with her a scandal that he had not been able to avoid.  M. le Duc d’Orleans hastened to announce to his daughter the departure of the Cardinal, at which he himself was much relieved.  But on leaving the chamber he was astonished to find the cure glued against the door, and still more so to hear he had taken up his post there, and meant to remain, happen what might, because he did not wish to be deceived respecting the sacraments.  And, indeed, he remained there four days and four nights, except during short intervals for food and repose that he took at home, quite close to the Luxembourg, and during which his place was filled by two priests whom he left there.  At last, the danger being passed, he raised the siege.

Madame la Duchesse de Berry, safely delivered of a daughter, had nothing to do but to re-establish herself; but she remained firm against the cure and the Cardinal de Noailles, neither of whom she ever pardoned.  She became more and more bewitched by the two lovers, who laughed at her, and who were attached to her only for their fortune and their interest.  She remained shut up without seeing M. and Madame la Duchesse d’Orleans, except for a few moments; no one, commencing with Madame de Saint-Simon, showed any eagerness to see her, for everybody knew what kept the door shut.

Madame la Duchesse de Berry, infinitely pained by the manner in which everybody, even the people, looked upon her malady, thought to gain a little lost ground by throwing open the gardens of the Luxembourg to the public, after having long since closed them.  People were glad:  they profited by the act; that was all.  She made a vow that she would give herself up to religion, and dress in white—­that is, devote herself to the service of the Virgin—­for six months.  This vow made people laugh a little.

Her illness had begun on the 26th of March, 1719, and Easter-day fell on the 9th of April.  She was then quite well, but would not see a soul.  A new cause of annoyance had arisen to trouble her.  Rion, who saw himself so successful as the lover of Madame la Duchesse de Berry, wished to improve his position by becoming her husband.  He was encouraged in this desire by his uncle, M. de Lauzun, who had also advised him to treat her with the rigour, harshness—­nay, brutality, which I have already described.  The maxim of M. de Lauzun was, that the Bourbons must be ill-used and treated with a high hand in order to maintain empire over them.  Madame de Mouchy was as strongly in favour of this marriage as Rion.  She knew she was sure of her lover, and that when he became the husband of Madame la Duchesse de Berry, all the doors which shut intimacy would be thrown down.  A secret marriage accordingly took place.

This marriage gave rise to violent quarrels, and much weeping.  In order to deliver herself from these annoyances, and at the same time steer clear of Easter, the Duchess resolved to go away to Meudon on Easter Monday.  It was in vain that the danger was represented to her, of the air, of the movement of the coach, and of the change of place at the end of a fortnight.  Nothing could make her endure Paris any longer.  She set out, therefore, followed by Rion and the majority of her ladies and her household.