In saying these words she took leave of the Countess without waiting for her Answer On the other side the Count de Guiche being returned to his House he met with Vinevil who waited for him with great impatience to know what posture his Affairs were in the Count de Guiche told him something coldly that he believed all was broaken off considering how Madam d' Olonne treated him and Vinevil desiring to know the particulars of the Conversation the Count de Guiche not being willing to discover what passed changed discourse every moment this gave some suspicions to Vineuil who was cunning and in love with Madam d' Olonne and only concerned himself in the affairs of the Count de Guiche that he might prevail with his Mistress by the things he should have learnt He went away seeing he could not make any discovery and was for three days in mortal disquiets not being able to learn the certainty of what he suspected and what he would know He went to Fiesque's House with the Countenance of a disgraced Favourite since he saw he had no longer any share in the Count de Guiche's confidenc he said nothing of it to that fair One not to discredit himself in showing his Misfortune At three days end he went to the Count de Guiche's House What have I done my Lord said he to him that obliges you to treat me thus I easily perceive that you hide from me your intrigue with Madam de OOlonne learn me the reason of it or if you have none continue to tell me what you know as you used to do I ask your pardon my poor Vinevil said the Count de Guiche to him but Madam d' Olonne upon granting me enjoyment exacted from me not to speak thereof to you nor to Fiesque much less then to any others because she said that you are malicious and Fiesque jealous How indiscreet soever a person is there is no Intrigue but what 's kept secret in the beginning if there be no need of a Confident This I have had experience of in this Occasion for I am naturally enough inclined to tell an amourous adventure And yet I have been three dayes without acquainting you with this tho you know all my secrets but have patience my Dear I am going to tell you all that passed between Madam d' Olonne and me and by the exactest Relation in the World in some manner requite the offence done to the friendship I have for you You know then that the first Visit made her after having written to her the Letter you have seen I did not sind in her looks any aversion or kindness and the Company that was at her house hindred me from having any further information All that I could remarke was that she observed me from time to time but returning thither the day after and having found her alone I represented my love to her so well and so eagerly pressed her to make returns to it that she Confessed she loved me and promised to give me marks thereof upon Condition I have newly told you You know very well that I would promise her all in those moments we heard a noise insomuch that Madam d' Olonne bid me come again the next day dressed in Womens Cloathes and as one who brought her Lace to fell whereupon being returned to my House I found you there and you might easily perceive by the cold reception I made you that all the World importuned me at that time and particularly you my Dear whom I was more jealous of than any one you likewise perceived it and it was that which made you suspect I did not tell you all when you was gone I gave order that my Porter should say I was not at home and prepared my self for my Mascarade of the Morrow All the pleasure that imagination can give beforehand I had for four and twenty hours together The four or five last hours were more tedious than all the others at length that which I expected with so much impatience being come I caused my self to be carryed to Madam d' Olonne's House I found her in a Cornet upon her Bed in a Rose Colour Undress I cannot express to you my Dear how beautifull she was that day all that can be said comes short of the Charms she had her Neck was half uncovered she had more Hair loose than usual and all in rings and curles her Eyes were more sparkling than the Stars Love and the colour of her Face animated her Complexion with the finest Vermillion in the World Well my Dear said she to me are not you full of acknowledgment that I spare you the pains of sighing a long time do you find that I make you pay too dear for the Favours you receive Tell me my Dear added she but you are mute Ah! Madam answered I her I should be insensible were I in cold Blood seeing you in this posture But may I assure my self said she that you have forgotten little Beauvais and the Countess of Fiesque yes said I to her Madam you may and how should I remember others added I since you may perceive I haue almost forgot my self I only fear replyed she the future for for the present my Dear I am much mistaken if I suffer you to think of any Body besides myself And in finishing these words she took me about the Neck and pressing me you know how with her Arms she pulled me upon her Both of us lying in manner we kissed ill one another a thousand times But not willing to stop there and this seeking for something more solid but on my part in vain We ought to know our selves and what we are fit for For my part I perceive I am no Womans man It was impossible for me to come off with Honour what effect soever my fancy made and the Idea and the presence of the most beautifull Object in the World What 's the matter said she to me My Lord What ales you What is it that puts you in so sad a Condition Is it my Person that disgusts you or do you only bring me the leavings of an other This Discourse made me so ashamed and out of
