the first time I perceived you loved me and tho you did not acquaint me with it I did not fail to think my self obliged to you for all you have done for me since the first moment you saw me and this ought to be my Excuse when I confess I love you Therefore do not esteem me the less having long understood your sighs and tho I should be something blamed for my little resistance it would be a mark of the force of your merit rather than of my easiness It is easie to imagine that after this Confession it was not long before the Lady delivered up her Fort to her Gallant This Intrigue lasted four or five Months without disturbance to either Party but at length the Beauty of Madam d' Olonne was too much talked of and that Conquest promised too much Glory in appearance to him who should make it for Beuvron to be at rest The Duke of Candale who was the handsomest man of the Court fancied that nothing was wanting to his Reputation but the being beloved by the most beautiful Woman of the Kingdom Wherefore he took a Resolution at the Army three Months after the Campaigne to be in love with her assoon he should see her and made appear by a great Passion he had afterwards for her that Love is not always the work of Heaven and of Fortune The Duke of Candale had blew Eyes a handsome Nose irregular Features a great and disagreeable Mouth but very fine Teeth light yellowish Hair both long and thick his Shape was admirable and he dressed so well that the greatest Sparks endeavoured to imitate him he had the air of a Person of great Quality he held one of the first Ranks in France was Duke and Peer Governour of Burgundy joyntly with his Father and sole Governour of Auvergne and Colonel General of the French Infantry His Genius was mean but in his first Amours falling into the hands of a Lady who had an infinite deal of Wit and as they had loved one another extreamly she had taken so much care to polish him and he to please that fair One that Art had surpassed Nature and he was a much better bred man than a thousand others who have more sense than he Insomuch that being returned from Catalonia where he had commanded the Army under the Prince of Conty he begun by a thousand eagernesses to acquaint Madam d' Olonne with the love he had for her thinking she had never had an Amourous Intrigue But seeing she made no returns to his Passion he resolved to acquaint her with it after such a manner as that she might not seem to be ignorant of it but as he had a kind of bashful respect for all Women he chose rather to write than speak to Madam d' Olonne and his Letter was in these terms I Am grieved Madam that all Delarations of Love are alike and that there is sometimes so much differences in Sentiments I am very sensible that I love you more than all the World is used to love and yet I cannot express it otherwise then is done by all the World Wherefore do not take notice of my words that are weak and may be deceitful but be pleased to make reflexion on my Conduct towards you and if you find that to continue it with the same force I must needs be deeply struck yield to these testimonies and be assured that since I love you so much not being beloved by you I shall adore you when you oblige me to have acknowledgment Madam d' Olonne having read this Letter made this Answer IF any thing hinders you from being believed when you talk of Love it is not that it is importunate but that you tell it too well Great Passions are usually more disordered and me thinks you write like a very witty Man who is not in love but would fain be thought so and since it seems so to me who am infinitely desirous that what you say were true judge what People would imagine to whom your Passion should be indifferent they would presently think you had a mind to railly For my part I 'le never make a rash judgment but will accept the Offer you make me and am willing to judge by your Conduct of the Sentiments you have for me This Letter which grateful People would have thought very kind did not seem so to the Duke of Candale As he was very vain he had expected less intricate Favours and this obliged him not to press Madam d' Olonne so much as she was willing he should have done and made her a hard task in spight of her self and the thing had lasted a long time if the Fair One had not gained upon her Modesty to make him so many advances that he fancyed he might make an attack without being exposed to a Repulse The business being done he quickly perceived Beuvron's Commerce Usually a Pretender looks only before him but a Lover well treated looks on the right and on the left and is not long without discovering his Rival Hereupon the Duke complaines His Mistress calls him Caprichious and Tyrant and takes him up so roundly that he asks her pardon for his suspicions and fancies himself too happy in having appeased her This Calm did not long continue Beuvron for his part reproached her to as little purpose as the Duke did and seeing he could not destroy his Rival himself he caused notice to be given under hand to Olonne that his Wife entertained the Duke of Candale for her Galant D' Olonne forbids her to see him that is to say redoubled the Passion of those two Lovers who having the more desire to see one another since it was forbidden found a thousand more convenient oppurtunities than those they had before However Beuvron remaining Master of the field of Battails the Duke of Candale renewed his Complaints against him and used all his endeavours to have him Cashiered but all to no purpose Madam d' Olonne told him that she perceived he only considered his own Interest and that he cared not if he ruined her since that if she should forbid Beuvron to see her her husband and all the world would not doubt but that she made that sacrifice to him Madam d' Olonne did not love Beuvron so much as she did the Duke yet she was not willing however to lose him and as well because One and One make Two as that because Cocquetts fancy they can retaine their Galants better by a little Jealousy than a great Tranquility In the mean time Paget a man pretty well stricken in years meanly born but very rich fell in love with Madam d' Olonne and having discovered that she loved the sport he fancyed that his Money would serve him instead of Merit and founded his greatest hopes upon the sum he resolved to offer her He had access enough to her house to have spoke to her himself if he had durst but he had not the boldness to begin
