inflexible principles, and of the subtlety of his policy.  He was well aware that by lending himself to such amenities he would lose caste morally with the King, and that if by his loyalty he had won royal attachment and regard, all this would have been irretrievably lost.  Thus M. de Bossuet was of those who say, “Hate me, but fear me,” rather than of those who strive to be loved.  Such people know that friendships are generally frail and transient, and that esteem lasts longer and leads further.  He never interfered again with my affairs, nor did I with his; I got my way, and he is still where he was.

CHAPTER XXXVIII.

Madame de Montespan Back at Court.—­Her Friends.—­Her Enemies.—­Edifying Conversions.—­The Archbishop of Paris.

Eight days after the conclusion of the jubilee I returned to Versailles.  The King received me with every mark of sincere friendship; my friends came in crowds to my apartments; my enemies left their names with my Swiss servant, and in chapel they put back my seat, chairs, and footstools in their usual place.

Madame de Maintenon had twice sent my children to Clagny

[The splendid Chateau de Clagny (since demolished) was situated on the beautiful country surrounding Versailles, near the wood of Millers d’Avrai.—­EDITOR’s Note.]

with the under-governess; but she did not come herself, which greatly inconvenienced me.  I complained to her about this, and she assured me the King had dissuaded her from visiting me, “so as to put curious folk off the scent;” and when I told her of my interview with M. de Bossuet, she neatly avoided being mixed up in the matter by omitting to blame anybody.  The most licentious women, so she told me, had distinguished themselves by pious exercises during the observance of the jubilee.  She informed me that the Comtesse de Soissons, the Princesse de Monaco, Madame de Soubise, and five or six virtuous dames of this type, had given gold, silver, and enamelled lamps to the most notable churches of the capital.  The notorious Duchesse de Longueville talked of having her own tomb constructed in a Carmelite chapel.  Six leaders of fashion had forsworn rouge, and Madame d’Humieres had given up gambling.  As for my lord the Archbishop of Paris, he had not changed his way of life a jot, either for the better or for the worse.

CHAPTER XXXIX.

Attempted Abduction.—­The Marquise Procures a Bodyguard.—­Her Reasons for So Doing.—­Geography and Morals.

The youthful Marquis d’Antin—­my son—­was growing up; the King showed him the most flattering signs of his attachment, and as the child had lived only with me, he dreaded his father’s violent temper, of which he had often heard me speak.  In order to have the custody of his son, the Marquis de Montespan had appealed to Parliament; but partisans of the King had shelved the matter, which, though