any hopes Besides you have lately married a beloved Lover and it is a difficult Enterprize to remove him out of your heart and to put my self in his place However I love you Madam and tho you should not to be ungrateful make use of that reason against me I confess that it is my Star and not my Choice that obliges me to love you Madam de Chastillon never had had so much joy as this Discourse gave her Monsieur de Nemours appeared to her so lovely that if it had been the Custom for Women to have made Declarations of Love first she would not have deferred it so long as her Gallant did But the fear of not seeming modest enough perplexed her so extreamly that she was sometime without knowing what Answer to make At length forcing herself to speak for the concealing the disorder that her silence made appear You are in the right my Lord said she to him with all imaginable postures to believe that I love my Husband very much but give me leave to tell you that you do your self wrong in being so Modest as you are And if I was in a Condition to acknowledge the kindness you have for me you would see that others esteem you more than you do your self Ah! Madam replyed the Duke of Nemours it is in your power Madam and only in yours to make me the most happy and most esteemed Man in France He had hardly finished these words then that the Countess of Maure came into the Chamber before whom it was requisite to change Conversation tho these two Lovers did not change their thoughts Their distraction and disorder made the Countess of Maure judge that their Intrigue was much more advanced than it really was and for this reason she was preparing to make a very short Visit when the Duke of Nemours prevented her The amorous and discreet Prince well knowing that he acted but an ill part before such a sharp-sighted Woman as the Countess of Maure was went out and being got home he wrote this Letter to his Mistress I Leave you Madam that I may be more with you then I was the Countess of Maure observed me and I durst not look upon you and she being cunning I was even afraid that my Affection would discover me for in short Madam it is so well known that People must eye you when they are in the same place that those that do not are suspected of some Design If I do not see you at present Madam at least it is not perceived that I am in love and I have the liberty of acquainting you only with it How happy should I be Madam were I able to perswade you to the point it is and how unjust would you be in that case Madam if you had not some kindness for me Madam de Chastillon was very much perplexed at the receipt of this Letter she knew not whether she had best be cruel or kind Kindness might gain the heart of her Lover and Severity his esteem and both might disgust him At length she resolved to do what was most difficult as being most honest And notwithstanding all that her heart inspired her with she chose rather to follow the counsel of her Reason Wherefore she made the Duke no Answer and as he came on the Morrow into her Chamber Are you come again my Lord said she to him to commit some new Offence because my humour and looks are easie and soft you think there is no more to do than falling on And if your esteem is only to be purchased by rudeness set that value on it as to constrain my self for some time Yes my Lord I shall be angry and I perceive I must be so with you These last words were as a Thunder-clap fallen upon this poor Lover tears came into his Eyes and his tears spoke much better for him than all he could have said After having been a moment without speaking I am infinitely grieved Madam answered he her to see you thus in anger and I wish I was dead since I have displeased you You shall see Madam that in the Vengeance I am resolved to take of the offence you have received that your interests are much more dear to me than my own I am going so far from you Madam that my Love shall no longer importune you This is not what I require of you interrupted that fair One you may still stay here without displeasing me Cannot you see me without telling me you love me or at least without writing me it No no Madam replyed he it is absolutely impossible Well then my Lord I consent that you see me replyed Madam de Chastillon but observe well all that I do for you Ah! Madam interrupted the Duke throwing himself at her feet if I have adored you when you were so cruel judge what I shall do when you are kind Yes Madam be pleased to guess at it for it is impossible for me to express the sense I have of it This Conversation did not end as it began Madam de Chastillon dispensed herself from keeping all the rigour she had promised herself and if the Duke of Nemours had not great Favours at least he had hopes of being beloved In confidence of this he was no sooner got home then that he wrote this Letter to his Mistress AFter having told me Madam that you consented I should see you since it was impossible for me to see you without telling you that I love you or at least without writing it I ought to write to you in confidence that my Letter will not be ill received However I tremble Madam and Love that is never without fears of displeasing makes me imagine that you may have changed your mind within these three hours Do me the favour Madam to inform me by two Lines If you knew with what ardour I desire it and with what transports of joy I shall receive it you would not judge me unworthy of this Grace Madam de Chastillon had no sooner received