After being pressed to say why, he replied that “with him one’s life was safe.”  This pointed remark made much noise.  M. du Maine lowered his eyes, and did not reply one word.  As for the Marechal de Villeroy he grew more and more in favour with the King and with Madame de Maintenon.  The bitter fruit of M. du Maine’s act was the taking of Namur, which capitulated on August 4th (1695).  The Marechal de Villeroy in turn bombarded Brussels, which was sorely maltreated.  The Marechal de Boufflers, who had defended Namur, was made Duke, and those who had served under him were variously rewarded.  This gave occasion for the Prince of Orange to say, that the King recompensed more liberally the loss of a place than he could the conquest of one.  The army retired into winter-quarters at the end of October, and the Generals went to Paris.

As for me, I remained six weeks at Landau with M. and Madame de Lorges.  At the end of that time, the Marechal, having regained his health, returned to the army, where he was welcomed with the utmost joy:  he soon after had an attack of apoplexy, and, by not attending to his malady in time, became seriously ill again.  When a little recovered, he and Madame de Lorges set out for Vichy, and I went to Paris.

CHAPTER VIII

Before speaking of what happened at Court after my return, it will be necessary to record what had occurred there during the campaign.

M. de Brias, Archbishop of Cambrai, had died, and the King had given that valuable preferment to the Abbe de Fenelon, preceptor of the children of France.  Fenelon was a man of quality, without fortune, whom the consciousness of wit—­of the insinuating and captivating kind—­united with much ability, gracefulness of intellect, and learning, inspired with ambition.  He had been long going about from door to door, knocking for admission, but without success.  Piqued against the Jesuits, to whom he had addressed himself at first, as holding all favours in their hands, and discouraged because unable to succeed in that quarter, he turned next to the Jansenists, to console himself by the reputation he hoped he should derive from them, for the loss of those gifts of fortune which hitherto had despised him.

He remained a considerable time undergoing the process of initiation, and succeeded at last in being of the private parties that some of the important Jansenists then held once or twice a week at the house of the Duchesse de Brancas.  I know not if he appeared too clever for them, or if he hoped elsewhere for better things than he could get among people who had only sores to share; but little by little his intimacy with them cooled; and by dint of turning around Saint Sulpice, he succeeded in forming another connection there, upon which he built greater expectations.  This society of priests was beginning to distinguish itself, and from a seminary of a Paris parish to extend