He soon kept his word.  He caused a war to grow out of the affair of the double election of Cologne, of the Prince of Bavaria, and of the Cardinal of Furstenberg; he confirmed it in carrying the flames into the Palatinate, and in leaving, as I have said, all liberty to the project upon England; he put the finishing touch to his work by forcing the Duke of Savoy into the arms of his enemies, and making him become, by the position of his country, our enemy, the most difficult and the most ruinous.  All that I have here related was clearly brought to light in due time.

Boisseuil died shortly after D’Avaux.  He was a tall, big man, warm and violent, a great gambler, bad tempered,—­who often treated M. le Grand and Madame d’Armagnac, great people as they were, so that the company were ashamed,—­and who swore in the saloon of Marly as if he had been in a tap-room.  He was feared; and he said to women whatever came uppermost when the fury of a cut-throat seized him.  During a journey the King and Court made to Nancy, Boisseuil one evening sat down to play in the house of one of the courtiers.  A player happened to be there who played very high.  Boisseuil lost a good deal, and was very angry.  He thought he perceived that this gentleman, who was only permitted on account of his play, was cheating, and made such good use of his eyes that he soon found this was the case, and all on a sudden stretched across the table and seized the gambler’s hand, which he held upon the table, with the cards he was going to deal.  The gentleman, very much astonished, wished to withdraw his hand, and was angry.  Boisseuil, stronger than he, said that he was a rogue, and that the company should see it, and immediately shaking his hand with fury put in evidence his deceit.  The player, confounded, rose and went away.  The game went on, and lasted long into the night.  When finished, Boisseuil went away.  As he was leaving the door he found a man stuck against the wall—­it was the player—­who called him to account for the insult he had received.  Boisseuil replied that he should give him no satisfaction, and that he was a rogue.

“That may be,” said the player, “but I don’t like to be told so.”

They went away directly and fought.  Boisseuil received two wounds, from one of which he was like to die.  The other escaped without injury.

I have said, that after the affair of M. de Cambrai, Madame de Maintenon had taken a rooted dislike to M. de Beauvilliers.  She had become reconciled to him in appearance during the time that Monseigneur de Bourgogne was a victim to the calumnies of M. de Vendome, because she had need of him.  Now that Monseigneur de Bourgogne was brought back to favour, and M. de Vendome was disgraced, her antipathy for M, de Beauvilliers burst out anew, and she set her wits to work to get rid of him from the Council of State, of which he was a member.  The witch wished to introduce her favourite Harcourt there in his place, and worked so well to bring about this result that the King promised he should be received.