this Letter then that she made this Answer WHy should I have changed my Mind my Lord but my God how pressing you are Are not you satisfied with knowing your power and must you needs triumph likewise over anothers weakness The Duke of Nemours received this Letter with such a joy as put him almost out of himself he kissed it a thousand times not being able to forbear reading of it In the mean time the Passion of these two Lovers augmented every day and Madam de Chastillon who had already yielded up her heart no longer defended the rest but only to render it the more considerable by the difficulty In short the time of taking the Waters being passed they were to part and tho they both returned to Paris they both imagined they should not see one another again with so much Conveniency as they had done at Bourbon In the view of these Difficulties their Farewel was very moving The Duke of Nemours assured
that if the Prince had had a mind to have taken all the Precautions necessary to hinder the Duke of Nemours from fighting he might have prevented the Duel One thing more which made appear that there was more of Glory than of Love in the Prince's Heart was that a moment after the death of his Rival he hardly loved Madam de Chastillon any longer and contented himself with keeping measures of Civility with her to make use of her upon occasion and when he should think convenient And indeed at that time the Cardinal thinking that she governed the Prince sent the Great Provost of France to her to offer her from him an hundred thousand Crowns ready Money and the Place of Superintendant of the future Queens Family in case she would oblige the Prince to grant the Articles he desired and abandon the Count d' Oignon the Duke of Rochefoucault and President Viole During the Negotiation of the Grand Provost an Officer of the Guards called Mouchette negotiated likewise on the Queens part with Madam de Chastillon but she seeing that she could not perswade the Prince to do the things that the Count desired sent the Queen word that she counselled her to grant the Prince all that he should desire of her and that afterwards her Majesty would know well enough how to deal with a Subject who taking advantage of the disorder of the Affairs of his Master had forced from her shameful Conditions and such as were prejudicial to her Authority At that time the Abbot Foucquett having been taken by the Enemies was brought to the Palace of Condé he had a very sharp Conversation with the Prince but on the morrow things began to cool and some days after the Treaty of Peace was renewed with him As he was a Prisoner upon parol and that he went every where he had a mind to he made some Visits to Madam de Chastillon believing that nothing could be done with the Prince but by her interposition and it was in those Visits that he fell in love with her Vinevil governed then Madam de Chastillon pretty peaceably Cambiac was retired since that the Prince was in love and that the Duke of Nemours was dead and this had very much diminished the Prince's Passion insomuch that some days after having been constrained to retire into Flanders by the accommodation of Paris he was upon the point of departing without taking leave of Madam de Chastillon and when at length he went to see her he was but a moment with her The King being returned to Paris the Abbot Foucquett fancied that if Madam de Chastillon stayed there he should have Rivals upon his back who might be preferred before him insomuch that he perswaded the Cardinal to send her away saying that she would every day set on foot a thousand Intrigues against the Interests of the Court which she could not do elsewhere and this obliged the Cardinal to send her to Marlou The Abbot Foucquett went thither as often as he could but there were in her neighbourhood two men who made her yet more frequent Visits The one was my Lord Crofts an Englishman who had hired a House near Marlou where he usually kept his Equipage and where he came to ly sometimes and the other was Digby Earl of Bristol Governour of the Isle of Man These two Noble men fell in love with the Dutchess Crofts was a peacable Man and addicted to Pleasures and Bristol was haughtly brave and full of ambition When that Cambiac had seen the Prince go out of France he had made his applications to Madam de Chastillon insomuch that he stayed with her at Marlou and as he was not so much afraid of the Abbot Foucquet or of Bristol as of the Prince he freely told Madam de Chastillon his Sentiments of her carriage with all her Lovers She not being willing to be contradicted in her new designs and particularly by a Party concerned took his Remonstrances very ill insomuch that things growing daily worse and worse between them Cambiac at length retired grumbling and as a Man that ought to be seared Sometime after he wrote a Letter without a Name and with a forged Hand in which he gave her notice of the ill they talked of her in the World She suspected however that this Letter came from him because he sent her word of things that no body but she could know of At length Madam de Chastillon learning from several parts that Cambiac railed against her she desired madam Pisieux whom she was very well acquainted with and who had a power over him to withdraw some Letters of Consequence that he had of hers which Madam de Pisieux promised her to do and at the same time sent word to Cambiac to come to her at her House at Marins near Pontoise It is to be observed that since that Cambiac was gone from Madam de Chastillon she had made a thousand