Fascination of the Duchesse de Bourgogne.—Fortunes
of Nangis.—He Is
Loved by the Duchesse and Her Dame d’Atours.—Discretion
of the Court.—
Maulevrier.—His Courtship of the Duchess.—Singular
Trick.—Its Strange
Success.—Mad Conduct of Maulevrier—He
Is Sent to Spain.—His Adventures
There.—His Return and Tragical Catastrophe.
CHAPTER XXXII
Death of M. de Duras.—Selfishness of the
King.—Anecdote of Puysieux.—
Character of Pontchartrain.—Why He Ruined
the French Fleet.—Madame des
Ursins at Last Resolves to Return to Spain.—Favours
Heaped upon Her.—
M. de Lauzun at the Army.—His bon mot.—Conduct
of M. de Vendome.—
Disgrace and Character of the Grand Prieur.
Volume5.
CHAPTER XXXIII
A Hunting Adventure.—Story and Catastrophe
of Fargues.—Death and
Character of Ninon de l’Enclos.—Odd
Adventure of Courtenvaux.—Spies at
Court.—New Enlistment.—Wretched
State of the Country.—Balls at Marly.
CHAPTER XXXIV
Arrival of Vendome at Court.—Character
of That Disgusting Personage.—
Rise of Cardinal Alberoni.—Vendome’s
Reception at Marly.—His Unheard-of
Triumph.—His High Flight.—Returns
to Italy.—Battle of Calcinato.—
Condition of the Army.—Pique of the Marechal
de Villeroy.—Battle of
Ramillies.—Its Consequences.
CHAPTER XXXV
Abandonment of the Siege of Barcelona.—Affairs of Italy.— La Feuillade.—Disastrous Rivalries.—Conduct of M. d’Orleans.—The Siege of Turin.—Battle.—Victory of Prince Eugene.—Insubordination in the Army.—Retreat.—M. d’Orleans Returns to Court.—Disgrace of La Feuillade
CHAPTER XXXVI
Measures of Economy.—Financial Embarrassments.—The
King and
Chamillart.—Tax on Baptisms and Marriages.—Vauban’s
Patriotism.—
Its Punishment.—My Action with M. de Brissac.—I
Appeal to the King.—
The Result.—I Gain My Action.
CHAPTER XXXVII
My Appointment as Ambassador to Rome.—How It Fell Through.—Anecdotes of the Bishop of Orleans.—A Droll Song.—A Saint in Spite of Himself.— Fashionable Crimes.—A Forged Genealogy.—Abduction of Beringhen.— The ‘Parvulos’ of Meudon and Mademoiselle Choin.
CHAPTER XXXVIII
Death and Last Days of Madame de Montespan.—Selfishness of the King.— Death and Character of Madame de Nemours.—Neufchatel and Prussia.— Campaign of Villars.—Naval Successes.—Inundations of the Loire.—Siege of Toulon.—A Quarrel about News.—Quixotic Despatches of Tesse.
Volume6.