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 ever in abeyance, was still pending.  I had my son educated under my care, being sure of the tender attachment that would spring up between himself and the princes, his brothers.  At the Montespan chateau, I admit, he would have learned to ride an unbroken horse, as well as to shoot hares, partridges, and big game; he would also have learned to talk loud, to use bad language, to babble about his pedigree, while ignorant of its history or its crest; in fine, he would have learned to despise his mother, and probably to hate her.  Educated under my eyes, almost on the King’s lap, he soon learned the customs of the Court and all that a well-born gentleman should know.  He will be made Duc d’Antin, I have the King’s word for it,—­and his mien and address, which fortunately sort well with that which Fate holds in store for him, entitle him to rank with all that is most exalted at Court.

The Procureur-General caused a man from Barn to be arrested, who had come to abduct my son.  This individual, half-Spanish and half-French, was detained in the Paris prisons, and I was left in ignorance of the matter.  It was imprudent not to tell me, and almost occasioned a serious mishap.