He was strongly attached to his son’s wife; but when she quarrelled with the Duchess her father-in-law changed his opinion of her.  What displeased him besides was that the Duchess of Burgundy married his younger son, the Duc de Berri, against his inclination.  He was not wrong in that, because, although the marriage was to our advantage, I must confess that the Dauphin was not even treated with decency in the business.

Neither of the two Dauphins or the Dauphines ever interested themselves much about their children.  The King had them educated without consulting them, appointed all their servants, and was even displeased if they interfered with them in any way.  The Dauphin knows nothing of good breeding; he and his sons are perfect clowns.

The women of La Halle had a real passion for the first Dauphin; they had been made to believe that he would take the part of the people of Paris, in which there was not a word of truth.  The people believed that he was better hearted than he was.  He would not, in fact, have been wicked if the Marechal d’Uxelles, La Chouin and Montespan, with whom he was in his youth, as well as the Duchess, had not spoiled him, and made him believe that malice was a proof of wit.

He did not grieve more than a quarter of an hour at the death of his mother or of his wife; and when he wrapped himself up in his long mourning cloak he was ready to choke with laughter.

He had followed his father’s example in taking an ugly, nasty mistress, who had been fille d’honneur to the elder Princess de Conti:  her name is Mademoiselle de Chouin, and she is still living at Paris (1719).  It was generally believed that he had married her clandestinely; but I would lay a wager he never did.  She had the figure of a duenna; was of very small stature; had very short legs; large rolling eyes; a round face; a short turned-up nose; a large mouth filled with decayed teeth, which made her breath so bad that the room in which she sat could hardly be endured.

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And yet this short, fat woman had a great deal of wit; and I believe the Dauphin accustomed himself to take snuff that he might not be annoyed by her bad teeth.  He was very civil to the Marechal d’Uxelles, because he pretended to be the intimate with this lady; but as soon as the Dauphin was caught, the Marechal ceased to see her, and never once set foot in her house, although before that he had been in the habit of visiting her daily.

The Dauphin had a daughter by Raisin the actress, but he would never acknowledge her, and after his death the Princess Conti took care of her, and married her to a gentleman of Vaugourg.  The Dauphin was so tired of the Duc du Maine that he had sworn never to acknowledge any of his illegitimate children.  This Raisin must have had very peculiar charms to make an impression upon a heart so thick as that of the Dauphin, who really loved her.  One day he