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
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
his Mistress more by his tears that he should ever love her than by the things he said to her and the constraint that Madam de Chastillon used not to weep had the same effect in her Lover They parted very sad but deeply perswaded that they would love one another passionately that they should ever do so They seldom met the rest of the Autumn because they were observed but Letters passed often between them In the beginning of Winter the Civil War which begun to break forth obliged the King to leave Paris something surprizeingly and retire to St. Germains At that time the Marshal Coligny's Father happened to dye and the Prince of Condé who was then the Cardinal of Mazarine's right Arm obtained the Patent of Duke and Peer for his Cosin de Coligny The Troops coming from all parts the City was blocked up the Court however did not seem very sad and the Courtiers and Souldiers were over-joyed at the ill posture of Affairs the Cardinal only whom they might ruin concealed part of them from the Queen and all from the young King whom when they talked to of War it was only to acquaint him with the defeats of the Enemies and the rest of the time they amused him in Plays that were sutable to his Age Amongst other Persons with whom he loved to play the Dutchess of Chastillon held the first rank and hereupon Benscrade made this Sonnet under her Husband's Name Chastillon keep your Charms For another Lover Tho you stand with open Arms And keep a mighty Pother The King 's too young to quench the Fires Of such an eager Beauty How can such raging hot desires Be still'd by Minority In these little Playes the Duke of Nemours did not lose his time they ever furnished the Dutchess and him with occasions of giving one another testimonies of their love and by the same degrees that the passion of these two Lovers augmented their prudence did the Contrary it was observed that at a Play called the Bohemien they placed themselves opposite to one another and were always whispering and that when one was blind-folded the other stood so as to be caught to the end that the hand in seeking to know who it was that was taken might have a pretext to feel every where In short there was not one of these Plays but what furnished them with the means of tickling their amourous fancy The Duke of Chastillon whom the knowledge of his Wife's humour obliged to observe her saw something of an Intrigue between the Duke of Nemours and her Glory more than Love made him receive this discovery with an extreame Impatience He spoke of it to one of his best Friends who sharing his grief as deeply as possible went and told the Dutchess of it The service that I have devoted said he to the Family of his Grace your Husband obliges me to come and give you an advice which is of Consequence Beautyfull as you are Madam it is impossible but that you must have adorers and as certainly your intentions being good you have not so strict a raine over your own actions most Women who envy you and Men jealous of the Glory of the Duke your Husband give an ill interpretation to all you do My Lord your Husband himself has perceived that your Conduct which tho it were more imprudent than Criminal does not faile however to do you an injury in the World and trouble him you know how haughty he is Madam and how much he would fear to be ridiculed upon that point I give you notice of it and humbly beseech you to take care for if by relying too much upon the clearness of your Conscience you should be too negligent of your Reputation his Grace may come to such Violences against you as would not leave you in a Condition to make appear to him your innocence What you tell me Sir answered Madam de Chastillon ought not to surprize me my Lord Duke began betimes to accustom me to his Caprichio's On the day after our Wedding he fell into so furious a jealousy of Roquelaure who had helped him to carry me away that he could not conceal it and yet he could never have had less reason than at what he gave him and now again I find that he renews his suspicions and yet I cannot devine of whom it is All that I can say is that I doubt whether his mind would be at rest tho I were in the Countrey and saw none but my Domesticks I shall not come to further particulars with you Madam I even know not whether my Lord Duke aimes at any one when he tells me he is satisfied with you but you may upon what I have told you take measures for your Conduct And thereupon having taken leave of her he left her under terrible disquiets She immediately gave notice of all this to the Duke of Nemours and they resolved together that they would constrain themselves more than they had thitherto done In the mean time the Prince of Condé was wholly taken up in Contriving how to reduce the People of Paris by Famine to deliver the Parliament that had promised a sum to those who would bring the Cardinals Head fancyed that the taking of Charenton