My mother occasionally took me out into society after the marriage of my sister, De Thianges; and I was not slow to perceive that there was in my person something slightly superior to the average intelligence,—­certain qualities of distinction which drew upon me the attention and the sympathy of men of taste.  Had any liberty been granted to it, my heart would have made a choice worthy alike of my family and of myself.  They were eager to impose the Marquis de Montespan upon me as a husband; and albeit he was far from possessing those mental perfections and that cultured charm which alone make an indefinite period of companionship endurable, I was not slow to reconcile myself to a temperament which, fortunately, was very variable, and which thus served to console me on the morrow for what had troubled me to-day.

Hardly had my marriage been arranged and celebrated than a score of the most brilliant suitors expressed, in prose and in verse, their regret at having lost beyond recall Mademoiselle de Tonnai-Charente.  Such elegiac effusions seemed to me unspeakably ridiculous; they should have explained matters earlier, while the lists were still open.  For persons of this sort I conceived aversion, who were actually so clumsy as to dare to tell me that they had forgotten to ask my hand in marriage!

CHAPTER III.

Madame de Montespan at the Palace.—­M. de Montespan.—­His Indiscreet Language.—­His Absence.—­Specimen of His Way of Writing.—­A Refractory Cousin.—­The King Interferes.—­M. de Montespan a Widower.—­Amusement of the King.—­Clemency of Madame de Montespan.

The Duc and Duchesse de Navailles had long been friends of my father’s and of my family.  When the Queen-mother proceeded to form the new household of her niece and daughter-in-law, the Infanta, the Duchesse de Navailles, chief of the ladies-in-waiting, bethought herself of me, and soon the Court and Paris learnt that I was one of the six ladies in attendance on the young Queen.

This princess, who while yet at the Escurial had been made familiar with the notable names of the French monarchy, honoured me during the journey by alluding in terms of regard to the Mortemarts and Rochechouarts,—­kinsmen of mine.  She was even careful to quote matters of history concerning my ancestors.  By such marks of good sense and good will I perceived that she would not be out of place at a Court where politeness of spirit and politeness of heart ever go side by side, or, to put it better, where these qualities are fused and united.

M. le Marquis de Montespan, scion of the old house of Pardaillan de Gondrin, had preferred what he styled “my grace and beauty” to the most wealthy partis of France.  He was himself possessed of wealth, and his fortune gave him every facility for maintaining at Court a position of advantage and distinction.

At first the honour which both Queens were graciously pleased to confer upon me gave my husband intense satisfaction.  He affectionately thanked the Duc and Duchesse de Navailles, and expressed his most humble gratitude to the two Queens and to the King.  But it was not long before I perceived that he had altered his opinion.