One day the poor Marechal de Vivonne came to see me; he opened my shutters to call my attention to the beauty of the sky, and, my health seeming to him a trifle poor, he suggested to me to embark at once in his carriage and to go and dine at Clagny.  I had no will left that day, so I accompanied my brother.

Being come to Clagny, the Marshal, having shut himself up with me in his closet, said to me the words which follow: 

“You know, my, sister, how all along you have been dear to me; the grief which is wearing you out does me almost as much harm as you.  To-day I wish to hurt you for your own good; and get you away from this locality in spite of yourself.  Kings are not to be opposed as we oppose our equals; our King, whom you know by heart, has never suffered contradiction.  He has had you asked, two or three times already, to leave his palace and to go and live on your estates.  Why do you delay to satisfy him, and to withdraw from so many eyes which watch you with pity?”

“The King, I am very sure, would like to see me away,” I replied to the Marshal, “but he has never formally expressed himself, and it is untrue that any such wish has been intimated or insinuated to me.”

“What! you did not receive two letters last year, which invited you to make up your mind and retire!”

“I received two anonymous letters; nothing is more true.  Could those two letters have been sent to me by the King himself?”

“The Marquis de Chamarante wrote them to you, but beneath the eyes, and at the dictation, of his Majesty.”

“All, God!  What is it you tell me?  What! the Marquis de Chamarante, whom I thought one of my friends, has lent himself to such an embassy!”

“The Marquis is a good man, a man of honour; and his essential duty is to please his sovereign, his master.  Moreover, at the time when the letters were sent you, time remained to you for deliberation.  To-day, all time for delay has expired; you must go away of your own free will, or receive the affront of a command, and a ‘lettre de cachet’ in form.”

“A ‘lettre de cachet’ for me! for the mother of the Duc du Maine and the Comte de Toulouse!  We shall see that, my brother!  We shall see!”

“There is nothing to see or do but to summon here all your people, and leave to-morrow, either for my chateau of Roissy, or for your palace at Petit-Bourg; things are pressing, and the day after to-morrow I will explain all without any secrecy.”

“Explain it to me at once, my brother, and I promise to satisfy you.”

“Do you give me your word?”

“I give it you, my good and dear friend, with pleasure.  Inform me of what is in progress.”

“Madame de Maintenon, whom, having loved once greatly, you no longer love, had the kindness to have me summoned to her this morning.”

“The kindness!”