would much advance this Success which Clanle guarded with five or six hundred Men he reassembled part of the Quarters and with a thousand Men at the head of whom Gaston of France the King's Unkle and Lieutenant General of the Regency would needs place himself he came to Attack Charenton in three places As the Retrenchments at the Avenues were but bad it was not difficult for the King's Troops to force them But the Duke of Chastillon who commanded the Attacks under the Prince was wounded in the belly with a Musket shot in the Burrough of which he dyed the Night after The Prince regretted him extreamly and his grief was so violent that it could not last By what had passed you may judge that the Dutchesses Affliction was not very great and you may judge it much better by what shall happen in the sequel however she wept she tore her Hair and made appear the Appearances of the greatest Despair imaginable the Publick was so deceived that this Sonnet was made upon his death Just as the Court the Honours did prepare That Chastillon had merited by his Arms Death did deprive us of this Conquerour And snatch'd him from the midst of great Alarms How great was fairest Dutchess your Despair When you had lost all hopes of his return All must have wept who saw you tare your Hair Or else their Hearts with Love did ever burn In such a sad Estate so strange surprize Never Alcionne nor Artenise Of Fate with so much reason could complain You sigh you weep but all 's alas in vain The Duke of Nemours who was better informed than the rest of the World was not astonished at Madam de Chastillon's affliction He timed his business so well that the
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
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
LOVES EMPIRE Or The AMOURS Of the FRENCH COURT LONDON Printed for Dorman Newman at the Kings Arms in the Poultry 1682. TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE THE EARL OF THANET c. My LORD THE present Times being pestered with nothing but Narrative and Narrative Evidence upon Evidence one to strengthen and another to invalidate the Truth of a Plot The Papists Libelling the Presbyterians and the Presbyterians zealously Answering them and both disturbing the Publick Peace Insomuch that Mr. Stationer hath now nothing to Entertain his Customer with but some rare Pamphlet which he is ready to commend as excellently penned and learnedly handled St. Austin 's City of God The Practice of Piety The Whole Duty of Man c. are grown even mouldy upon their Shelves and none but the Advising C and Intelligent V the former furnishing us with News from the Pope and the latter with strange Stories of Things which never were can merit their Favour or be vouchsaft an Acceptance And therefore for me to intrude into his Shop and desire a Place in his Classes under the Notion of a Lover is look't upon as the Superlative Degree of Boldness and Impudence and I am immediately commanded to Retire or if I persist Intreating I am thrust out of Doors and called an Idle Fellow a Toâ—y an Enemy to the Good Old Cause and I know not what Forgetting that Love ought at this time especially to have the greatest Empire in Mens Hearts to Vnite the Dissentingly Reformed to the Truly Reformed Opinion and thus like Ephraim and Manasseh both would agree against Judah the Papists And now my Lord being likely to be kept in Silence and Obscurity and uncapable to appear abroad without a PROTECTION I made bold to enter into your Lordships Presence and casting my self at your Feet humbly implore your Honourable Patronage Your Lordship will perchance be apt to ask me if this be a Time to talk of Love To which I believe I need not study for an Answer when the high Station your Lordship has in the World gives you the affrighting Prospect how little room Love takes up now among Men Nay 't is almost forgot and therefore to give them this Memento of it will not altogether be inseasonable My Lord the Stage whereon Our Gallants acted their several Parts was France and having met with a General Acceptance and Favour in their French I ventured to Equipp them in our English Garb. I hope they may give your Lordship some agreable Diversion when your vacant Hours from more serious Affairs shall permit you Your Lordships Favour and Incouragement is the sole Azyle to which I shall have Recourse with which if I am honoured I shall not value the severe Scrutinies of of the nice Critick nor the Opprobrious Censure of the Sedate Phanatick whilst I think it my Duty to write my self My Lord Your Lordships most humble and devoted Servant R. H. Loves Empire Or The GALLANTRIES Of the FRENCH COURT NOtwithstanding that in the Reign of Lewis the Fourteenth the War had continued above Twenty years yet it did not hinder Love from causing some Amourous Intrigues but as the Court was only filled with old insensible Gentlemen and young Sparks bred up in Armies and whom that Profession had rendred Brutal most of the Ladies were become less modest than formerly and seeing they should have languished in Idleness if they had not made Advances or at least if they had been Cruel a great many grew tender hearted and some very Confident Of this last Tribe was Madam d' Olonne She had a round Face a pretty Nose a little Mouth fine sparkling Eyes and delicate Features yet smiling which embelishes most people had in her a quite contrary effect her Hair was a bright brown her Complexion admirable her Neck Hands and Arms were well made her shape was not to be commended nor would she have been thought Charming had it not been for her Face This much her Flatterers say That when she first appeared at Court she had a handsome Body which is the usual plea of those who would excuse Women