Complaints against him to my Lord Digby This Lover who only thought of pleasing his Mistress and who ruined himself in expences for her sake did not stick at promising her a Vengance that should cost him nothing and wherein he would find his particular interest He took the time that Cambiac being at Marine was one day on Horseback to go abroad and having seized him with five or six Troopers he sent him to Marlou Madam de Chastillon knowing that Lovers that had been well treated ought never to be offended by halves was much perplexed at the manner that Cambiac was now used and perceived that no Body would be suspected but her she was very ill satisfied with Digby and would have sooner pardoned him the Death of Cambiac than the seizing him after this manner But in short not being able to undo what was done I am extreamly grieved said she to him at what has now happened to you I perceive that the Impertinent who has done you this Affront would make you suspect me by sending you to my House but you shall see by the resentment I shall have of it that I have no share in this Voilence In the mean time Sir if you have a mind to stay here you are Master if you think fit to return to Marine you shall have my Coach you need only Command it I know Madam answered Cambiac to her coolly what I ought to think of all this I give you thanks for the offers you make me I shall return on Horseback if you think fit God who will defend me from the attempts of the wicked will have care of me to the end And having spoke these words he went away in a pett and returned alone to Marine He was no sooner arrived there than that he and Madam de Pisieux wrote these two Letters to one of their Friends at Paris A Letter from Cambiac to Monsieur de Brienne YOu will be much surprized when you shall have learnt the adventure that has happened to me but to tell you the occasion of it
He was brave that is to say that he had the Courage of a Souldier and the Soul of a Prince He was a great Wit and loved Pleasures but yet he loved his Duty more In short he was one of the greatest Kings in the World But however tho Nature had gifted him with admirable Advantages Adversity that had been his Governour was the principal Cause of his extraordinary Merit The Prince at his leaving of France had shown as I have already said very little consideration for Madam de Chastillon but having known the value that the Spaniards set on her by the Pension they had given her and the Credit that she had at the Court of France by the means of the Abbot Foucquett was reinflamed for her And his Passion was so violent that he wrote to her the most passionate Letters in the World and amongst others this was intercepted that he wrote to her in Cyphers THo all your Charms should not oblige me to love you my dear Cosin the pains that you take for me and the persecutions you suffer for being in my Interests and the hazards wherein this exposes you would oblige me to love you as long as I live Iudge then what all this together can do upon a heart which is neither insensible nor ungrateful but judge likewise of the alarms that I am continually in for you The example of Ricoux makes me tremble and when that I consider that what I have most dear in the World is in the hands of my Enemies I am in disquiets that never give me rest In the name of God my poorest Dear do not longer hazard your self as you do I should choose rather never to return into France than be the cause of your having the least apprehension It is for me to expose my self and by a War put my Affairs in such a posture as that they may treat with me and then my dear Cosin you may aid me with your Intercession and in the mean time as events are doubtful in War I have one sure way to pass my life with you and yet engage our Interests to one another more than they have hitherto been Do not believe that the Princess is an invincible obstacle to this people break through much greater when they are as much in love as I am In this part my dear Cosin I give no bounds to my Imagination nor to your Hopes You may push them as far as you please Farewel The hopes that Madam de Chastillon had upon this Letter of marrying the Prince made her think of refusing the offers of the King of England hereupon she consulted one of her female Friends in Bordeaux's presence She whose Husband was with the Prince told her Mistress that she was mad once to think of marrying a shaddow of a King a Wretch who had not wherewith to live and who in making her to be laughed at would ruin her in a little time that if it was possible contrary to all appearances in the World that he should one day recover his Throne she might very well believe that being weary of her he would be divorced from her upon the pretext of the inequality of Condition Her Friend told her on the contrary that her madness was to marry the Prince who was married and whose Wife was in health that persons of the Quality of the King of England might be sometimes under ill Fortune but that they could never be in that extream necessity so common to private Persons That it was fine for a Lady to live a Queen tho she should live unhappy and that she ought never to refuse an honourable Title tho she was only to bear it upon her Grave As for you Mademoiselle turning towards Bordeaux you have reason to talk as you do to her Grace considering only your own interest but for my part who only consider her Graces I tell her what I ought to say Madam de Chastillon gave them thanks for the kindness they showed her and told them that she would take time to think of