As I sincerely love him, I have forgotten it; and I do not believe that we shall ever quarrel in future.  When I have anything to say about his conduct, I say it openly, and there is an end of it.  He behaves to me very respectfully.  I did all in my power to prevent his marriage; but since it did take place, and with his consent, though without mine, I wish now only for his tranquillity.  His wife fancies that she has done him an honour in marrying him, because he is only the son of the brother of a king, while she is the daughter of a king; but she will not perceive that she is also the daughter of a -----.  He was obliged to put down all his feelings of nobility; and if I had a hundred crowns for as many times as he has since repented it, I could almost buy France for the King, and pay his debts.  My son visits his wife every day, and when she is in good humour he stays with her a long time; but when she is ill-tempered, which, unfortunately, happens too often, he goes away without saying anything.  I have every reason to be satisfied with him; he lives on very good terms with me, and I have no right to complain of his conduct; but I see that he does not repose much confidence in me, and I know many persons to whom he is more communicative.

I love my son with all my heart; but I cannot see how any one else can, for his manners are little calculated to inspire love.  In the first place, he is incapable of the passion, or of being attached to any one for a long time; in the second, he is not sufficiently polished and gallant to make love, but sets about it rudely and coarsely; in the third, he is very indiscreet, and tells plainly all that he has done.

I have said to him a hundred times, “I wonder how any woman can run after you, whom they ought rather to fly from.”

He would reply, laughing, “Ah! you do not know the libertine women of the present day; provided they are talked of, they are satisfied.”

There was an affair of gallantry, but a perfectly honourable one, between him and the Queen of Spain.  I do not know whether he had the good fortune to be agreeable to her, but I know he was not at all in love with her.  He thought her mien and figure good, but neither her manners nor her face were agreeable to him.

He was not in any degree romantic, and, not knowing how to conduct himself in this affair, he said to the Duc de Grammont, “You understand the manner of Spanish gallantry; pray tell me a little what I ought to say and do.”

He could not, however, suit the fancy of the Queen, who was for pure gallantry; those who were less delicate he was better suited for, and for this reason it was said that libertine women used to run after him.

...............................

He never denied that he was indiscreet and inconstant.  Being one day with me at the theatre, and hearing Valere say he was tired of his mistress, “That has been my case often,” he cried.  I told him he never was in love in his life, and that what he called love was mere debauchery.