who are too Corpulent However this Lady was too sincere in this case to leave people in an Errour for every one that had a mind might be informed of the contrary and it was not her fault she did not undeceive all the World Madam d' Olonne had a quick and pleasant Wit when she was free yet she was something false inconstant bold malicious loved pleasures even to Debauch and there was excess in her least Divertisements Her Beauty rather than her Estate which was but small obliged the Count d' Olonne to endeavour the making her his Wife Which he quickly effected for being a Person of Quality and having a great Estate he was agreeably received by Madam de la Louppe her Mother and had not the leisure to sigh for Charms which for two years had inflamed the desires of all the Court This Match being consummated those Lovers withdrew who pretended to Marriage and others came who only aimed at being beloved One of the first who offered himself was Beuvron whom the Neighbourhood of Madam d' Olonne gave the more conveniency of seeing and by this means loved her a pretty while without being discovered and I fancy this Amour would have still been concealed if Beuvron had never had Rivals But the Duke of Candale being fallen in love with Madam d' Olonne quickly perceived what had thitherto remained concealed for want of interessed People Not but that d' Olonne loved his Wife extreamly but Husbands are stupid and so are never Lovers and the jealousie of these is much more piercing than that of the others So that the Duke of Candale saw things that d' Olonne did not and never has seen for he is still ignorant that Beuvron has had an Intrigue with his Wife Beuvron had black Eys a handsom Nose a little Mouth a long Face very black long and thick Hair a fine Shape and Wit enough He was not one of those who talk all in Company but was a Man of good sense and honour tho he had naturally an aversion for War so that being fallen in love with Madam d' Olonne he sought for an opportunity to discover to her his Passion Their Neighbourhood at Paris gave him occasions enough but her Inconstancy made him apprehend an Intrigue with her At length happening one day to meet with her without other Company If I only designed Madam said he to her to let you know that I love you words would be altogether unnecessary my cares and my looks have told you sufficiently what effect your Charms have had upon me But Madam as I expect you should one day make returns to my flames it is requisite that I discover 'em and assure you at the same time that whether you love me or not I am resolved to be your Votary as long as I live Beuvron having ceased speaking Sir answered Madam d' Olonne This is not
made a great Noise they had both of them Enemies but the Fortune of the One and the Beauty of the Other made-a great many envy them tho all the world would have served them they would have destroyed all by their Imprudence and all the world would have done them hurt They made Assignations every where without having taken any measures with any Body They saw One another often in a house that the Duke of Candale kept in the name of a Country Lady whom Madam d' Olonne pretended to visit most commonly by night at her own House all these Rendevouzes did not take up all the time of this perfidious One for when the Duke left her she went to the conquest of some new Lover or at least to reassume Beuvron by a thousand kindnesses for the fears the Duke gave him The Winter passed thus without the Duke of Candales suspecting the least ill in all she did and he left her to return to the Army as well satisfied as he had ever been he had not been there two Months but that he learnt news which troubled his joy His particular friends who took strict notice of his Mistresses Conduct did not dare to say any thing to him as long as they found him prepossessed by that faithless One but something very extraordinary having happened since his absence and not fearing a sight of her should destroy the impressions they would give him they altogether hazarded without making appear any design or concert to acquaint him with her behaviour Whereupon they each of them singly sent him word that Ieannin was deeply engaged with Madam d' Olonne that his assiduities gave cause to believe not only a design but a happy success and in a word that tho she were not culpable he ought not to be satisfied with her seeing she was suspected by all People But while these News are going to put the Duke of Candale in a rage it is fit I should speak of the birth progress and ends Jeannin's Passion Jeannin de Castille was well shaped had a pleasing Countenance was very spruce but had little Wit his Quality and Profession were the same that Pagets and was very rich as well as he He was handsome enough to have it believed that in case he had worn a Sword his Merit alone might have procured him the Ladies Favours but his Profession and his Riches made it suspected that all the Women he had had Intrigues with were interessed insomuch that when he was seen to be in love with Madam d' Olonne it was not doubted but that he would be beloved for his Money The King after having passed the Summers upon the Frontiers usually returned to Paris in the Winters and all the Divertisements of the World possessed his Mind by turns Billiards Tennis Hunting Plays and Dancing had each their times with him At that time Lotteries were so much the mode that every one had them some of Money others of Jewels and Moveables Madam d' Olonne resolved to have One of Money but whereas in the most part of them all the Cash was employed they had received and that Fortune shared it in this which was of Ten thousand Crowns there was not Five employed and those Five