their Reasons before she came to a Resolution She was not willing to give a more positive Answer before her Friend in an Affair she was ashamed she should choose what was contrary to her advice In the mean time there came Notice from several parts to the King of England of the Life of Madam Chastillon and of her present Conduct with the Abbot Foucquett Never any Man that had the least sense of Honour did lose his Reason so much as in the beginning of his Passion to marry a Woman without Honour The King of England went from the Neighbourhood of Marlou as soon as He had learnt all these news and would not hazard by seeing Madam de Chastillon a Conflict that might be doubtfull between his sences and his Reason Madam de Chastillon was not then sensible of the loss she had the desires and hopes she had of marrying the Prince rendered all other things indifferent to her Madam de Chastillon being returned from her Dutchy to Marlou in the beginning of the Spring through the intercession of the Marshall d' Hocquincourt and sometime after to Paris he did not find her ungratefull for this favour This little service and the promises he gave her of killing the Cardinal and putting his Places into the Princes hands touched Madam de Chastillons Heart to that point that she granted enjoyment to the Marschal The Summer passed in this manner during which the Abbot Foucquett who perceived this Commerce was often under strange disquiets and he had done at that time what he did afterwards if Lovers did not love to deceive themselves when they are either to quit or condemn their Mistresses The Winter after the Duke of Candale at his return from Catalonia seemed to be in love with Madam de Chastillon The Abbot Foucquett allarum'd at so dangerous a Rivall caused Boligneux to desire him to cease his persuit The Duke of Candale being at that time really in love with Madam d' Olonne and had only engaged himself with Madam de Chastillon to make her serve for a pretext easily granted the Abbot Foucquett's Request But as with this Mistress Lovers were as an Hydra of whom one head was no sooner cut off but that an other sprung up in the room la Feuillade took the place of the Duke of Candale The Abbot Foucquett who knew it immediately spoke himself pretty sharply of it to la Fuillade who whether that he fancyed that his Rivall being beloved he should not succeed in his Enterprize or whether that his blooming Passion left him all his Prudence he did not judge it Convenient to incurr the hatred of so violent a Man wherefore he did not persevere in that Amour The Marquess de Cozuvres had not so much Complaisance as Feuillade had he continued to see Madam de Chastillon maugre the Abbot Foucquett but as he had neither Fortune nor Merit enough to touch her Heart she only made a
to undeceive the Publick of a thousand Particulars that the Marshal had said of her it was requisite that she should let People of Merit and Virtue see after what manner she would treat him In order to which she made choice of the House of the Marquess de Souches Great Provost of France to whom and his Wife she had a mind to justifie herself more particularly The Assignation being made with the Marshal he perceived her design God keep thee my poor Child said he accosting her How does my little Buttocks do are they still very lean It is impossible to imagine the sad Condition this discourse put the Dutchess in she was as if she had been stund with a blow upon her head it made her forget to call the Marshal Fool and Insolent but she fancied that having begun as he did he would proceed to the most shameful particulars imaginable for her if she displeased him never so little The Grand Provost and his Wise looked upon one another and turning towards the Dutchess found her with her Eyes towards the ground but indeed she did not change her Colour but those who knew her did not believe her perplexed At length the Great Provost breaking silence You do ill said he my Lord Marshal Gallant men ought never to quarrel with Ladies they ought to be thankul to them for the Presents they make them of their Hearts and ought not to offend them when they refuse it I grant that said the Marshal but when their Hearts are once given if they change after that it is requisite they use civilly those they have loved and when they droll upon them they expose themselves to great Affronts You understand me Madam added he turning towards the Dutchess I am sure you believe that I have reason for what I say but you surprize me with your disorder you ought to be prepared for such Accidents since you lay Snares for people who revenge themselves I vow I would not have believed that you had so much Modesty as you have And in ending this Discourse he went away and left the Dutchess more dead than alive The Great Provost and his Wife endeavoured to bring her to herself telling her That what the Marshal had said had not made any impression upon their minds however from that day they had no great Commerce with her A fortnight after the Abbot was obliged to go to the Court which was at Compeigne The Dutchess foreseeing the Prince of Condés return into France by the general Peace that was much talked of and not being willing that he should find her in so shameful an Intrigue for her resolved to break off after such a manner as that there might not remain the least appearance of it In this design she went to the Abbots House where having found one of his Servants in whom he put most confidence and asked him for the Keyes of his Master's Closet saying she had a mind to write him