The prince charged the lady in waiting to do these things for her.  We repaired in full dress to the Princess,—­to present our homages to Madame de Maintenon.  One must admit she threw her heart into it; that is to say, she drew out, as far as possible, the monarch’s daughter-in-law, inspiring into her every moment amiable questions or answers, which she had taken pains to embellish and adorn in her best manner.

The King arrived; I then had the pleasure of seeing him, not two paces from me, before my very eyes, saying witty and agreeable things to the Marquise; while he talked to me only of the rain and the weather, always cursorily.

It was then that I received a second anonymous letter, in the same handwriting, the same style, the same tone as that of which mention has been made.  I transcribe it; it is curious.

To madame la marquise de Montespan.

Madame:—­You have not followed my former advice.  The opportunity has gone by; it is too late.  Your superintendence is left with you, and there are four or five hundred thousand livres lying idle; for you will not be able to sell the superintendence of a household, and of a council, which are in a tomb at Saint Denis!  Happily you are rich, and what would be a disaster to another fortune is scarcely more than a slight disappointment to you.  I take the respectful liberty of talking once more with the prettiest and wittiest woman of her century, in order to submit to her certain ideas, and to offer her a fresh piece of advice, which I believe important.

The Queen, moved by a generosity seldom found in her peers, pardoned you to some degree your theft of her spouse; she pardoned you in order to be agreeable to him, and to prove to him that, being his most sincere friend, she could not bring herself to contest his affections and his pastimes.  But this sublime philosophy is at an end; the excellent heart of this Queen is at Val-de-Grace; it will beat no more, neither for her volatile husband, nor for any one whatsoever.

Madame la Dauphine, brought up in German severity, and hardly accustomed to the atmosphere of her new country, neither likes nor respects you, nor has any indulgence for you.  She barely suffers the presence of your children, although brothers of her husband.  How should she tolerate yours?  It appears, it is plain, Madame la Marquise, that your name has found no place or footing on her list, and that she would rather not meet you often in her salons.  If one may even speak to you confidentially, she has thus expressed herself; it would be cruel for you to hear of it from any other being but me.

Believe me, believe a man as noted for his good qualities as for his weaknesses.  He will never drive you away, for you are the mother of his beloved children, and he has loved you himself tenderly.  However, his coldness is going to increase.  Will you be sufficiently light-hearted, or sufficiently imprudent, to await on a counterscarp the rigours of December and January?