too were distributed according as Madam d' Olonne thought fit Jeannin was present when she made the first Proposals of the Lottery and as she asked a Sum of every one according to their Abilities and that she told him he was to give an Hundred pound he made Answer That he was willingly and moreover promised her to procure amongst his Friends wherewith to make it up a Thousand Presently after all the Company being gone except Jeannin I know not Madam said he to her whether you are yet acquainted with my Passion for I have loved you a long time and my sighs already mount to a very great sum but after having given my self entirely to you I must needs ask the confirmation of my Bail which I beseech you to sign Madam and observe that besides the Hundred pound you taxed me I give you Nine hundred more for the having your Affection for what I said of my Friends was only to deceive the People that were here when I spoke to you of this Affair I confess Sir answered Madam d' Olonne I never thought you in love till now not but that I have observed by certain Meenes in you what made me suspect some things but I am so disgusted with those kind of ways and sighs and languishings are in my mind so poor a Galantry and such feeble Testimonies of love that if you had not taken a more gentile Course with me you had lost your pains all your life time Now as for Acknowledgment you may believe that People are not far from loving when we are well assured of being beloved There need no more to make Jeannin believe that he was at the Critical Minute He cast himself at Madam d' Olonne's feet and as he would have made use of that Action of Humility for a pretext to higher Enterprizes No said she you are mistaken Sir In what Country have you heard say that Women make Advances When you shall have given me reall marks of a great Passion I shall not be ungrateful Jeannin seeing that with her Money was to be delivered before the Commodity told her That he had two Hundred broad Pieces and that he would give them her if she pleased She consented and having received them If you think fit Madam said he to her to grant me some favour upon the account of this Money you will extreamly oblige me or if you will stay till you have received the whole Sum give me a Note under your Hand of the value received She chose rather to kiss than write and a Moment after Jeannin went away assuring her that he would bring the rest on the morrow which he did not fail to do and the Moment was no sooner counted then that she kept her word with him with all the Honour that can be expected in such a Treaty Tho Jeannin came in through the same Door that Paget did she used him much better whether she hoped to draw greater Advantages from him at length or that he had some concealed Merit that served him instead of Liberality she did not ask him new Proofs of Love for the giving him new Favours The Thousand pounds made her love him three Months together that is to say treated him as if she had loved him In the mean time the Duke of Candale having received Advice of his Mistresses new Intrigues he wrote her this Letter THo you would justifie your self to me of all the things you are Accused of I can no longer love you tho all that is said of you was done only out of Malice All Lovers are usually overjoyed to hear their Mistresses named as for me I tremble as soon as I hear or read your Name I ever fancy in these Occasions that I shall learn
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
her and had likewise invented a very harsh Answer that he said she made him that he might not think it strange he was so long without receiving Favours Whereupon this Governour to serve his Pupil spoke thus to Madam d' Olonne I know very well Madam that nothing is so free as Love and that if the heart is not touched by inclination the mind will never be much perswaded by words but I must however tell you that when a Person is young and unmarried I do not comprehend why a young amorous Gentleman is refused who is as well provided or I am much mistaken as any man about Court it is poor Marsillac I speak of Madam since he is desperately in love with you why are you ungrateful Or if you find you cannot love him why do you amuse him Love him or dismiss him I know not since when answered Madam d' Olonne that Men pretend we should love them without their having made it their Request for I have heard say it was they who formerly made Court I know very well that in these latter days they treat Gallantry after a strange manner but I knew not that they had reduced it to the point of requiring that Women should be their Votaries How answered Sillery has not Marsillac declared he loved you No Sir said she to him it is you who first tell it me Not but that his Assiduities have made me suspect he had some design but till we are spoke to we do not understand the rest Ah Madam replied Sillery you are not then so much in fault as I thought Marillac 's Youth renders him fearful but the same Youth makes Women excuse several things Persons of his Age are seldome faulty and men but Twenty years old always meet with Compassion I grant replied Madam d' Olonne that the Bashfulness of a young Man raises Pity and never Anger but I likewise pretend he should be respectful Do you call respect Madam said Sillery to her the not daring to say we are in love It is all meer folly I say in regard of a Woman who would not make Returns For in that Case the Gallant would not lose his time and would quickly know what he was to trust to But this respect which you require Madam is only of advantage to you with those you have no inclination for for if the Man you are inclined to love should have too much of it you would be very much perplexed