a Letter This Fellow without penetrating further and only considering the Abbots Passion for the Dutchess he gave her immediately what she demanded Seeing herself alone she broak the lock of the Cabinet where she knew that the Abbot kept her Letters and not only took them all but likewise others from the Prince of Condé which she had sacrificed to them and went and burnt them at Madam de Sourches House The Abbot having sound this disorder at his return home went to the Dutchesses House and began to threaten to cut off her Nose and then broke a Christal Candlestick and a great Looking-glass that he had given her and went away after having called her a thousand Names During all this bustle one of the Dutchesses Chambermaids fancying that the Abbot would take away from her all that he had given her laid hold upon her Mistresses Cabinet of Jewels and carried it to Madam de Sourches House from whence she sent for it again the same Evening and gave it to a devout Relation of her Mothers to keep The Abbot having notice of it on the Morrow went to that Devout Womans House and took it away by force The Dutchess being informed of the loss she had was extreamly grieved but she did not lose her judgment she employed people to the Abbot who had so much credit with him that he restored the Cabinet and by the means of this restitution they were as well reconciled as they had ever been and this reconciliation was so sudden that Madam de Bouteville coming the morrow to comfort the Dutchess her Daughter for the accident that had hapned to her the Abbot was already with her who concealed himself in a Closet during the Visit and heard all the Comedy Some time after the Dutchess not being willing to take alwaies the pains to conceal that she saw the Abbot again and fancied that since their quarrel was known abroad their reconciliation ought likewise to be publick Wherefore she caused all her friends to desire her to pardon the Abbot upon his sollicitation and at length having made it a point of Conscience the Mother Abbess of the Convent of Mercy a Woman subject to beatifical Visitations made them see and embrace one another This Mediation brought the Reverend Mother into some discredit with the Queen and the Cardinal They fancyed that that she had not so particular a Commerce with God since she suffered her self to be so easily deceived by Men. However this reconciliation lasted but six Months The Prince of Condé's return into France coming on daily made the Dutchess apprehend that he would find her under the Abbots Tutorship and the Ladies de Saint Chaumond and de Feguiers made her so much ashamed of him that she broak with him upon a pretext of Devotion It was very difficult for the Abbot to consent to the Dutchess's design and would not have done it at an other time but seeing his Credit very much diminished with the Cardinal and fearing that the Prince of Condé who hated him besides and Bouteville who would revenge the dishonour he had done to his family might cause him to be stabbed if he gave the Dutchess the least new Reason of Complaining he left off Visiting but not loving her The End of the Second Part LOVES EMPIRE Or The GALLANTRIES Of the FRENCH COURT The Third Part. LONDON Printed for Dorman Newman 1682. LOVES EMPIRE c. AT that time Madam d'Olonne was gone as I have said to desire the Countess of Fiesque to thank in her name the Abbot Foucquett for some pretended Obligation which was properly nothing but she had a mind the Abbot Foucquett should make Reflections upon the Compliment and make him Comprehend that when people have thanks returned them for such small things they are willing to be indebted to them for the greater Obligations The same day that Madam d'Olonne saw the Countess she found the Abbot at Madam de Bonelles and there she herself made him the same Compliment The Abbot being very desirons
have made of this business the most agreable Intrigue imaginable but he was lodged as I have told you and only loved by starts he did enough to heat his Mistress and too little to engage her When I told that fair One that he loved her extreamly because that Feuillade had desired me before her to speak for him in his absence she drolled upon me and made me observe some parts of his procedure which destroyed the good Offices I would have done him I did not fail to excuse him not being able to save his Conduct I justified at least his intentions We were much upon these terms Darcy and I with the Ladies of Precy and L' Isle that is to say they were willing that we should love them but indeed we did our Devoir better with them than Feuillade did with Madam de Monglas in short three Months being spent during which that fair One found herself more engaged by the things I had said to her in favour of Feuillade than by the love he had shown her this Lover was forced to go serve in the Army with a Regiment of Foot he had This Farewel made her sensible that she had something more kindness in her heart for la Feuillade then she had thitherto beleived She let him perceive something of it but tho it was enough to render a welbred Man happy it could not shock the severest Vertue Feuillade at parting made her a thousand Protestations of loving her as long as he lived tho she should even continue ever obstinately resolved not to make any returns to his Passion and he and I pressed her so much to give him leave to write to her that she gave her consent Sometime before his departure perceiving that the Commerce I had had for my Friend with his Mistress had the more touched my heart for her in