From just before Candlemas-day to Easter of this year, nothing was heard of but balls and pleasures of the Court.  The King gave at Versailles and at Marly several masquerades, by which he was much amused, under pretext of amusing the Duchesse de Bourgogne.  At one of these balls at Marly a ridiculous scene occurred.  Dancers were wanting and Madame de Luxembourg on account of this obtained an invitation, but with great difficulty, for she lived in such a fashion that no woman would see her.  Monsieur de Luxembourg was perhaps the only person in France who was ignorant of Madame de Luxembourg’s conduct.  He lived with his wife on apparently good terms and as though he had not the slightest mistrust of her.  On this occasion, because of the want of dancers, the King made older people dance than was customary, and among others M. de Luxembourg.  Everybody was compelled to be masked.  M. de Luxembourg spoke on this subject to M. le Prince, who, malicious as any monkey, determined to divert all the Court and himself at the Duke’s expense.  He invited M. de Luxembourg to supper, and after that meal was over, masked him according to his fancy.

Soon after my arrival at the ball, I saw a figure strangely clad in long flowing muslin, and with a headdress on which was fixed the horns of a stag, so high that they became entangled in the chandelier.  Of course everybody was much astonished at so strange a sight, and all thought that that mask must be very sure of his wife to deck himself so.  Suddenly the mask turned round and showed us M. de Luxembourg.  The burst of laughter at this was scandalous.  Good M. de Luxembourg, who never was very remarkable for wit, benignly took all this laughter as having been excited simply by the singularity of his costume, and to the questions addressed him, replied quite simply that his dress had been arranged by M. le Prince; then, turning to the right and to the left, he admired himself and strutted with pleasure at having been masked by M. le Prince.  In a moment more the ladies arrived, and the King immediately after them.  The laughter commenced anew as loudly as ever, and M. de Luxembourg presented himself to the company with a confidence that was ravishing.  His wife had heard nothing of this masquerading, and when she saw it, lost countenance, brazen as she was.  Everybody stared at her and her husband, and seemed dying of laughter.  M. le Prince looked at the scene from behind the King, and inwardly laughed at his malicious trick.  This amusement lasted throughout all the ball, and the King, self-contained as he usually was, laughed also; people were never tired of admiring an invention so, cruelly ridiculous, and spoke of it for several days.