As he had done speaking Company came in whereupon he took his leave and went to seek out Marsillac to whom having made a thousand Reproaches for his Timidity he made him promise that before that day was at an end he would make an amorous Declaration to his Mistress He likewise told him part of the things it was requisite he should say which Marsillac had forgot within a Moment after and having encouraged him as much as he could he saw him set out for this great Expedition However Marsillac was under strange disquiets sometimes he thought his Coach went too fast sometimes he wished he might not find Madam d' Olonne at home or that he might find some body with her In a word he feared the same things that a brisk Man would have desired with all his heart However he was so unhappy as to meet with his Mistress and to find her alone He came up to her with so disordered a Countenance that if Sillery had not already acquainted her with his Love she would have discovered it by seeing him only that time This Disorder helped to perswade her more then all he or the Eloquence of his Friend could have said to her And it is for this reason that Fools are more happy than the Wise in Love The first thing that Marsillac did after being seated was putting on his Hat so little was he himself an instant after perceiving his folly he took off his Hat and Gloves then put on one again and all this without saying a Word What 's the matter Sir said Madam d' Olonne you seem to be concerned at something Do not you Divine it Madam said Marsillac No said she I do not comprehend it How should I understand what you do not tell me being hardly able to conceive what I am told I shall tell you then what it is replied Marsillac simpering I am in love with you But why so much Ceremony said she for so small a thing I do not see there is so much difficulty in loving there appearing much more in loving well Ah Madam I find it much harder to tell it than to do it I find none at all in loving you and I should find it so difficult to cease loving you that I should never be able to forbear tho you should order it me a thousand times I Sir replied Madam d' Olonne blushing I have nothing to Command you Any other than Marsillac would have understood the cunning way that Madam d' Olonne made use of to permit him to love her But his Wit was gone a Wool-gathering and all Delicacy upon him was lost How Madam said he to her do you not esteem me enough to honour me with your Commands Well said she to him should you be glad I ordered you not to love me any longer No Madam replied he bluntly What would you be at then said Madam d' Olonne Love you as long as I live said he Well said she love me as long as you please and hope This had been sufficient for a more pressing Gallant than Marsillac to have pretended to enjoyment immediately and yet notwithstanding all that Madam d' Olonne could do he made her wait two Months and at length when they came to the point she was forced to make all the Advances The establishing this new Commerce did not make her break that she had with Beuvron The last Lover was ever the most beloved but he was not so much in her Favour as to drive away Beuvron who was a second Husband to her A little before the Repture of Jeannin with Madam d' Olonne the Chevalier of Grammont was fallen in love with her and he being a very extraordinary Person it is fit I give a Description of him The Chevalier had brisk Eyes a handsome Nose a pretty Mouth a dimple in his Chin and I know not what of sine in his Phisiognomy his Shape had been comely had he not stooped his Wit was delicate and gallant However his Meen and his Accent gave a Grace to what he said that became nothing in the Mouth of another A mark of this is that he writ the worst of any Body and he writ as he spoke Though it be superfluous to say that a Rival is incommode the Chevalier was to that point that it would have been better for a poor Woman to be troubled with four others then he alone He was so sprightly that he hardly ever slept he was liberal to Profusion and by that means his Mistress and
have care of it above all things and told him that he should judge thereby of the Love he had for her Thereupon they made a thousand Protestations of loving one another all their life-time they agreed of the means of writing and then took leave the one to go to Court the other to the Wells Prince Marsillac went the next day to take his leave of Mademoiselle Cornuelle his good Friend he desired her to perswade his Mistress to be more circumspect in her Carriage than she had yet been Rely upon me for that said this young Lady to him she must be very incorrigible if I do not keep her within bounds Two dayes after Mademoiselle Cornuelle went to Madam d' Olonnes and having prayed her to order her Porter to say she was gone out I am too much your friend Madam said she to her not to speake franckly to you in all that concerns your Carriage and your Reputation you are beautyfull young you are of Quality you have Riches and will you have infinitely Charmed a Prince who loves you extreamly All this ought to 〈◊〉 you happy however you 〈◊〉 not so you know what Reports run of you we have talked of them sometimes together and this being so you are mad you are not 〈◊〉 I do not pretend to consider your weakenesses I am a Woman as well as you and I know by my self the want of our Sex Your Manners are insupportable you love pleasures Madam and I allow them but you take delight to set People a talking and it is that I condemn you for Can you not leave off your Extravagances it is impossible but that you must be in a Rage when you hear of the Reputation you have in the world and Men conceal the love they have for you more out of