making me the better acquainted with her and that the efforts I had made to love Madam de Precy had not cured me of my budding Passion for Madam de Mongl as I resolved not to see her so often that I might not be divided between Honour and Self-love As long as Feuillade was at Paris his Mistress did not take notice that I did not visit her so often as I used to do but when he was gone she perceived a Change in my way of living and this put her in pain thinking that my retreat was a sign of Feuillade's being become indifferent and of whom likewise she had not had any tidings since his departure Some days after having sent to desire me to come to her What have I done to you my Lord said she to me that I see you no oftner has our Friendship any share in your absence No Madam said I to her it only respects my self How said she have I given you any reason to Complain No Madam replyed I I can only complain of Fortune The disorder with which I said this obliged her to press me to tell her more How added she do you conceal your Affairs from me whom I let see all I have in my heart if it be so I should complain of you Ah! how pressing are you answered I her is it discretion to force a Secret from ones Friend ought not you to believe that I should not tell you mine since I do not tell it you in the Circumstances I am in with you or rather ought not you to divine it Madam since Ah! do not proceed interrupted she I am afraid to understand you I am afraid of having reason to be angry and of losing the esteem I have for you No no Madam said I to her be not afraid I am under those Circumstances you are not willing I should be and yet I shall not be wanting in my Devoir but since we are come so far I will tell you all the rest As soon as I saw you Madam I found you very amiable and every time I saw you afterwards I thought you more beautiful than the time before however I was not yet sensible of any thing so pressing as to oblige me to follow you up and down but I was very much pleased when I met with you The first thing which made me perceive that I was in love with you Madam was the trouble your absence gave me and as I was upon the point of abandoning my self to my Passion and of thinking of the means of making it known to you Darcy Feuillade and I drew lots whom we should each of us make our address to of you Madam de Precy and Madam de L'Isle tho what my heart was sensible of for you Madam was yet very weak I should not have left to chance a thing of that Consequence if I had not been thitherto very lucky but in short my Fortune changed in that occasion for you fell to Feuillade 's share and I should have gained more by having lost all my life time than in that unhappy moment all my Comfort was as I have said that the application that I was going to make to Madam de Precy whom I had formerly loved would root out of my heart what was budding there but all to no purpose Madam you may judge that the Commerce that the interest of my Friend obliged me to have with you giving me the opportunity of knowing you more particularly and of observing in you admirable principles for Love I could not get rid of a Passion which your Beauty alone had produced when Feuillade desired me to serve him I felt something beyond the joy we have usually in serving our Friends and I quickly perceived afterwards that without designing to betray him I was overjoyed with being concerned in his Affairs to have only the pleasure of seeing you more nearly but at length it put me into terrible pains this Madam has obliged me to see you less frequently and tho you did not take notice of it but since Feuillade 's departure it is above a fortnight since I retrenched my Visits Not but that you must have observed Madam that I have served my Friend as I would have served my self I have sometimes justified him when he was apparently Culpable and I might if I had had a mind have ruined him with you without seeming unfaithful leaving it to be done by the resentment of a thousand Faults which you pretended he committed against the Love he shewed you But I confess that my Duty makes me suffer extreamly in seeing you and were I out of your sight it would spare me a great many efforts I make upon you my self besides Madam I would never have told you the reasons of my retreat if you had not asked me them Nothing can be more civil my Lord Madam de Monglas replyed to me than what you now do but you ought to compleat your Duty and send your Friend an account of all things that he may not be surprized when he shall learn perhaps by other means that you hardly ever see me and that he may not
it true Merille said the Countess that the Duke of Candale was in love with Madam de Castillanne No No Madam said he to her he was two days in Avignon at his return from the Army to refresh himself and there he made two Visits to Madam de Castellanne judge if this can be called Love But Madam added he addressing himself to Madam d' Olonne Who has given you such good Information of all my Master did Alas answered she I only know the publick report but it is so common that this Amour is even said to be partly Cause of his Death And then she fell a crying again more than ever The Countess who only sought to make a Diversion to her Grief asked her if she knew not the Hand of a Superscription of a Letter she shewed her Yes answered Madam d' Olonne it is a Letter from my Steward This must be something very Curious said the Countess I must see what he writes and thereupon opened this Letter LEt my Lady tell you what she will her House is never empty of