The next day, Friday, the 10th, in reply to his express demands, the King was informed of the extremely dangerous state of Monseigneur.  He had said on the previous evening that he would go on the following morning to Meudon, and remain there during all the illness of Monseigneur whatever its nature might be.  He was now as good as his word.  Immediately after mass he set out for Meudon.  Before doing so, he forbade his children, and all who had not had the small-pox, to go there, which was suggested by a motive of kindness.  With Madame de Maintenon and a small suite, he had just taken up his abode in Meudon, when Madame de Saint-Simon sent me the letter of which I have just made mention.

I will continue to speak of myself with the same truthfulness I speak of others, and with as much exactness as possible.  According to the terms on which I was with Monseigneur and his intimates, may be imagined the impression made upon me by this news.  I felt that one way or other, well or ill, the malady of Monseigneur would soon terminate.  I was quite at my ease at La Ferme.  I resolved therefore to wait there until I received fresh particulars.  I despatched a courier to Madame de Saint-Simon, requesting her to send me another the next day, and I passed the rest of this day, in an ebb and flow of feelings; the man and the Christian struggling against the man and the courtier, and in the midst of a crowd of vague fancies catching glimpses of the future, painted in the most agreeable colours.

The courier I expected so impatiently arrived the next day, Sunday, after dinner.  The small-pox had declared itself, I learnt, and was going on as well as could be wished.  I believed Monseigneur saved, and wished to remain at my own house; nevertheless I took advice, as I have done all my life, and with great regret set out the next morning.  At La queue, about six leagues from Versailles, I met a financier of the name of La Fontaine, whom I knew well.  He was coming from Paris and Versailles, and came up to me as I changed horses.  Monseigneur, he said, was going on admirably; and he added details which convinced me he was out of all danger.  I arrived at Versailles, full of this opinion, which was confirmed by Madame de Saint-Simon and everybody I met, so that nobody any longer feared, except on account of the treacherous nature of this disease in a very fat man of fifty.

The King held his Council, and worked in the evening with his ministers as usual.  He saw Monseigneur morning and evening, oftentimes in the afternoon, and always remained long by the bedside.  On the Monday I arrived he had dined early, and had driven to Marly, where the Duchesse de Bourgogne joined him.  He saw in passing on the outskirts of the garden of Versailles his grandchildren, who had come out to meet him, but he would not let them come near, and said, “good day” from a distance.  The Duchesse de Bourgogne had had the small-pox, but no trace was left.