Shame than Modesty Well my Dear said Madam d' Olonne do you here any thing new does the World renew its Satyr's against me No Madam said Mademoiselle it does only continue them because you still continue to give it new matters I know not what I must do then replyed Madam d' Olonne all the Prudence that one can have in love I fancyed I had and that since I have been concerned in loving I never fruitlesly delayed nor spun out any Intrigue well knowing that the greatest Noise is usually made before the business is agreed on and when Lovers act not in Concert together Pret hee tell me exactly my Dear added she what I must do to love well and entertain a Gallantry that shall do me no injury in the world tho it should be suspected For I am resolved to do my Devoir in the future with the utmost Regularity There are so many things to say upon that point said Mademoiselle Cornuelle that I should never have don if I would neglect nothing however I shall tell you the principal as succinctly as possible First you must know Madam that there are three sorts of Women who make love The Debauchées the Cocquets and the honest Mistresses Tho the first are abominable they certainly deserve more compassion than hatred because they are hurryed away by the force of their Temper and that almost an impossible application is required to reforme Nature however if in any encounter we ought to conquer our selves it is in that wherein no less is concerned than our honours or lives As for Cocquets the number being much greater I shall enlarge more upon that point The difference between Debauchées and them is that in the Ill the former commit there is at least sincerity and in what the Cocquets do there is Treachery The Cocquets tell us to excuse themselves when they give ear to the Courtship of all Comers that how honest soever a Woman is she never hates a person who tells her he loves her But one may answer them that distinctions are to be made either that Lover addresses himself to a Woman who will be either honest for her self or for a Lover allow that she cannot hate a Man for the Sentiments he had for her yet this will not hinder her from being carefull of not having so much Complaisance for him as for another who had never declared any thing to her for fear she should thereby entertain his hopes and that at length it might make a noise and be injurious to the reputation she would preserve If the Woman be prepossessed that the Man declares love to her she will have the same precautions as the other to hinder it from continuing but if he persists I maintain that she shall hate him as much as she shall love her true Gallant it being natural to hate the Enemies of the person we love because love will not allow love to be importunate and because that a Lover well treated may suspect that a Passion that continues in his Rival is atleast nourished by some hopes an honest Mistress considers his Rival as her mortal Enemy who maks her run the risque of losing her Lover whom she loves more than her life This being plain you must likewise know that there are several sorts of Cocquets some take a pride in being beloved by a great many People without ever loving any of them and do not perceive that it is the advances themselves make which invite men and which retain them rather than merit Besides as it is not possible they should dispose their Favours so equally but that some one will seem better treated than others and there being some who will not content themselves with equality but pretend to preference This gives jealousy to the Malecontents and makes them say in quitting them all nay more than they know There are other Cocquets who manage several Lovers that they may save the real one in the multitude and cause it to be said they have no amorous Intrigue since they treat equally all those who visit them but the best luck that can happen to them is to have the truth discovered or at least it is better than by believing they love no Body every one sancies they love All. There are others who by managing several Gallants would fain perswade that if they should love any one of them they should hazard the vexing him In the mean time they vex and lose him by these means For to imagine that it is in the absence of their true Lover that they make love he will know nothing of it or if it is in his presence by acting in concert together he will easily see that is nothing since he is taken for a Witness of what is done or at all hazards if he is troubled their Caressing him and their Promises to do so no more will oblige him to be satisfied All this is very subject to caution a Lover is not long deceived and if he does not discover it to day he will discover it to Morrow And crying 't is well adieu my Dear I find no longer pleasure here And tho his Passion should be so strong that he could not get rid
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
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