Normans those Devils would be much better in their Countrey than here I am mad my Lord to see what I see which I do not send you the Particulars of because I hope you will be here very suddenly where you will take order for all your self By these Normans the Steward meant Beuvron and his Brothers Jarry and the Chivalier de Sainct Earemond and the Abbot de Villerceaux who were very assiduous at Madam d' Olonne's House The plainness with which this poor Man sent this News to the Duke of Candale did so move that foolish Woman that after having looked upon the Countess to see how she took it she burst out a laughing the Countess not having so much reason to be afflicted as she had did the like But poor Merille not being able to bear with so unreasonable a Joy redoubled his Fears and went out of the Cabinet in a pet Two or three days after Madam d' Olonne being perfectly comforted the Countess and her other Friends advised her to mourn for her Honours sake her Intrigue with the Duke of Candale having been too publick to make a Mystery of it So that she constrained her self four or five days after which she followed her old Course and that which hastened her laying by her Mask of Mourning was the Carneval which by giving her an opportunity to satisfie her Inclination helped her likewise to content her Husband who had great suspicions of her Correspondence with the Duke of Candale and thought himself very happy in being freed from him Wherefore to make him believe she was no longer concerned she masked herself four or five times with him and being willing to regain entirely his Confidence by a great sincerity she not only confessed to him her love for the Duke not only that she had suffered the Fort to be taken but the particulars of their Enjoyments And as she specified the number He had but little love for you Madam said he insulting the memory of the poor deceased since he performed so seldom with so beautiful a Woman as you are She had left her Bed but a week which she had kept above four by reason of a great hurt she had in her leg when she resolved to mask herself And this desire advanced her Cure more then all the Remedies she had used of a long time So that she went in Masquerade four of five times with her Husband but as these were only little private Masquerades she resolved to have a great and famous One that might be talked of and to that intent she and three more disguised themselves like Capuchins and caused two others of her Friends to be diguised like Nuns The Capuchins were she herself her Husband Jarry and the Abbot de Villerseaux The Nuns were my Lord Crofts an Englishman and the Marquess de Sillery This Troop run into all Companies on Shrove-Tuesday Night The King and Queen his Mother having been informed of this Masquerade were extreamly displeased with Madam d' Olonne and said openly that they would revenge the Injury and Contempt that had been had of Religion in that Occasion Some time after their Majesties were pacified and all these Threatnings ended in their having no more esteem for Madam d' Olonne During all these passages Jeannin peaceably enjoyed his Mistress When she caused the Lottery to be drawn I have already said that of Ten thousand Crowns she had received she had employed but the half at most and the greatest part of this half was distributed to the Capuchins to the Nuns and others of the Cabal The Prince of Marsillac who was young to act the chiefest part upon this Stage had the greatest Lot which was a Silver Cestern Jeannin with all the Favours he received had only a Jewel of very small value The great Rumour that run of the deceit of this Lottery vexed him to see that he was no better treated than the most indifferent He complained to Madam d' Olonne she not thinking fit to acquaint him with her Roguery received his Complaints very ill insomuch that before they parted they both fell to Reproaches the one for his Money the other for her Favours The Conclusion of which was Madam d' Olonne's forbidding him her House and Jeannin told her that he had never obeyed her so willingly as he should do in that Occasion and that this Command would save him both Trouble and Expence In the mean time Beuvron's Commerce with her lasted still whether the Spark was not much in love or that he thought himself happy in having her Favours at any rate he tormented her a little about her Behaviour she also treated as one she made use of when others failed her and her love for him was as little as nothing Shortly after her falling out with Jeannin Marsillac who had Friends who were much brisker than he was himself was advised by them to apply himself to Madam d' Olonne and told him that he was of an Age to make himself talked of that Women procured Esteem as well as War that Madam d' Olonne being one of the greatest Beauties of the Court besides the great Pleasures would likewise be an Honour to him she should love and that it was very glorious to fill the place of the Duke of Candale With all these Reasons they egged on Marillac to make his Visits to Madam d' Olonne but because he was naturally very distrustful of himself his Cabal being also very distrustful of him judged it was not fit he should be left upon his word with her and it was concluded that Sillery should be appointed for his Governour and to assist him upon occasion Marsillac had made great Application to her for two Months for this without having spoke to her of Love otherwise then in general terms He had however told Sillery that it was above six Weeks since he had made an Amarous Declaration to