in short time except it be my particular Friends to have no great inclination for the other we often Compass the same and by different methods answered Bussy to him for my part I do not Condemn your manners Every one is saved after his own way But I shall never take that course to be happy that you do I am amazed to hear you talk after this rate said Manicamp and that Madam de Savigny has not disgusted you from loving of Women But now you talk of Madam de Sevigny said Vivonne pray you tell us why you broak off with her for they talk differently some say that you were jealous of the Count of Lude and others that you sacrificed her to Madam de Monglas and no Body has beleived what you both have said that it was a reason of interest When I shall have made appear replyed Bussy that I have been these six years in love with Madam de Monglass you will beleive that there was nothing of love in the falling out that was last year between Madam de Sevigny and me Ah! My Dear interrupted Vivonne how should we be obliged to you if you would take the pains to relate to us an amourous History But first of all be pleased to give me an account of this Madam de Sevigny for I never saw two persons agree in their Opinions of her What you say is defining of her in a few words answered Bussy peoples opinions of her do not agree because she is unequall and that one person alone is never long enough in her favour to observe the change of her humour but having known her from her Infancy I will give you a faithful relation The History of Madam de Sevigny Madam de Savigny continued he has usually the finest Complexion imaginable little sparkling Eyes a flat Mouth but of a fine Colour a lofty Forehead a Nose only like it self neither long nor little broad at the end and the same at the Middle and all this which in particular is not handsome take it altogether is very agreable she is finely shaped and yet has no good Aire she has a handsome Leg her Neck her Armes and Hands are not well formed her hair is white and thick she has danced well and has still a good Ear she has an agreable Voice and understands singing pretty well as to the outside she is such as I have described her no Woman has more Wit than she and very few have so much she has a diverting way with her some say that for a Woman of Quality her Character is something too Wanton In the time I saw her I found this judgement ridiculous and I know her Burlesque under the name of gayety not seeing her at present her Charmes do not dazle me and I grant that she is too pleasant If a Person has wit and particularly of that kind of wit which will be free and merry there needs no more than to see her there is nothing lost with her She understands you comprehends exactly your meaning she divines you and usually leads you much farther than you think of going sometimes you give her a mighty prospect the heat of pleasantry hurries her away and under those Circumstances she receives with joy all libertine expressions provided they be finely wrapt up keeps pace with her answers and thinks it for her honour to surpass all that can be said to her It is no strange thing that you find not much discretion in a Person of so much fire those two things being usually incompatible and Nature cannot work Miracles in savour of her A brisk Fool takes more with her than a wel-bred serious Man the gaiety of People prepossesses her that she shall be judge whether you understand what she says the greatest mark of wit that can be given her is to admire her She loves Incense she loves being beloved and in order to that she loves that she may reap she gives praise that she may receive it she generally loves all men of what Age of what Birth of what Merit and what Profession soever they are from the Royal Robe to the Frock from the Scepter to the Inkhorn amongst Men she loves a Lover better than a Friend and amongst Lovers the merry more than the sad the Melancholy flatter her Vanity and the Brisk her Inclination she diverts herself with these and flatters herself with an opinion that her Merit must be great since she is able to make those others languish She is of a cold temper at least if we might believe her deceased Husband and it was to it that he was obliged for her Vertue as he said all her heat is in her will The truth is it makes full recompence for the coldness of her temper I believe that Conjugal Faith has not that violence if we consider the intention it is another thing to speak freely I believe her Husband clear before Men but I take him for a Cuckold before God This fair One being willing to share in all divertisements has found a sure means as she thinks to take her Pleasures without injuring her Reputation in the least She has contracted Friendship with four or five pretended Lucretia's with whom she goes into all places imaginable she does not so much consider what she does as with whom she is By thus doing she perswades herself that the civil Company rectifies all her actions and for my part I fancy that the critical Minute which is usually found with all women when only a Man and a Woman is together would soonest be met with her in the midst of her Family Sometimes she openly refuses a match of publick walking to establish herself in regard of the World in an Opinion of great regularity and sometime after thinking herself safe by so publick a refusal she will make four or five matches of private walks she has naturally a love for Pleasures two things oblige her sometimes to deprive herself of them Policy and Inequality and it was for one of those two reasons that she goes sometimes to a Sermon the nex day after an Assembly With some such publick Actions she thinks to prepossess all the World and imagines that in doing a little good and a little ill all that can be said is that one producing the other she is a Civil Woman The Flatterers which her little Court is full of entertain her after another rate they never fail to tell her that it is impossible to reconcile Wisdom with the World and Pleasure with Vertue better than she does To have Wit and be of Quality she suffers herself to be too much dazled with the grandeurs of Court the day the Queen has spoken to her perhaps only asked whom she came with she will be so transported with joy and a long time after she will find means to acquaint all those whose respect she has a mind to procure how obliginly the Queen spoke to her The King having one Evening caused her to
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